Division 1 by Joe Reardon
St. John's Prep's Joe Luongo still believes there is an encore performance coming after making shambles of the state record in the 600 a week ago at the Armory in New York City.
Last night at the Div. 1 championships, Luongo wasn't looking to better the scintillating 1:18.4 mark, but instead, defending his title in his specialty.
Luongo never made it close. He took the lead at the gun and was well clear of the field when he tore across the Reggie Lewis Center finish line in 1:20.34 for an easy win for the second year in a row. Runner-up Justin Marcantonio of BC High was more than four seconds back (1:24.79) in second.
Luongo admitted the snow that crippled Massachusetts had put a dent in his training. “Training has been pretty bad," he said. “I did what I could tonight with what I had. I was definitely going for the win. That was the goal so I was pretty happy."
Defending state 1000 champion Maya Halprin-Adams of Cambridge was nursing a sore foot and made the decision to drop down to the 600. The result was the same as she edge out Lucy Lang of Lexington for the 1:35.59 win. The victory puts her in prime position to battle for a state title in the shorter event.
“I've had a problem with my foot," Halprin-Adams said. “The distance (1000) wasn't working out for me. I like both events the same. I have the fast time in the 1000 and I wanted a fast 600 too."
Halprin-Adams joined teammates Brianna Duncan, Sydney Fisher and Esmeralda Asprilla to defend their title in the 4x200 in 1:44.59.
Lincoln-Sudbury's Ariel Keklak came up big in the 1000, racing away from Newton South's Clare Martin for an impressive 2:54.25 win. In the boys' mile, Cambridge took first and third with Esu Alemseged pulling away over the final 200 for the 4:22.32 win and Daniel Aschale was third in 4:24.90. Lexington's Zachary Manickas-Hill split the pair in 4:24.72.
Benjamin Jacobson captured the 2 mile for Lexington in 9:29.68 and Benjamin Martell took third in the 1000 to pace the Minutemen to the team title with 45 points to edge out Andover (39 points). Andover swept the top two places in the 55 hurdles with Sebastian Silveira breaking the tape in 7.56 and Sean Caveny two steps back in 7.71. The team was its usual tough self in the relays, capturing the 4x200 in 1:31.34 and 4x400 in 3:27.93.
Joe Tranchita's Newton North continued its Div 1 dominance by rallying late in the meet to pull in front of Cambridge 60-56. The Tigers had one winner with Melissa Hurwitz capturing the 55 hurdles in 8.78. Hurwitz also finished third in the long jump with a leap of 16-10-3/4.
Division 2 by Joe Reardon
Billerica's Peter Garmon rolled the dice, bundled up and did the bulk of his training outdoors over the last few weeks and more than maintained his fitness slogging through the snow and bucking the wind.
Garmon's conditioning from the snow runs and his unparalleled talent was on display at last night's Div. 2 championships at the Reggie Lewis Center and it proved to be double trouble for his competition.
He completed the rare mile/1000 double and put his 1:51.5 800 speed to good use in the process to defend his 1000 title in 2:31.14 just 45 minutes after fighting off Wellesley's Thomas D'Anieri (4:25.01) to win the mile in 4:23.48. The double wins came just five days after breaking Billerica's 37-year mile mark with a sterling 4:14 at the New Balance Grand Prix Games.
“My coach and I thought about it (doubling) and thought why not go for both," said Garmon. “Even if I didn't win both, it would be a good workout."
Woburn's Chris Jewett also pulled off an impressive double, tying the meet record in the 300 with a quick 35.15 and capturing the long jump with a leap of 21-6. Beverly's girls also came away with a meet record, cranking out a 9:35.38 to win the 4x800.
Dan Romano captured the 2 mile for Mansfield in 9:34.82 to help pace the Hornets to the boys' team title with 66 points. Julie Collins' crew also came away with a pair of third-place finishes by Aiden Friend in the 55 (6.72) and 300 (36.27), and Herman Kinds' 21-6 effort in the long jump was good for second.
Olivia Weir blitzed the 1000 field in 2:58.92 and was King Philip's lone winner on the way to the girls' title with 49 points. The Warriors also took a big third-place finish in the 300 with Christin Wagner's very quick 41.51 and a second in the 4x400 in 4:01.80.
Needham's Sarah Armstrong had the feel-good performance of the meet with her second-place finish in the mile (5:05.14). The defending outdoor mile champion, Armstrong sustained a severe stress fracture injury near the end of the cross country season that cut into her indoor campaign, regulating her to a diet of cross training and watching from the sidelines. The Rocket more than proved she is on the mend.
