MIAA Girls All State
Bedford's Erin Dietz always has a half smile on her face when she's running, giving the impression that what she's doing isn't difficult but a whole lof of fun. That smile broadened a whole lot more after the Div. 2 All-State raceon Saturday.
Coming off her third consecutive Div. 5 EMass win, Dietz shook defending Div. 2 champion Olivia Lantz of Manchester Essex after passing 2 miles and lengthened her gap on the way to a dominant win in 18:19. Lantz held on to second in 18:43 and Ipswich's Emily Demarco rounded out the top three in 18:59.
Dietz was surprised that the huge pack that went through the mile together in 5:45 broke up so quickly so soon after until it was down to just her and Lantz up front pushing the pace. She put in a series of surges and was able to get a lead on Lantz just before heading into the Wilderness.
"After the mile I started to push it a little more," said Dietz. "Then at the 2 mile I picked it up even more and that's where I took the lead. I wanted to start out nice and relaxed then pick it up at the end of the race. I didn't want to go out too hard and not finish well.
"I thought there was going to be a little more of a pack. This is really exciting. It was my goal to run my best at the state meet. I wanted to have a great race today and I'm glad it worked out so well. There was a pretty big pack at the mile and I expected that because everyone goes out hard at all states. I didn't know how well I was going to place compared to everyone else, but I knew I was ready to have a great race and run a fast time. I think it all came together well."
To no one's surprise, the perennially tough Hamilton-Wenham squad captured the team title with 94 points to defeat Lenox's 146 points and 157 points from Jim Hoar's Dennis-Yarmouth club. Emily Weigand, who never seems to have an off day, was her consistent self, taking 11th in 19:20 to pace Steve Sawyer's Generals to the title.
Tears of happiness were flowing once again in the Kaley Richards camp after the Lowell harrier shook off a host of talented contenders to defend her Div. 1 title. Richards had Lincoln-Sudbury's Ariel Keklak in hot pursuit around the Overlook loop and held her off for the 18:16 victory. Keklak was two seconds back in 18:18 and Margie Cullen of Needham nailed down third with her 18:23.
The slowish 5:51 opening mile resulted in an enormous pack of 25 runners jostling for position. The pack was down to a dozen runners at the 2 mile mark. Richards found being among the huge group somewhat unnerving as the race went on.
"I was scared," Richards admitted. "People were cutting each other off and there was mud everywhere. You just had to be careful. The group was so competitive and so talented."
Richards exited the Wilderness in the lead with Keklak and Cullen in pursuit. She decided to throw in another surge with a half mile to go to put some distance on the speedy Keklak and ride it to the finish line
"I don't want to sound negative, but when you have some behind you who has run faster than you it's scary," said Richards. "Ariel has run 17:48 and I've never broken 18. I just tried my best to go hard that last half mile. I'm just so happy. I don't want to say I didn't think I was going to win, it's just hard to say you're going to win when there are so many good runners. I just pushed myself as hard as I could. I thought she was coming up behind me. I don't know how close she was to me."
The pressure Richards felt melted when she crossed the finish line with her second state title. "I feel like I have a big weight off my shoulders," she said. "I'm so happy things turned out the way they did. There was definitely pressure."
Needham had little trouble in capturing the team title with Cullen, Sarah Armstrong (sixth, 18:45) and Kaleigh Hughes (12th, 19:06) all cracking the top 15. The Rockets finished with a stingy 58 points, well ahead of Bishop Feehan 117 points and Lincoln-Sudbury 128 points.