Just minutes before the start of the 1000-meter run, Gianna Mastrometteo's coach wrote, on the back of her hand, the split times he wanted his sophomore talent to hit en route.
The strategy of Mastrometteo nailing her splits quickly went out the window in a very good way and the track fans who jammed the stands at the Reggie Lewis Center got an up close look at who could be the newest female middle-distance star in the state.
The St. Peter-Marian ace blazed through the first 400 in 65.4 and bulled her way across the finish line to shatter the meet record in the race of the day at Saturday's Auerbach Freshman-Sophomore Meet.
Mastrometteo, who was racing the 1000 for just the third time ever, clocked an impressive 2:56.27 to lower the previous mark of 3:03.02 set last year by Hopedale's Rita Maurais. Runner-up Jillian Howard was also under Marais's time with her 3:02.47.
Mastrometteo has clearly found her event after running the 2 mile last season, clocking a personal best of 11:52. "I wanted to try something different," she said. "I ran 3:08 (the first time) and I felt like I could have pushed harder. This is my event. In the 1000 I'm able to give it my all over a shorter distance. I got a little tired on the fourth lap but I still felt good. I knew I could hold the pace."
Rodney Ayare-May of Burncoat also made shambles of the record book as he bolted away from the field in the 600 and won in a blistering 1:23.90. The sophomore not only destroyed the field by a full seven seconds, but also lowered the 1:26.24 run by Weston's Logan Jones back in 1999.
Next on Ayare-May's to-do list is to qualify for nationals by running a 1:22.0. "I was going for the meet record," he said. "That was my goal. I'm very happy."
The Auerbach Meet continues to be the biggest freshman-sophomore event in the country as 1,211 athletes from 75 schools competed in the small schools.
Gloucester made a statement in track's glamour event with wins in both the mile races. Carly Curcuru sprinted to victory in 5:24.85 against a strong girls' field and Kyle Manley grabbed the boys' race with a 4:39.65. The race marked the second time in a week that Manley lowered his personal best.
Watching Curcuru break the tape first gave Manley a little added incentive when he took to the starting line. "Carly ran great and I wanted to make it a sweep for Gloucester," he said. "I wanted to take it out from the start. I had the enthusiasm of the crowd behind me. I got past the two guys who were in front of me and I knew I had it."
Curcuru waited until the final 200 to make her biggest move and passed runner-up Bridget Mitchell of Milton (5:25.32) five meters from the finish line. "She (Mitchell) was pretty far ahead of me," said Curcuru. "I was really surprised that I won. I didn't think I was going to get it, but I felt really good the last 800. I figured I could get second."
The Belmont girls' 4x200 squad broke the meet record as Carey Allard, Julia Cella, Aaliya Dunsten and Marley Williams combined for a 1:50.87. Jordan Manuel of Murdock came within two seconds of the meet record with his 9:57.99 victory in the 2 mile.
Julia Celia of Belmont surged over the final 100 meters to pull away from the field and win the 300 in 42.84. Triton's Meredith Wilcox placed second in 43.18 and Alyssa Zee of Ashland took third in 43.48.
"My start was fine but I slowed down at around 100 meters," said Celia. "When I broke in I was in fourth. I would have preferred to be higher up. I was in third on the last straightaway and I gave it everything I had."
Marlboro's Erin Giugno battled Isabelle Giordano of Hopkinton down the final straightaway to capture the 600 in 1:40.37. Giordano was two steps back in 1:40.80 and Oakmont's Kaylin Ciesluk clocked a 1:42.21 for third place. "I thought I could it and I went for it," said Giugno, who is looking to crack 1:40 this season and make it to the all-state meet.
Medfield's Andrew Garfield outleaned Mike Leung of Stoneham to take the 55 dash in 6.91. Leung was a blink back in 6.92. In the 55 hurdles, Edmund Reis of Burlington hit the finish line in 8.71 for the win. Old Rochester's Eli Spevack was second in 8.84 and Jonny Phan of Westwood nailed down third in 9.99. Wakefield's Adam Roberto was victorious in the 1000 in 2:47.94 and Holliston's Rick Brown was an easy winner in the 300 in 37.89. Charlie Jackson of Fitchburgh took the high jump with a 5-6 leap and Somerset-Berkley's Andrew Farias had a 19-3/4 effort to win the long jump. Marlboro's Manny Teo flexed his shot put muscles to the tune of 40-10 for the win.