“I needed to be patient but it wasn't fun," Armstrong said of her cross training regiment. “It's not my PR, but I'll get there."
Teammate Kaleigh Hughes was in complete control as she shook the pack at the 800 (2:29) and pulled ahead for an easy 5:02.05 win. “I wanted to take the lead from the start and race it out," said Hughes. “I want to PR (at the state meet) like always."
The third of Needham's Three Horsemen, Margie Cullen, simply ran away from the competition for a controlled 11:02.50 victory. Billerica's Abby Fisher was second in 11:32.90 and Gina D'Addario of Woburn took third in 11:38.11.
Division 3 by Joe Reardon
For one night shining evening, she was Queen Isabella of Massachusetts track.
Isabella DiMare, the Holy Cross-bound senior out of Notre Dame in Hingham, easily defended her 55 hurdle title in 8.57 and then outleaned Hingham's enormously talented Sierra Irvin for the victory in 7.24 in a dramatic 55 dash final at last night's Div. 3 track championships at the Reggie Lewis Center.
DiMare's bid for a triple win fell short with her third-place finish in the 300 (42.11) behind Irvin, who blasted away with the 39.25 win and Ashley Lewis of Latin Academy (40.13). But it's always been the infield where DiMare's star has shined brightest.
"I'm usually really nervous, but I came in really confident," said DiMare. "I'll do well as long as I trust my ability. It's all about confidence."
DiMare credited the simulation workouts she did under the watchful eye of legendary coach Bill Jennings for being able to pull off the double and run well in the 300. "He's such a great coach," she said. "The fact that I can call him my coach is just awesome."
Whitman-Hanson's Samantha Colletti followed up a dominant win in the mile (5:09.67) by outkicking Elizabeth Hannon of Bishop Feehan in the 1000 to complete the double win in a quick 2:57.50. Hannon was clocked in 2:58.77
Bishop Feehan's Anthony Delasanta captured the 300 in 35.79 and went on to anchor both the 4x200 and 4x400 to victories. His split in the 400 was a scalding 48.7.
Amherst-Pelham captured the boys' team title with 55 points to edge out Concord-Carlisle (46 points) and Bishop Feehan (42 points), while Bishop Feehan ran away with the girls' win with 80 points for its second victory in a row and third in the last five years.
Concord Carlisle junior Thomas Ratcliffe was pretty much able to cruise to his second consecutive title in the mile as he took the lead from the start and left the pack behind for the gold medal in 4:18.0, well ahead of runner-up Chris Skelly of North Middlesex.
Ratcliffe's victory came on the heels of a startling new five-second personal best of 4:10.45 at the New Balance Grand Prix Meet where he finished fourth against a deep field. "I'm just getting ready for next week," shrugged Ratcliffe. "I can't say I expected to run that fast. It was a great experience. I'll just see how it plays out (at the state meet)."
Amherst-Pelham's Allen Vance raced well in the 600 to break the meet record in 1:21.84 and lead a 1-2 finish with teammate Kelzy Rodrigues taking second in 1:23.14. Vance's time erased the long-standing 1:22.03 mark set back in 1998 by Kobie Fuller of Milton. Amherst-Pelham also raced its way into the record books, outdueling Concord-Carlisle an 8:05.01 win in the 4x800.
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Division 4 by Joe Reardon
Burncoat's Rodney Agyare-May reasoned that if he was in first place at the cut in in the 600 at yesterday's Div. 4 championships that he would have plenty of running room and be very tough to beat on the Reggie Lewis Center track.
The talented sophomore got out fast and was indeed in first place at the cut, but he didn't bargain on Wakefield's Jackson Gallagher to be right on his shoulder challenging him. Agyare-May needed to switch gears the final 100 meters to put some space between himself and Gallagher on the way to a personal best and new meet record of 1 minute, 21.30 seconds. Jackson was a couple of steps back in 1:21.70. His time bettered the 1:22.16 by Douglas Caves in 2005.
Agyare-May accomplished what he set out to do with the win. “I wanted to get the meet record and PR," he said. “I was hoping to lead coming into the cut in. I was really surprised because I didn't think anyone would challenge me, but the kid from Wakefield ran a great race."
Aidain Gilson of Northampton threw in a big surge with 300 to go in the mile and Andrew Ernst of Marblehead answered it for about 50 meters before falling back. Gibson wasn't challenged over the final 200 and broke the tape with a new personal best of 4:18.30. Ernst was just over five seconds back in 4:24.0 for second.
Gilson wanted to put in the surge to run the kick out of his competition. “I knew with 300 to go, regardless of how I felt, I was going to go," he said. “I know I have a pretty good kick. I thought it was the only way I was going to win. I can't go from gun to tape."
