Sarah Armstrong knew very early in the mile at yesterday's All-State meet that the talented pack would pull her to a fast time on the steamy Bridgewater State University track.
The Needham sophomore did a whole lot more than just hang on. Armstrong moved up at the gun lap and waged a fierce duel with teammate Kaleigh Hughes over the final 100 meters and pulled out the win with a lean at the finish line in a personal best of 4 minutes 56.20 seconds. Hughes threw herself across the line to take second in 4:56.33 and Erin Dietz of Bedford was two steps back in 4:56.97. The race was a burner as the top five finishers all set personal best marks and loaded with youngsters with one senior in the top eight.
Armstrong credited Hughes for making the race a fast one. "She did a lot of the work and it was really helpful because that was an amazingly talented group," said Armstrong.
Hingham's Sierra Irvin and Dracut's Karina Shepard put their stamps on their specialties with personal bests and meet records. Irvin tore away from the 400 field to win in a scalding 54.51. Her time broke the 54.98 run in 1999 by Jennifer Vendetti of Franklsin. Shepard went to the front at the gun and turned the race into a runaway, breaking the tape in 2:07.14 to erase the 2:08.74 run by the great Ariana Lambie of the Bromfield School in 2002.
Irvin wanted to get out fast and run agressively from the gun. "I've been working on my starts and getting out fast and today I had a great start," she said.
Notre Dame's Isabella DiMare shrugged off a false start disqualification in her 100 hurdle preliminary to come back and outsprint Shrewsbury's Domonique Hall to take the 200 in 24.75. Hall was clocked in 24.97.
"It's a mind game after that because you don't want to false start again," said DiMare. "I felt nice and relaxed (in the 200). At least I turned it into something good."
Bishop Feehan's Abbie McNulty closed out her high school career in familiar fashion; Running alone well ahead of the pack in the 2 mile. McNulty pushed hard in the afternoon heat to win in a quick 10:48.98.
"I wasn't really going for the record, I was going for the win," said the Stanford-bound McNulty. "I feel a little sad that it was my last race. It was a cool four years."
There were no surprises in the weight events as Newton North's Michaela Smith captured both the shot put and discus to lead the Tigers to the team victory with 42 points. The talented Manfield lineup of Maddie Oldow, Rachel Stier, Lindsay Goulet and Mikaila Amerantes broke the meet record in the 4x400 with a 3:50.14.
The hot conditions played right into Kerstin Darsney's wheel house as she easily won the triple jump with a 38-8 leap after placing fourth last year. "It's good to keep it hot," said Darsney. "I was feeling good. I had a couple of fouls, but then I started feeling better. I really wanted to come back this year and try to win it."
Hingham's Kate Freda was determined to improve on her seventh-place finish in 2013 and she did it in a big way. Freda surged down the backstretch and held off a charging Abby Epplett of Whitinsvilled for the 63.10 win. Epplett was right on her heels at 63.50.
"I got a pretty good start," said Freda. "I've been training really hard and pushed hard. I felt like they were closing on me at the end. I had it (winning) at the back of my mind the last few meets."
Ellie Bucknell picked the perfect time to break her personal best in the javelin by five feet. Bucknell's heave of 130-3 put her well ahead of the pack for the win. "I'd really like to throw 135 at New Englands," said Bucknell. "I felt really good. My first throw was the furthest and my first three throws broke my PR."
The boys' 800 proved to be the most exciting race of the day with a furious stretch run by the field. Billerica's Peter Garmon broke the tape in a very quick 1:52.97 as the top 19 finishers broke 2 minutes.
Burlington's Paul Hogan flirted with Alberto Salazar's 1975 meet record in the 2 mile, pulling away from Matt Mahoney with a 61.3 last 400 for the 9:01.47 victory. Mahoney was a strong second in 9:05.97. Newburyport's Nick Carleo led from the start in the mile and didn't let anyone close over the final 400 as he powered his way to a 4:15.42 win.
Amherst-Pelham's Taj-Amir Torres continued his fantastic run in the 100, capturing his second state title with a blistering 10.68. Falmouth junior Craig Green bolted to victory in the 200, crossing the finish line in 21.68. Chris Jewett of Woburn had a terrific stretch run in the 400 for the 48.78 win.
Other winners include Nick Fofana of Newton North in the 110 hurdles (14.44), Lincoln-Sudbury's Ben Colello in the 400 hurdles (54.68), Somerset-Berkley's Adam Couitt in the high jump (6-8), Kevin Saccone of Old Rochester in the long jump (20-3/4), Nipmuc's Kurt Robakiewicz in the triple jump (46-9), Evan Donbrowski of St. John's in the shot put (56-9), Framingham's Eric Mellusi in the discus (165-3), Weston's Andrew Connolly in the javelin (193-3) and Bridgewater-Raynham's Mark Hamalian in the pentathlon (3231).