Best All-State Meet of All Time?

It was the final round of the championship title bout and both contenders came out swinging. We've known all season long that Brooke-Lynn Williams of Norton and Brianna Duncan of Cambridge Rindge and Latin were fast, but they took it to a different level Saturday. In their final match-up of the season and with a meet record on the line, Williams shot out of the blocks exceptionally well and Duncan was immediately in a hole in her first few strides. Though Duncan made up ground as the two shot across Reggie, Williams would prove to be too much to handle. It was clear Williams took the win, but everyone held their breath in anticipation of the times about to the flash on the scoreboard. GASP! APPLAUSE! CHEERS! 6.91! It was a new meet record, current US#3, and the fastest time ever in Massachusetts's history for the Norton junior. While it certainly must have stung for Duncan to come up short of victory, she clocked in a new personal best and MA#2 all-time performance of 6.98. Plus, Duncan came back later in the day and got her victory on the track with her impressive 39.87 #6 MA all-time in the 300m. The indoor season is nearing its final few meets and we're certain we'll see both of these young ladies compete at nationals. Though, we really can't wait to see them square off all throughout the spring in both the 100m and 200m. Plus, Brook-Lynn Williams is a junior and she will be gracing our tracks for another year!

Not to be overlooked, Madelyn Sessler of Plymouth South held off a very tough crowd of competitors in the girls' 55H to win in a new MA#1 time of 8.40.

GIRLS' MID-DISTANCE

MASSACHUSETTS = Mid-Distance Powerhouse

It was clear from the gun that Ashley Lewis of Boston Latin was no longer hampered by a hamstring issue that struck mid-season. She assumed the lead confidently off the break in the girls' 600m and dragged the field through in 29 and hit the bell at 61. No one ever bothered to challenge the Boston Latin senior and Lewis powered home to win a strong time of 1:33.0. Samantha Friborg of Acton Boxborough was runner-up in 1:33.97.

We had predicted the girls' 1000 as one of the BEST races of the day and quite possibly the season. Did it live up to expectations? Well, considering that three girls ran sub- 2:50, there was a photo finish for 2^nd, and the top ten were all under 3:00, we can confidently say this race provided plenty of sparks. Ariel Keklak of Lincoln-Sudbury was considered the pre-race favorite, but she knew better than to sleep on the likes of Clare Martin of Newton South and Sarah Edwards of Bellingham. In the opening lap, Martin showed she wasn't messing around and took control early to hit 32 and 65 for the first quarter. Keklak remained on Martin's shoulder until she heard the sound of the bell and then unleashed a punishing move in the final 150m. She would fly home to win a tremendous MA#2 all-time performance of 2:46.98. After silently lurking for a majority of the race just off the front duo, Edwards put on a mind-boggling kick from 4^th place at the bell to beat out Martin in a photo finish for 2^nd place. In the end, both young ladies would be given the same time of 2:47.61, which ties them at #3 on the all-time list. If that weren't enough to handle, everyone else in the heat would be under 3:00, as Sydney Snow of Holliston was the last under at 2:57.79 to take 10^th overall. Now where would a 2:57.79 put you in the most recent All-State Meets? Well take a look:

6^th in 2015

6^th in 2014

6^th in 2013

3^rd in 2012

2^nd in 2011

5^th in 2010

GIRLS' DISTANCE

MARGIE CULLEN FOR PRESIDENT!

Race after race, meet after meet, Margie Cullen of Needham has proven she is the best distance runner in all of Massachusetts. Saturday was simply more of the same from the Needham senior and a fitting end to her final indoor All-State Meet. As she has done a few times this winter, Cullen planned to double in the mile and 2-mile. In the early stages of the mile, it was apparent Cullen was simply looking to win and content with the leading the field on a quite conservative pace. Cullen's only real challenge throughout the entire race was Julia Curtin of Beverly. Cullen, though, never looked worried and was able to push off Curtin with a big negative split in the second half. All alone in the final straightaway, Margie Cullen won comfortably in 4:54.4; Curtin was four seconds back in 4:58.1.

