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Three titles For Milton's Charles?
It's hard enough winning one state title. Even more difficult to capture two. This winter, Milton's Smith Charles could be a rare three-event champion. Charles is the defending 55-meter dash and long jump titlist, two events he is the leading contender to repeat. In the short sprint, he'll have to contend with old nemesis Nikolas Smith of Northampton, who was a runner-up in 2017. With a 23-2 indoor best in the long jump, a distance he did to win a New England title, Smith is the overwhelming favorite in the horizontal leap. The high jump is where he has the chance to make it thrice as nice at the All State Meet. He did 6-6 last year, a height that surprisingly ranks him No. 6 among returning athletes, but is less than a foot from North Andover's Noah Penley, Lexington's George Horiatis, Lincoln-Sudbury's Brett Ciccolo, Haverhill's Cole Smith and Lowell's Evans Odouro, who are all tied at No. 1 at 6-6.75.