Lowell's Chris Polanco (731) battles with North Kingstown's Sam Toolin (918) late in the mile before winning the event at Saturday's meet in 4:20.68. The Red Raiders had nine under 4:45 at Yale.
Massachusetts' athletes had four podium finishes on Saturday, the final of two days of the Yale Track Classic. The highlights of the day were a victory by Lowell's Chris Polanco in the mile run and a nation No. 7 from Norton's Brooke-Lynn Willliams in the 55-meter dash.
In winning his race, Polanco took the patient approach, hanging behind the front-running duties of North Kingstown sophomore Sam Toolin for most of the race before taking control with a lap remaining. Polanco finished with an indoor best of 4:20.68 (US #18). The Red Raider senior also anchored his team's 4x800-meter relay squad to a second-place finish in 8:09.40, a time that won their heat.
Williams was involved in a highly-competitive race that was won by Halle Hazzard of St. Anthony's in New York, who currently ranks No. 2 in the country. Hazzard just missed her PR with a winning time of 6.94. Williams placed third overall in 7.02, the same time recorded by runner-up Cassidy Palmer of Bloomfield (CT). The multiple all-stater and defending New England champion ran 7.24 in her preliminary heat. She is tied with two other sprinters for the country's seventh spot.
Medway's Ava Vasile at the 2016 New England Championships where she was sixth in the 300m.
Medway's gifted sophomore Ava Vasile clocked an all-time best of 57.81 to place second overall in the 400m. Vasile's time ranks No. 1 in the state and is the 12th fastest by tenth-graders nationwide. Medway's Timothy McHugh was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 9.5 inches.
Kevin Roberts of Medway placed seventh in the boys' 400m with a near PR of 51.49.
Yale Track Classic
Elite Performances
| Girls (10) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55m | F 1 3rd | 7.02 | Brooke-lynn Williams | Norton High School | |
| 55m | p 11 3rd | 7.24 | Brooke-lynn Williams | Norton High School | |
| 400m | F 2 2nd | 57.81 | Ava Vasile | Medway High School | |
| 800m | F 1 17th | 2:24.12 | Gianna Mastromatteo | Saint Peter Marian High School | |
| 800m | F 4 40th | 2:33.95 | Jenna Faichney | Medway High School | |
| 3000m | F 2 19th | 10:30.69 | Ashley Walker | Westwood High School | |
| 3000m | F 3 37th | 10:50.61 | Sarah Conant | Westwood High School | |
| 4x400m | F 1 4th | 4:21.74 | St. Mary's Lynn | ||
| 4x800m | F 1 4th | 10:15.78 | St. Mary's Lynn | ||
| DMR | F 1 9th | 12:32.69 | Woburn High School | ||
| Boys (15) | |||||
| 400m | F 4 7th | 51.49 | Kevin Roberts | Medway High School | |
| Mile | F 1 1st | 4:20.68 | Chris Polanco | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 1 10th | 4:28.80 | Anthony Rodriguez | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 4 13th | 4:30.80 | Nasir Gibson | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 4 16th | 4:32.55 | Chris Galarza | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 4 19th | 4:32.82 | Jadiel Pinales | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 2 27th | 4:35.40 | John Pappo | Belmont Hill School | |
| Mile | F 5 31st | 4:36.93 | Colin Fitzpatrick | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 6 40th | 4:39.91 | Carlos Rivera | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 4 44th | 4:40.91 | Martin Mungai | Lowell High School | |
| Mile | F 7 54th | 4:44.99 | Daven Rosa | Lowell High School | |
| 4x800m | F 1 2nd | 8:09.40 | Lowell High School | ||
| DMR | F 1 3rd | 10:34.73 | Marshfield High School | ||
| DMR | F 1 8th | 10:42.45 | Melrose High School | ||
| LJ | F 1 4th | 20-9.5 | Timothy Mchugh | Medway High School | |