Weekend Recap:
This past weekend was another action-packed 48 hours on the oval. While we thought it might have been hard to top all of the excellent performances from last weekend, we saw big marks from the D2 & D3 State Relays and mid-week meets that gave the previous weekend a run for its money. If you couldn't make it down to Reggie this weekend or were to caught up with the Pats game, we got the full rundown for you in this edition of the weekend recap!
D2 State Relay Championship
Boys
Picking it up where the previous Divisional Relays left off, the D2 meet got started bright and early on Saturday morning with the 4x50H relays. For the most part, all eyes were on the squads from North Andover and Needham. Like last year, these two teams both racked up 40 team points and shared the 2015 team title. Setting the tone for the rest of the day, the North Andover boys won in 26.80 and narrowly edged out Woburn's squad who came across the line in 27.06. After picking up that early victory in the 4x50H, North Andover came up short for points in the 4x8 and SMR. Though their 4x2 quartet stoked the fire, picking up some much-needed points to win the event with a time of 1:33.10. Trying to keep things close for the second straight year, the Needham Rockets were fighting tooth-and-nail for crucial points in every relay they were entered. They took 6th in 4x8 (8:22.34), 4th in the SMR (3:40.8), and 4th in the 4x2 (1:34.0). On the infield, Needham's long jump relay executed their job perfectly and won the event in a new MR distance of 18.95m.
As we entered the final race of the day, North Andover was all tied up with the Tanners of Woburn and Needham was nipping at both of their heels. Early on in the 4x4, Natick did most of the heavy lifting with Reading and Woburn in tow. Though in the third leg, there was an excellent performance from Needham's third man to hand off to his final leg in 1st place. Over the next 400m, Needham did all they could to hold off Natick, eventually coming away with the victory in a time of 3:28.76, while Natick took 2nd in 3:28.80. Behind this fine duel, the North Andover boys passed a fading Woburn squad to take 3rd overall in 3:33.52 and pick up six points. Woburn had to settle for 5th place with a time of 3:35.18. In the end, North Andover's 4x4 performance gave them a team total of 34-just one point ahead of 2nd place, Needham. Taking a respectable 3rd place overall was Woburn with a total of 29 points.
Girls
On the girl's side of D2, the day began with the 4x50H, in which eventual team leaders Beverly and Wellesley took 2nd and 5th, respectively. Though once the hurdles were removed, Wellesley shot back and forth across the infield to win the 4x50 relay in 25.19. Early on in the meet, Beverly appeared to have the slight edge with their 2nd-place finish in the 4x8 (10:04.14), 2nd-place finish in the SMR (4:16.05), and their very strong 2nd-place finish in the DMR (12:19.71). In those three events, the girls from Wellesley picked up points only from their 5th-place finish in the 4x8 (10:28.34). They did, however, gain some points with their 2nd-place finish in the 4x2 with a time of 1:48.11.
In the end, it was on the infield where the Lady Raiders of Wellesley really showed their stuff on Saturday. In the high jump relay they amassed a height total of 14'10.75", six inches better than 2nd place, Beverly. At the throws circle, Wellesley took 2nd once again with their total distance of 90'20.25". The long jump relay would also provide Wellesley with four points and a combined mark of 44'10.25". The well- rounded effort by Wellesley's athletes on the oval and infield events proved to be the crucial factor in their eventual team victory. For despite beating placing 2nd and beating 3rd place Wellesley in the 4x4, Beverley still came up two points short of surpassing Wellesley's 51-point total.
On top of the very exciting team battle we witnessed at the D2 Girls meet, Saturday's meet was also highlighted by the thrilling performance in the DMR by the young ladies from Needham. No strangers to fast times, as they're the defending Outdoor National Champions in the DMR, Needham girls flew to a MR and US#2 time of 12:10.92. This certainly sets them up well in the coming weeks and we could see an excellent dual at Nationals between the Rockets and Lady Warriors of Lincoln-Sudbury who ran a now US#4 time of 12:16.16.
