St. John's Prep's Joe Luongo knew fully well what the meet record was in the 600 at Saturday's All-State meet and the Harvard-bound talent decided it was time that it needed a little revamping.
The outcome was never in doubt as the Harvard-bound Luongo tore through the opening 400 in 51.1 at the Reggie Lewis Center and kept right on going for a new meet record of 1 minute, 19.36 seconds. The time bettered the 1:19.94 performance by Somerville's Andre Rolim in 2012 as Luongo defended his title after finishing second as a sophomore.
“I wanted to go out pretty fast and stay with that pace through the 400," said Luongo. “I knew I could start kicking off that pace and it worked out pretty well."
Concord-Carlisle's Tom Ratcliffe looked back once heading into the gun lap and kicked hard over the final 200 meters for a big 4:13.78 win in the mile. The race was a deep one with Mike Duggan of Mansfield (4:18.32) and Tom D'Anieri of Wellesley (4:19.51) setting personal bests on the way to taking second and third, respectively.
“I just wanted to see who was behind me," said Ratcliffe of the quick look over his shoulder. “I was a little surprised no one went with me. I just wanted to win."
With two false starts in the 55, Brockton's Jonathan Derolus played it a little more tentative out of the blocks in the final, but there was no one faster over the final 20 meters as he took his specialty in 6.46. Derolus, who finished second last year, admitted the situation became more nerve racking after the false starts.
“After two false starts it was pretty intense," said Derolus, who was the runner-up last year. “I had a lot of adrenaline and gave it all I had. It's all mental and you do get more butterflies."
Andover had a win in the 4x200 (1:31.52) and a second-place finish in a very quick 4x400 (3:24.05) to clinch the team title with 31 points, edging out second-place Mansfield (26 points) and Amherst-Pelham (25 points).
There were no pretenders in the 1000 field in the girls' competition, but with Ariel Keklak of Lincoln-Sudbury at the very top of her game, Jackson Browne probably would have said a prayer for the enormously talented lineup anyway. The Warrior junior was just that good.
Keklak was content to run in the pack early before surging into the lead with 500 meters left and capturing the event with a scalding 2:51.17. The time was the sixth-fastest ever by a Massachusetts girl and a personal best by more than three seconds. Whitman-Hanson's Samantha Colletti was a strong second in 2:55.14 and Sarah Edwards of Bellingham took third with a 2:55.78.
“I wanted to stay near them without leading," said Keklak. “I've been feeling really good and really strong the second half of the race. I knew that Sarah Edwards has a great kick and I looked back a couple of times to see where she was."
Amy Piccolo of Ursuline was in fourth to begin the bell lap, but kicked hard over the final 200 to capture her third consecutive 600 in 1:34.23. Mansfield's Mikaila Amerantes was second in 1:34.69 and Lexington's Lucy Lang placed third in 1:34.81. "When I got to the cut there were a bunch of girls in front of me," said Piccolo. "Going into the last lap I felt really strong."
Brianna Duncan of Cambridge was a double winner with victories in the 55 (7.14) and long jump (18-8-1/2). “My start wasn't great, but it feels good to win," she said. “I've got to be satisfied."
Needham owned the longer races as Kaleigh Hughes took the mile ahead of Kaley Richards of Lowell and Manchester Essex's Olivia Lantz in an indoor personal best of 4:56.35 and Margie Cullen ran down Bedford's Erin Dietz to capture the 2 mile in 10:51.21. Lantz lost her spike on the first lap, but never panicked and still ran a strong 4:56.98 for third.
“I got used to it," shrugged Lantz. “I kept it out of my mind. The track surface is soft. I'm that happens to a lot of runners."
Notre Dame's Isabella DiMare was quick out of the blocks against a tough 55 hurdle field and just edged out runner-up Morgan Sanders of Westfield (8.55) to defend her state title in 8.44. Plymouth South's Jayci Andrews ran well for third in 8.66.
“It was the closest race of my life," said DiMare. “My mom told me to go all out and let the cards fall where they may."
Wachusett scored a monumental upset in the team competition, finishing with 33 points to edge out Cambridge (28 points) and Needham's 25 point for third.