In hindsight, Cullen's mile appeared to be simply a stretching of the legs before really getting down to business in the 2-mile. In the first few laps, Cullen let the young Grace Connolly of Natick take care of the early pacing duties. Though shortly after the 1000m mark, Cullen took the reigns and never gave them up. She pulled the front pack through the mile in in 5:27 and immediately picked up the tempo after being slightly off her desired pace. At 600m to go, Cullen still led the race with ease and only Rebecca Grusby of Newton South and Connolly remained on Cullen's shoulder. They slowly faded with a quarter-mile to go and Cullen continued to pour it on. Making it look easy for the second time in the day, Cullen took the win in a very impressive 10:39.51, which is currently US#1 and ranks her #6 on the MA all-time list. Connolly and Grusby hung valiantly and both were awarded with new PRs of 10:45.82 and 10:47.89, respectively.

GIRLS' FIELD

Hitchcock Rises at the Right Time, Barthelmes Remains #1, and Duncan Racks up 28!

Liana Rielly of Newton North and Michelle Connor of Swampscott were certainly the favorites in the girls' high jump due to their state-leading marks of 5'5". Though with a handful of girls right behind them at 5'4", they weren't able to rest on their laurels. But that's what would happen in the end and Caroline Hitchcock of Agawam stole the show. Hitchcock only finished 3^rd last week at the D2 meet with a performance of 5'2", which tied her personal best. She was making her All-States debut on Saturday and would probably have been quite satisfied with another mark of 5'2". But it appeared her legs had slightly different plans, as she was able to soar to a new height of 5'4" and take the W over a very crowded, competitive field.

Skylar Barthelmes's only blemish on a near perfect season came a few weeks prior at the Coaches Meet when she took 2^nd behind Natalia Philip of New Mission. Despite the narrow defeat, Barthelmes rebounded and easily went on to win D3 champs earlier this month. Not wanting to let Philip or anyone else in the field take her down, Barthelmes bested her competitors by about 1.5' and won her first All-State title with a strong mark of 42'2".

After running 6.98 to take 2^nd in the 55m and still having the 300m on her schedule, Brianna Duncan took to the long jump runway to pick up her spirits after a tough loss. As with previous events, Saturday's long jump was no walk in the park and she wasn't going to just be handed first. But with her veteran and champion experience, Duncan soared off the board in her third and final jump to get out to MA#2 all-time mark of 20'0.25".

For Brockton senior, Eddy Fong, it will be one weekend he will never forget. Fong had been consistently running right around 7.9 and 8.0 for a majority of the season and just last weekend took 3^rd at the D1 Champ running 7.95. Though on Saturday it appeared Fong was a different hurdler, dropping an impressive PR of 7.87 in the prelims. With the #2 time from prelims, Fong was now in the thick of it with the likes of Erik Duffy, Charlie Williams, and Hunter Gray. Despite the stiff competition and odds, Fong once again lowered his PR to a MA#1 time of 7.71 and took home the All-State title to Brockton. Duffy of North Andover finished 2^nd in 7.80 and Hunter Gray of Littleton was 3^rd with his 7.91.

In similar circumstances to the girls' 55m and 300m finals, we had been dreaming about the showdown between Abu Ceesay of Norton and Anthony Delasanta of Bishop Feehan all of last week! Things first got underway in the 55m final, where Ceesay and Delasanta settled into the blocks side-by-side, both eyeing the same prize. The gun sounded and the duo shot across Reggie, but once again Ceesay had the advantage and won in a MA#2 All Time performance of 6.40. Delasanta finished a very respectable 2nd with a new PR of 6.52, while Philip Batler of Newton South took 3^rd in 6.55.

With the first round over, we then shifted our attention to the match-up in the 300m final. While Ceesay had aggravated his knee earlier in the 55m final, he wasn't going to let Delasanta run off with the 300m title and joined him on the starting line. Another credible threat in the final was the speedster from Northampton, Nikolas Smith. As the race got underway, Delasanta looked excellent out of the blocks, but Ceesay was right on his shoulder and Smith was still close in tow. On the break, Delasanta assumed the lead and had a slight gap on his competitors. Off the final curve, the Bishop Feehan senior kept his composure and was able to hold on and win with MA#2 All-Time performance of 34.63. Behind Delasanta, we would see Smith pull even with Ceesay off the curve and go on to take 2^nd in 35.01, while Ceesay finished 3^rd in 35.42.

