5:56: That'll do it for the high school races- congratulations due to our winners, the Rush Henrietta girls sprint medley, the LaSalle Academy boys distance medley, Ryen Frazier in the junior girls mile, and Logan Wetzel in the junior boys mile. An awesome day for high school track, and now we sit back and enjoy the big boys and girls, knowing we might have seen a few future stars as well.
5:54: Closest race I've ever seen at this meet- Wetzel wins in 4:08.75 with no breathing room as LaSalle's Salisbury goes 4:08.76. Jeremy Spiezio (4:09.80) takes the bronze, with Ratcliffe, who did so much of the early work to keep it honest, sticking in 4th (4:10.45). Sam Ritz (4:10.50), Aidan Tooker (4:11.50), and Billerica's PJ Garmon (4:14.00) close out the scoring in one of the most contested and exciting to watch races ever put on here!
5:53: Sam Ritz takes over in 3:07, but final 200 belongs to LaSalle's Salisbury and Logan Wetzel!! Who won this thing???
5:52: Ritz takes over the lead in 2:36 for the 1K, Ratcliffe hangs with him.
5:51: Ratcliffe holds the lead over Wetzel and we're through in 2:05. Pretty good bunch right there.
5:50: LaSalle won the DMR without Salisbury, their fastest mile. Dang.
5:49: Not holding back, good size pack through 200m in 30 seconds.
5:47: Final high school race on the track, junior boys mile. Garmon (Billerica), Ratcliffe (Concord-Carlisle), and Deokar (Middlesex) bring the local flavor.
5:38: Frazier 4:44.02 for the new meet record! Ellington (4:53.63), Belf (4:54.74) and then a Mass. 1-2 punch of Kaleigh Hughes of Needham (4:57.34) and Kaley Richards of Lowell (4:57.39) jump in front of NY's Anna Flynn (4:58.03). Really fast race, no tactics, just guts.
5:37: Up stays Frazier! 4:43 unofficial!!!
5:36: Frazier through in 2:56, doesn't look strained. Kaleigh Hughes moves into 5th to lead the pack, which came through in 3:05. Belf has passed Ellington for 2nd, Flynn commands 4th.
5:35: Those three continue to assert, the pack bunches in together. Frazier through in 2:22, with Ellington and Belf back 5 seconds. The field is spreading way out.
5:33: Ellington shoots into an early lead, nobody holding back. First quarter in 71, with Frazier and Belf on her hip.
5:31: Girls junior mile on the track- no rest for the weary.
5:28: Lasalle takes a commanding lead with DJ Principie owning the final mile. He's going to win in under 4:20 (10:18.12 US#1), Mansfield (10:19.x) makes a real charge for 2nd, but Duggan comes just short. Amherst hangs in for 3rd (10:24.45).
5:27: The 800 split for the Amherst anchor is 2:12, but he has company now. Lasalle (not CRL) has taken the lead- sorry Lasalle, been calling you CRL.
5:25: Amherst, CRL, Mansfield- the latter two come into 1K to go with a genuine shot at Conor Evans.
5:24: Cambridge moves into 2nd, gaining traction on Amherst during the 800 leg. Gloucester, CRL, and Methuen all appear in the mix going into the milesplit.
5:23: Gloucester, Amherst, Methuen, and CRL together in 3:06, but Torres opens it up with a 49.0 unofficial split.
5:22: Crawford through 800 in 2:03, but the field is reeling him in- everybody together in 2:38, anybody's split.
5:20: Everett Crawford leads the way for Gloucester and he's gaining space on the track. Methuen is 2nd and then the rest are bunched up 10 meters back. We're halfway and Crawford is through at 1:29.
5:19: And we're off with the 1200 leg, less tactical than the girls first lap- they're through in 29.
5:17: Excited to see what Mass. 100m state champ Taj-Amir Torres does in the 400 on Amherst's DMR... betting it's quick.
5:14: SMR results as follows: 1- Rush Henrietta 4:06.67; 2- King Philip 4:14.25; 3- Lexington 4:15.15; 4- Shenendehowa 4:16.03; 5- Hingham 4:16.10; 6- Cambridge R&L 4:16.19; 7- Ursuline 4:18.47
5:09: Waiting on SMR results, but a quick peak at boys DMR, also heavily local. Lexington, St. John's (S), Methuen, Amherst, Gloucester, and Mansfield represent the Bay State, while West Chester Henderson (PA), La Salle (RI), Ridgefield (CT) and Wilton (CT) join us from elsewhere. Hoping for a tight battle.
5:04: No movement in places after the 800- Rush Henrietta simply dominant in 4:06.67... rest of the teams come through in a bunch about 8 seconds back. Results TBA.
5:03: It's Rush, Ursuline, CRL, Lexington at the exchange, with a 2:18 leader split.
5:03: Bunched up, Watson must be licking her chops, but it won't be fast folks, unless someone moves NOW.
5:02: CRL's Halprin-Adams and Ursuline's Piccolo lead a soft first lap... 38!
5:00: Here we go, girls SMR, gun's up...
4:55: Sammy Watson leads off for Rush Henrietta, she went 39.94 at Dartmouth and ran a mega-split in that US#1 SMR. Bender leads for KP, Leah Hickey for Hingham. Update on the order... 800-200-200-400, my apologies.
4:50 PM: First high school event will be the 1600m sprint medley, featuring some nice local flavor- Hingham will likely open with Sierra Irvin, the defending 400m state champion in 54.51, a Mass. state meet record. Lexington always has a strong squad, featuring Lucy Lang and Melissa Solomon among their legs. Cambridge R&L will use Brianna Duncan and Sydney Fisher to give way to Maya Halprin-Adams. Ursuline's Amy Piccolo will lead that team's charge, as will the duo of Gianna Bender and Olivia Weir of King Philip. Rush Henrietta (US#1) is the favorite with a 4:04.72 clocking under their belts, and Shenendehowa joins them from NY. 400-200-200-800 will be the order. We will get splits as they come.
4:30 PM: I'll be blogging the high school races as they come. We kick off with the high school girls 1600m sprint medley at 5:00, followed at 5:15 with the high school boys distance medley relay. That will be followed at 5:30 with the girls junior 1 mile run, and 5:45 will feature the junior boys mile. Along the way, we will provide updates of the professional races as well. So sit back, buckle in, and enjoy the ride. We'll take you through what you couldn't be here to see yourself!
5:56: That'll do it for the high school races- congratulations due to our winners, the Rush Henrietta girls sprint medley, the LaSalle Academy boys distance medley, Ryen Frazier in the junior girls mile, and Logan Wetzel in the junior boys mile. An awesome day for high school track, and now we sit back and enjoy the big boys and girls, knowing we might have seen a few future stars as well.