Highlights from the Andover Boosters Invitational


The Andover Boosters Invitational took place at Andover High School on a warm, sunny Saturday last weekend. It featured many top-tier athletes, MA#1 times, and overall fantastic performances--here are the highlights from the meet!

The boys' 400m was a battle between Will Ashenfelter (right) and George Papoulis (left), both of whom are known more for their 800m speed. Ashenfelter crossed first with a PR and Needham school record of 49.85, and Papoulis came in just a few milliseconds behind in 49.96. Ashenfelter also anchored Needham's winning 4x400m squad with a time 3:28.15.


The boys' and girls' mile races were some of the most exciting competitions of the day. On the boys' side, freshman superstar Lucas Aramburu from Brookline (right) and Marcelo Rocha of Peabody (left) battled shoulder to shoulder for almost the whole race--with 200m to go, Aramburu kicked hard but Rocha barely edged him out in the last few meters in a fantastic photo finish. Rocha's time was 4:22.18, a new PR and MA#6, and Aramburu's 4:22.37 ranks US#3 among freshmen.



The girls' mile featured Needham's distance duo of Margie Cullen (right) and Sarah Armstrong (left), coming in with seed times of 4:50 and 4:51 respectively. Cullen pulled away from her teammate and won with a MA#1 / US#17 time of 4:53.34. Armstrong took second in 5:00.82.

In the girls' javelin competition, sophomore Erin McMeniman of Dracut was the clear winner with a throw of 125-1. That mark is good for MA#2, and McMeniman threw almost twelve feet further than the second place competitor, Erin Logee of Andover.


Zachary Manickas-Hill of Lexington, who won the Emerging Elite mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor last winter, showed his foot-speed by winning the 800m with a time of 1:55.95. Manickas-Hill doubled later in the day to anchor Lexington to victory in the 4x800--their time was 8:17.

The girls' two mile was another intense battle between two talented athletes: Elizabeth Hirsch of Melrose and Katherine Collins of Newton South. Collins led through the first mile in under 5:40, with Hirsch just a step behind, but the race opened up in the second half as Hirsch maintained the pace while Collins faded slightly. In the end, Hirsch took the victory with a PR of 11:18, and Collins was second in 11:32.


Davonte Burnett of Needham (middle) smoked the field in the boys' 100m with a MA#1 10.78. Burnett has a PR of 10.4 (hand-timed) and the MA All-State 100m final is looking like it may be a match-up of two underclassmen: Burnett and Milton freshman Smith Charles, who ran a MA#2 10.90 at the Coaches' Invitational on the same day. Anthony Denitto of Newton South (right) placed third in the 100 with a time of 11.09, and also took the win in the long jump with a new meet record flight of 22-11.


The girls' 100m was also a phenomenal race, as Wileshka Samuel of Methuen (second from right) won in 12.22--just .13 off the MA#1 time of 12.09 by Brianna Duncan. Samuel placed third in the 100m at All-States last outdoor season, and will certainly be looking to improve that place this year.


Erik Duffy continues to soar higher than all the other Pole Vaulters in the Bay State. The North Andover Junior cleared a personal best of 15'7" to win yesterdays competition

After a full day of exciting races, jumps, and throws, the Lexington girls' team won the meet with 56 points, and the Needham boys were victorious with 64 points. With conferences, divisionals, and all-states coming up in the next few weeks, we will surely see even more amazing performances and MA#1 marks than this weekend--stay tuned for more coverage from MilesplitMass!