Jillian Howard of Weston was another winner who put her kick to good use. Locked in a duel with Milton freshman Bridget Mitchell, Howard began to push with 400 left and left Mitchell behind with an eight-second personal best in 5:05.82. Mitchell never faltered in taking second in an impressive 5:08.67.
“The race was perfect in the beginning," said Howard, who would like to whittle her time down to the 5:03 area at the state meet. “My legs started to get heavy with four laps to go, but I still felt good."
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Norton's 4x200 relay team of Abu Ceesay, Justin Ireland, Camden Cleathero and Adam Winiarz clocked a 1:32.40, breaking the 2004 meet record of 1:33.56 held by Foxboro. Milton was also under the old mark with its 1:33.09.
Northampton captured the 4x400 relay in 3:26.24 to give the squad the added push past Norton on the boys' side with 58 points. The Lancers were just half a point back with 57.5 points. Along with Gilson's win in the mile and the 4x400 victory, Northampton also had a winner in the 1000 with Liam Sullivan capturing the gold in 2:34.15. The Western Mass team was also victorious in the 4x800 with an 8:05.40.
The girls' meet wasn't nearly as close as Pembroke (59 points) ran away with the team title. Meghan Richards had the lone win for the Titans, capturing the shot put with 39-11 toss. Pembroke owned the relays with wins in the 4x200 (1:49.56) and 4x400 (4:12.43).
Division 5 - by MilesplitMass Staff
The snow delayed MIAA Division V Championship finally took center stage Tuesday afternoon at Reggie Lewis Center. Although they are the smallest schools in the state, they sure had some giant performances.
The sprinting events started the evening off as Julia Malenchini of Sutton won the 55M Dash. Her time of 7.47 was by far her fastest performance of the season. Cole Godzinski of North Reading easily won the 55M Hurdles with a time of 8.58. The defending Outdoor 100M Hurdle All State Champion turned in the 3rd fastest time of all the divisional meets. It will be quite a final in the Hurdles this weekend as only fractions of a second separate the Top 3 Hurdlers in the state.
In the Boys 55M Dash, Garrett Morris of Bishop Stang went from 25th place in 2014 to taking home the Gold Medal in 2015. His time of 6.65 was just ahead of Samirr Williams of Cardinal Spellman. Kevin Saccone defended his Division 5 title in the 55M Hurdles. The Old Rochester Senior ran a personal best time of 7.58. Later in the meet, Saccone would pick up his second victory of the day as he won the Long Jump in 21-1".
The Girls Mile had three high caliber performances, as Olivia Lantz of Manchester Essex (5:00.6), Rita Maurais of Hopedale (5:06.17), and Felicia Banda of Gardner (5:06.93) all earned tickets to the seeded heat for the All State Finals. The Boys Mile was missing defending Champion Nick Carleo of Newburyport. Carleo has been slowed down lately with a mild leg injury and was unable to defend his title. Cameron Holley of Manchester Essex (4:29.82) was able to hold the title in the Cape Ann League, as he outkicked Troy Taylor (4:33.24) of Littleton. Jack Carleo of Newburyport will keep the Carleo family travelling to Reggie this weekend, as he captured 3rd place with a personal best time of 4:33.62.
The most impressive race of the day was the girls 1000M run. Sarah Edwards (2;54.76) of Bellingham, Gianna Mastrometteo (2:56.22) of St. Peter Marian, and Emily DeMarco (2:56.59) of Ipswich battled down the final stretch with Edwards taking the title. The D5 trio will occupy three of the top 4 seeds for the All State finals.
In the boys 1000M run, Nick Costa ( 2:36.28) of Carver won the 1000M run over South Shore rival Kevin O'Driscoll (2:38.98) of Norwell.
Amy Piccolo (1:35.75) of Ursuline Academy won another 600M title. . Piccolo also finished second in the Long Jump 16' 6" and anchored the winning 4x400M Relay. The UA girls won their third straight indoor crown.
The boys 600M run saw a record breaking performance by Tom Graham 1:22.95.). The Newburyport Senior controlled the race from start to finish and finished nearly two seconds ahead of Norwell's Ed Masterson. The Clippers had two other first place finishes, Alec Reduker in the High Jump (6-2) and the 4x400M Relay Team (3:36.56). Newburyport took home the team title with 46 points.
The Austin Prep 4x200M relay team ran a meet record 1:34.90.
Division 1 by Joe Reardon
St. John's Prep's Joe Luongo still believes there is an encore performance coming after making shambles of the state record in the 600 a week ago at the Armory in New York City.