The boys' 1000m might not have been as crowded as an affair as the girls' race, but there certainly was not a lack of talent or speed inSaturday's seeded section. After narrowly losing the D1 1000m title, Esu Alemseged of Cambridge wasn't willing to play games, setting out alone in a fast opening quarter of 56. The Cambridge senior was still out in front when he hit 1:57 at the bell, but behind was hard charging trio looking for a victory. At the penultimate curve, Eli Decker of Concord Carlisle and Matt D'Anieri pulled within striking distance of Alemseged and the real race was on. Despite the final assault, Esu put his down in the final curve and sprinted home to win in a strong time of 2:28.57. At the line, Decker and D'Anieri both leaned for 2^nd, but in the end it went Decker in 2^nd at 2:29.03 and D'Anieri 3^rd at 2:29.05.

In Saturday's 2-mile, Marcelo Rocha of Peabody did what he does best and pushed a fast tempo from the gun. No one would say this was foolish, as Rocha has all the accolades to show he is capable of an early fast pace and certainly a contender for victory. After hitting the halfway in 4:34, Rocha remained all alone until the final kilometer. At this time, Thomas D'Anieri pulled along Rocha's shoulder and waited until it was an ideal time to strike. That moment came at two to go when D'Anieri let out a short burst, but Rocha quickly countered the move and once again took control of the race. On the backstretch with 150m to go, D'Anieri once again kicked hard and this time it proved to be the finishing blow. The Wellesley senior ook first in a big PR of 9:11.4, while a valiant effort by Rocha was rewarded with a 2^nd-place finish and a new PR of 9:14.1 Jake Affanato of Mansfield dipped under 9:20 and grabbed 3^rd with a 9:19.9.

BOYS' FIELD EVENTS

Sylla and Hack Shine in Jumps and Acuna Surprises in Throws Circle

Saving his best for last, Jericho Sylla of Amherst found no better time for his best day of jumping than at Saturday's All-State meet. It wasn't easy, as Sylla had to deal with the state leader from Newton North, Jared Prior, and his personal best of 22'0". Despite this being better than his PR by three inches, Sylla was not deterred at all and came up with a big PR leap of 21'10.5 to best Prior and everyone else in the field. The Bowdoin-bound Prior took 2^nd with a mark of 21'5.5" and Freddy Dauphin of Cardinal Spellman was 3^rd with his jump of 21'3".

Finally settling a long-standing dispute of who is the best high jumper in Massachusetts, MA#1 Alexander Reduker of Newburyport and MA#2 Kevin Hack of Nipmuc squared off for the first time this winter. At the end of the day, Reduker sat atop the podium in 1st with his 6'8", while Hack finished tied for 2nd with Ian Dolaher of Malden Catholic at a height of 6'4".

It's something you never want to see happen on the season's biggest stage, but it's part of the sport and, on Saturday, MA#1 Cole Stewart fouled on all three attempts in the shot put. With the door wide open for victory, Elmer Acuna of Newton North barged right in and took the shot put title with a very strong PR throw of 56'3.5". Matt Jankowski of Burlington was runner-up with his hurl of 53'2".

BOYS' RELAYS

Norton, Natick, and Concord All Take Titles 

They were the favorites stepping onto the track, they had a terrific anchor leg, and the Norton boys would just have to get the baton around smoothly in order to win the 4x200. Despite having no hiccups, Norton still found themselves in a hole when Abu Ceesay got the baton on the final leg. But you can never count out the fastest boy in Massachusetts, who flew around the track to pass the leader from Newton South, bringing home the title in 1:31.05. Newton South was 2^nd in 1:31.25 and Andover was 3^rd in 1:31.56.

Just because they were in the unseeded section of the boy's 4x8, Concord Carlisle wasn't going to roll over and let the seeded section winner just walk away with the title. Instead, Concord whipped around the track and sent a clear message to the first heat by putting up an excellent time of 8:04.11. The seeded section teams now knew full well what they needed to do in order to win and that it wasn't going to be an easy task. The state leaders from Lexington put up their best effort, but came up 0.5 seconds short and finished 2nd overall with a time of 8:04.61. The boys from Wellesley finished 3rd overall with a time of 8:06.82.

Relying heavily on their deadly twin duo (Lucas and Myles Holt), the Natick boys were able to topple the favorites from Newton North and Andover to claim 1st overall in the 4x400 with a time of 3:26.23. Needham was 2nd in 3:27.19 and Andover was 3rd finishing in 3:27.43.