Abigail Long of Bishop Feehan was the top seed in the 2 mile and she ran up to form, racing away from the field for an easy 11:23.01 win. Norton's Katie Bradley was a distant second with a solid 12:00.49. Brooke-Lynn Williams of Norton was a force on the infield with her 7.44 win in the 55 and Nauset's Emma Stevens won the 55 hurdles in 9.22. Gianna Filaretos of Saugus won the high jump at 5-2 and Norton's Isabella Berardi took the long jump with her 16-9-1/2 leap. In the shot put, it was Dracut's Mikaylah Schwartz's day with a 34-6-1/4 heave.
Eve Hewins scored the biggest goal of her high school soccer career in the fall and continued her knack of coming up big in the limelight as the meet concluded Sunday with the large schools descending on the Reggie.
The Hingham sophomore took the lead at the gun and rolled to a meet record of 41.50 in the 300. Hewins' time easily eclipsed the 41.88 mark set in 2009 by Mansfield's Emily Broyles. Maybe more importantly, the time also broke the Hingham sophomore record held by defending 300 state champion Sierra Irvin.
The record comes after a story book fall season where she drilled home the winning goal in overtime to give Hingham a 3-2 over Arlington and the Div. 2 state title. And although soccer is her first love, Hewin feels right at home on the track.
"I love running and racing," she said. "I wanted to get to the cones first so I could cut in with the lead. We were talking about breaking the sophomore school record or the meet record."
The large schools meet drew 1290 athletes from 60 schools.
Peabody's Marcelo Rocha never trailed in the mile and kept St. John's of Shrewsbury's Ben Kovacs a step back on the way to the win in a personal best of 4:35.20. Kovacs was right there at the finish in 4:35.92 and North Middlesex's Michael Spooner clinched third with his 4:38.91.
"I just tried to get up at the front of the pack and it turns out I was in the lead when I did that," said Rocha. "I wanted to beat my PR and that's (a fast second 800) is the way to do it."
The outcome of the boys' 600 was never in doubt as Catholic Memorial's John Lara tore through the opening 400 in 55.4 and demolished the field by more than four seconds with a swift 1:25.81.
"I didn't know what to expect," said Lara. "I go out in front most of the time and I let it go. I felt great."
Beverly's Abby Walsh ran conservatively for the first four laps before surging at 800 meters and lengthening her lead to win the mile in 5:14.14. Caroline Sarro Bridgewater-Raynham finished a strong second in 5:19.41 and Natick's Kelsey Walak clocked a 5:20.66 for third.
Walsh, who has a tendency to run hard from the gun, believed the early controlled pace benefited her over the final 800. "The first 800 was a little slow but I picked it up the second half," said Walsh, who was fourth last year as a freshman. "This is the first time I've held myself back and saved my energy. I felt really strong. Last year's race was very physical. There was a lot of bumping."
Demoy Holding of North Quincy sprinted to the 55 title in 6.71 and North Andover's Erick Duffy was quickest over the hurdles in 8.20. Acton-Boxboro's Brendan Cron took the 1000 in 2:50.70 and Newton South's Austin Burton won the high jump with a leap of 5-8. Newton North's Seanross McClinchy was an easy winner in the long jump at 20-1-1/4 and teammate Nathaniel Klein took the shot put with a 46-1-1/4 mark.
The girls' competition was equally impressive. Calene Lazare of Newton South won the 55 in 7.55 and Plymouth South's Madelyn Sessler took the hurdles in 9.14. Marie Nevils of Lincoln-Sudbury clocked a 1:43.95 to win the 600 and Beverly's Julia Curtin never made it close in the 1000 with a 3:04.41 victory. Andover's Caroline Wacome outdueled Alexandra Wolf of Lexington in the 2 mile for an 11:38.58 win. Wolf was less than a second back in 11:39.52. Newton North's Liana Reilly won the high jump at 5-2 and Wellesley's Kerry Harrington took the long jump with a leap of 15-6-3/4. Beverly's Gracie Sparkman dominated the shot put with a toss of 32-0. Weymouth's Sam Gaughan was second with a solid 29-7-3/4 heave.