Editors Note: After an error dicovered by the North Attleboro Coach in the scoring of the hurdles. Central Catholic is awarded the team Championship.
With a name like Isabella and its ring of royalty, it was only appropriate that Notre Dame's Isabella DiMare was queen of the track at Sunday's Div. 2 EMass Track Championships.
Running in near-perfect conditions on the Greater New Bedford Vocational oval, DiMare burned the 200-meter field in a personal best of 24.64 seconds and did the same in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.96 to defend her title in both events. She finished up her day joining teammates Amanda Reilly, Gabby Sillari and Gabriela Kenyon to take the 4x100 in a meet-record time of 48.76.
"I felt like I could have gone faster in the 200," said the junior phenom. "I felt smooth in the hurdles until I hit that last one. I can't wait for all-states. I owe all of this to (Notre Dame coach) Bill Jennings. He's such a great coach."
Notre Dame put up several strrong performances on their way to taking the team title with 92 points to edge out cross-town rival Hingham's 86. The Cougars got wins from Reilly in the 100 (12.42) and Elizabeth Tevnan in the discus (119-10) to go along with DiMare's victories. The Harbormen's Sierra Irvin broke the meet record in the 400 with a blistering 54.70 and runner-up Ashley Lewis of Latin Academy was also under the previous mark with a 56.12. Kate Freda won the 400 hurdles for the Harbormen in 63.12 and the 4x400 relay team of Freda, Leah Hickey, Erin Hurley and Eve Hewins won in 4:03.4.
National indoor champion Ellen DiPietro of Marshfield had no problem capturing the high jump as she matched the meet record with a 5-8 leap.
Oliver Ames' Connor Donovan ran a near-perfect race, strategically, to capture the 800 in a personal best of 1:55.07. The Tiger junior moved through the pack and switched gears with 200 left to leave the pack behind.
"I've felt a little rough the last couple of meets," he said. "I went into this race thinking I had to go out fast. I got to 200 (to go) and I felt really strong. I knew I could hold them off. I felt great out there."
The Natick and Woburn 4x400 teams both broke the meet record in 3:21.81 and :23.23, respectively. Nathan Adeyemi's 44-4-1/2 win in the triple jump highlighted North Attleboro's team win with 69 points to edge out Central Catholic's 68 points.
Concord-Carlisle's Thomas Ratcliffe took the lead in the mile when nobody wanted it and ran a solo 4:21.08. "I would haveen happy to sit, but the pace wasn't too fast at the start," said the talented sophomore. "I'm better when I sit back, but if it's not that fast I take it out."
Woburn's Chris Jewett outdueled the top two seeds in the 400 to win in a meet record of 48.92 with Andrew Bolze of Hingham taking second in 49.28 and Ethan Biron of Dartmouth clocking a 49.78 for third.
Boston College-bound Dan Moverman of Oliver Ames pulled away over the final 800 to dominate the 2 mile in 9:37.24. "I'm happy," said Moverman. "I wanted to sit back a little bit. I only have a few races left and I want to make every race count. In the race, anything can happen. I came here and my legs felt a little tired. Something clicked and I told myself to push."
Reading's Aaron LeLacheur had a strong stretch run to capture the 400 hurdles in a swift 55.58 and Natick's Brandon Thornhill edged Jerry Canada of Salem for a win in the 110 hurdles in 14.64. Canada checked in with a time of 14.78.
Fresh off her 11:00.13 personal best at the Coaches Invitational, North Quincy's Emily Bryson bided her time in the 2 mile behind Notre Dame's Elizabeth Constantino before kicking for home from 200 meters out for an 11:14.40 win. "I was so exhausted with two laps to go," said Bryson. "I just stried to stay close and kick. I'm really happy with how I did. We're doing a lot more speed work and I'm working on getting out faster at the start."
King Philip finished 1-2 in the 800 with Olivia Weir kicking hard for the 2:19.51 ahead of Gianna Bender's 2:20.18. Whitman-Hanson's Samantha Colletti led from the start in the mile and was never challenged, taking the win in 5:07.37.
Woburn's Chris Jewett pulled off the biggest upset of the day, powering his way to victory in the 400 and defeating the top two seeds in a meet record 48.92. Hingham's Andrew Bolze was a close second in 49.28 and Ethan Biron of Dartmouth took the bronze in 49.78. Latin Academy's Malik Anderson won the 100 in 11.15 and Salem's Jon Crimble held off Waltham's Brendan Bonadio to win the 200 in 22.58. Bonadio put up a 22.63.
The 4x400 was the most exciting relay of the day as Natick scorched the meet record with a scintillating 3:21.81 for the win. Runner-up Woburn was also under the old mark in 3:23.23.
North Quincy owned the shot put on the girls' side, taking the gold and bronze. Maya Umoren won with a heave of 39-8-1/2 in her specialty and younger sister Melody was third with her 35-10
