photo by Joe Scola
PEMBROKE - Closing is a big deal in real estate and it's worth its weight in gold when it comes to relay races on the track. And when you have Abbie McNulty as your money runner, you're going to be in the mix every time out.The great Bishop Feehan, and soon to be Stanford University runner, figured into the two meet records set by the Shamrocks at yesterday's Div. 3 State Coaches Relays at Pembroke High. The team of Brynna Harum, Kate Svensen and Jackie Cutillo gave McNulty the lead by the anchor leg and she didn't let anyone close as she surged with 800 to go in the 4xmile and finished with a 4:57.2 split. Bishop Feehan's time of 21:11.87 bettered their 2009 mark of 21:20.95. McNulty didn't miss a beat two hours later when she clocked a 4:58 to clinch the Shamrocks' distance medley meet record of 12:16.81.
The tough quartet in the 4xmile had aspirations of breaking the mark well before meet day and they'd like another shot at an even faster time, maybe at the outdoor nationals in June.
"We all wanted to get under the meed record because we knew we were capable of it," said McNulty after the 4xmile. "I felt good. I kind of went out a little slower. I really started to pick it up the second half. I was pushing. We've been talking about (running it at nationals). I really want to. It all depends on scheduling. It's really cool to win as a team and be able to celebrate together. That was our goal today."
Like the Bishop Feehan girls, Ian Robertson was confident that Medfield would be well within range to challenge the 4xmile record on the boys' side. The Warriors foursome of Robertson, his brother Sean, Andrew Robartes and Austin Scola did that and a whole lot more on the Pembroke High track.
Robartes' proved to be the key leg as he sliced another eight seconds off his personal best to lead the Warriors to a scalding time of 17 minutes, 43.43 seconds. The time not only destroyed the long-standing Div. 3 mark of 18:14.70 Dedham put up in 1980, but also easily broke the all-division time of 17:50.11 set in 2008 by Brookline.
"It (Div. 3 record) was definitely a huge goal," said Ian. "We were looking to set the meet record. Our coaches said we had the possibility to get the state record. We knew we had to be at our best or faster than our best. We hope to go faster - we always hope to go faster."
Burlington also came away with a new meet record, bettering the 10:37.80 Oliver Ames clocked in the distance medley in 2000 with a 10:34.23
Pembroke's girls captured five of seven field events and finished up with a 4x400 win in 4:01.10, narrowly missing the meet record, but clinching a very satisfying win in the team competition with 80 points. Bishop Feehan took second with 65 points.
Meghan Richards, Jessica Gratzer, Julianne Holbrook, Charlotte Bosworth had big days in the field events for the Titans and did the job putting pressure on Bishop Feehan. Holbrook hurled a season-best of 101-10 in the discus and Bosworth's toss of 87-10 was a personal best. Gratzer, who was a part of both the winning shot put and javelin squads, believed the entire team was prepared to put its stamp in the field events and give the Titans a huge boost in the team standings. Pembroke churned out a gaudy 53 points in the field events.
"We came in hoping we were all going to be able to sweep," she said. "We had an idea that we were going to get first in shot put (32.03 meters) and first in javelin (85.32) and luckily we came out of discus with a first. We didn't really think about any other teams coming in. We just wanted to do our best and hopefully get first."
Pembroke head coach Jocko Rooney knew the Titans would be tough to beat in the team standings if his girls had a good day in the pits and on the runways.
"We knew what we had in the throws," Rooney said. "They know how to step up in the big meets. They're getting used to winning, which is nice. They have the confidence that when someone has a bad day someone else will step up and kind of take over for them. That was the goal going in was to win all the throws events and the two horizontal jumps. To actually do what we did was kind of a surprise. The kids really competed well and we took care of what we thought we could take care of on the track."
Pembroke won the 4x400 convincingly with Breagh Fitzgerald leading off with a quick 59.6 split and Katie Freitas anchoring in 60-flat for the 4:01.10 victory. The time was just short of the meet record of 3:59.5, but put the Titans well ahead of runner-up Plymouth North (4:08.55). "She's kind of been our relay machine," Rooney said of Freitas. "If it's close, she's going to take care of it."
Freitas, who has anchored the 4x400 for the last three years, is looking to end her high school career on a high note and Sunday was just the first step. "We heard them announce the points right before the relay," said Freitas. "Breagh got out nice and hard. Someone yelled to me that we'd be close to breaking four (minutes) so that was something I really focused on. Today we wanted to go out and get a decent time to set us up for the next couple of weeks. None of us were expecting to go out this hard today. It would be nice to eventually break four minutes. We're almost there. It's been a great four years and I hope it ends on a good note."
Bishop Feehan girls' coach Paul Powell pointed at the field events as the difference in the meet. "Pembroke was outstanding and we just didn't step up," he said. "We need to do better. We have some athletes but some of them misfired today. We battled back in the running events and made it close."
Bob L'Homme's Bishop Feehan boys finished in the top three in six events to edge out Milton and Pembroke with 48 points. The Wildcats and Titans both finished with 40 points. Milton had wins in the high jump (5.29 meters), shuttle hurdles (1:06.51) and long jump (18.19).
"This was a real team effort because we scored some point where we didn't expect to score points," said L'Homme. "Each group got a few points here and there and it was just a real battle to the end."
Stoughton was victorious in the 4x100 in 44.90 and Wilmington captured the 4x200 with a time of 1:34.96.
The Titans would have liked to improved on their tie for second in the team standings with Milton, but head coach Greg Zopatti was pleased with the efforts his athletes put forth and is looking ahead to the championship part of the schedule.
"We went in thinking lets put some good teams together that can run fast, throw far and jump and let the chips fall where they may, said Zopatti. "We were psyched to be in it. It points us in the direction we want to be in."