D3 State Relay Championship
Girls
On Sunday, athletes began filing into Reggie and preparing for the final day of state relay championships. It had been an awesome two weeks of relay action from all divisions and the D3 teams certainly weren't going to let the fans down yesterday.
For one girl's team in particular, yesterday's meet had an extra element of importance than it might have had in year's past. This was the case for the young ladies from Hingham, who early last week had lost their first league meet since 2010. With such a long streak coming to an end, Hingham wanted to right the ship quickly and getting the winning streak back on track. It wasn't going to be an easy task, as they would be dealing with tough squads from Hopkinton, Concord-Carlisle, and Bishop Feehan.
The girls from Hopkinton would get out to an early start with their victory in the 4x50H relay and their 4:17.2 runner-up finish in the SMR. Though Hingham wouldn't be intimidated and respond with a 1:47.7 victory in the 4x2 and 4th place finish in the 4x50 relay. The ladies of Hingham also made their presence known in the field events. This is where we saw Hingham pick up a strong victory in the high jump and a 3rd place finish in the long jump. Despite the well balanced effort by Hingham, they would enter the final relay of the day with the team title still up for grabs between them and Hopkinton. From the gun, Hingham girls shot off the line and got out to an early lead with their first leg. Hingham would stay out front for almost the entire race, but eventually fade in the final 150m. At this point, Hopkinton girls came roaring back and won the 4x4 in a time of 4:10.8. Despite falling short of victory in the 4x4, Hingham was able to hold onto 4th place and picked up enough points to claim the D3 team title. Hopkinton girls took 2nd place overall and were just one point behind Hingham, while Concord-Carlisle finished 3rd in the team standings with their 35 points.
Boys
On paper, it would seem like the boys from Bishop-Feehan easily walked away the D3 team title on Sunday. Though it certainly wasn't a walk in the park for the boys from Feehan and the start of the meet would be an uphill battle. The first half of the meet, Bishop Feehan only picked up points from their 3rd place finish in the 4x50 relay and 4th place in the 4x8. In the 4x2, the Feehan squad dropped the baton and was eventually DQed. Despite the tough start, Feehan's field athletes weren't ready to quit and came up with big points across the board. The Shamrocks picked up first place points in the shot put, finished 2nd in the long jump, and scrapped a point with their high jump relay taking 6th. Wrapping up the afternoon, Bishop Feehan sealed the deal for their team title victory by winning the 4x4 with a time of 3:33.43.
In addition to the awesome performances by the Bishop Feehan team, Concord-Carlisle took 2nd overall with 33 points due the excellent efforts of their distance squad and field event athletes. In the first event of the day, the Minutemen took 2nd overall with a solid time of 8:22.8. A bit later in the day, Concord-Carlisle came back for the DMR and won in a very big way. After an opening leg of 3:10 in the 1200, 1:59 in the 800 and a 51 for the 400, Thomas Ratcliffe would take the baton for the final leg. Despite racing earlier in the day and putting up a superb two-mile performance earlier in the week, Ratcliffe split a 4:12 to bring his squad home in a big US#1 time of 10:14.45. North Attleborough boys finished up right behind Concord-Carlisle with 31 points for 3rd place.
Yale Classic Invitational
A meet that features large numbers of New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island squads, a few teams from Massachusetts made the trek down to New Haven this past weekend for the Yale Track Classic at the famous Cox Cage. Making the most of the bountiful regional competition, Brianna Duncan had herself another fine day in the 55m and long jump. On the jumps runway, Duncan soared out to a big PR and MA#1/US#5 mark of 19'2.5". In the 55m, the Cambridge speedster dropped a season best and MA#1 time of 7.05. Earlier this week, we saw also Duncan drop a big 300m PR and MA#1 time of 40.09 at a DCL meet.
East Coast Invitational
While everyone was staying busy at Reggie and Yale, Sarah Edwards of Bellingham headed to Providence to see how fast she could go in the mile. Toeing the line with a personal best of 4:58.2, Edwards flew around the track and clocked in four second best of 4:54.6. This currently ranks Edwards as #1 in Massachusetts and #4 in the US.