Elite Performances Highlight Combined MSTCA Meets


Taj-Amir Torres of Amherst-Pelham will tell you his best event is the 55-meter dash, but the Western Mass speedster showed the crowd at Sunday's MSTCA Coaches Elite Invitational that he's just as explosive in the 300.

Racing on the banked Reggie Lewis Center track, Torres overcame a slow start out of the blocks to capture the event in 34.78 seconds. Torres defeated a deep field and finished just ahead of Abu Ceesay of Norton (34.96).

"I came out a little slow but I'm happy," said Torres. "This is only the third time running this."

Joe Luongo of St. John's Prep made it clear he has the 600 state record in his sites as he raced to a meet-record time of 1:20.21. He needed to overcome some jostling down the back straightaway before changing gears and racing away from the field. His time bettered the 1:20.28 run by the great Said Ahmed in 2001.

"I was trying to go for under 1:20," said Luongo. "There was a lot of interference, but it's a race. I felt pretty confident. In my last dual meet I ran 1:21 by myself. I'd love to get the state record."

Olivia Lantz of Manchester Essex and Aidan Gilson of Northampton dominated the mile races. Lantz took the lead just past three quarters and ran away from the field for a 5:02.90 win. Gilso broke his indoor personal best by seven seconds with his 4:20.75 win that put him well ahead of runnerup Daniel Aschale of Cambridge (4:25.56).

"I wanted to stay off the lead guys," said Gilson. "It was a bit slow so with 300 to go I went."

Lantz knew a win would be no easy task. "I knew the field was tough," she said. "The pace was a little slow at first but got faster."

Isabella DiMare of Notre Dame of HIngham was brilliant once again in the hurdles as she tore away from the field for the victory in 8.42. DiMare prides herself in her work ethic and believes she is more fit than this time last year.

"Just to win a race takes a lot of preparation," she said. "I came off the first hurdle really good. I felt Like I was moving fast but my arms were all over the place on the last hurdle."

Gianna Mastromatteo of St. Peter-Marian turned away a loaded 1000 field, breaking the tape in 2:55.21. Newton South's Clare Martin was second in 2:57.38 and Maya Halprin-Adams of Cambridge was third in 2:58.65. Ashley Lewis of Latin Academy came up big in the 300, breaking the 40-second barrier in 29.90 for the win.

Kaley Richards surged with 300 meters left to pull away from Emily Bryson of North Quincy (11:06.17) and Emily DeMarco of Ipswich (11:08.80) to win the 2 mile in 11:02.68. Amherst-Pelham's 8:04.84 in the boys' 4x800 was a new meet record.