The question wasn't whether or not Samantha Friborg would win the 1,000-meter run at Friday's Division 1 State Meet. The real question was would she be gunning for a possible meet record and sub 2:50 clocking.
The Acton Boxborough senior gave that answer just 400 meters into the race.
Friborg blasted the first two laps inside the Reggie Lewis Center in a blazing 63 seconds. From there, it was a race against the clock as the Colonial standout was on cruise control the remaining four laps en route to a near meet record and personal best of 2:49.86. Finishing second was Brookline freshman Vivian McMahon with a time of 3:02.07.
Friborg's time is currently No. 4 in the country. It was a little more than a second from the MR of 2:48.72 by Ariel Keklak of Lincoln-Sudbury in 2016.
Needham senior Davonte Burnett had a banner day, winning both sprint events in meet record times. Burnett captured the 55m dash in 6.36. About an hour later, the Needham star broke the tape in the 300m dash with a 34.76 clocking. That race proved to be Burnett's biggest challenge as he edged Shrewsbury's Joseph O'Brien at the line. O'Brien placed second at 34.98.
In the most exciting race of the night, Tristan Shelgren of St. John's Prep was able to hold off the competition in the mile run. Shelgren trailed front-runner Lucas Aramburu for the first half of the race and took the lead at just about 750m. But he was never in the comfort zone as Aramburu, Lowell's Nasir Gibson and Franklin's Tyler Brogan were within seconds of the Eagle standout. As the quartet rounded the final curve, Brogan tried to break for the win and it was an all-out sprint to the finish with Shelgren narrowly earning his victory. Brogan was timed in 4:21.06 for second, which ranks No. 1 nationwide. Gibson was third (4:21.55) and Aramburu took fourth (4:21.30).
Newton South teammates Lucy Jenks and Caroline Barry finished 1-2 in the mile run. Breaking from the pack early, the two runners worked together with Jenks doing the pace-setting and Barry just a stride behind for most of the race. Jenks put on a burst with 150m remaining and won with a time of 5:02.58. Barry took runner-up honors in 5:05.02. About 90 minutes later, Barry was back on the track for the two mile. She led that one from the gun and broke the tape in a time of 11:01.44. Newton North's Einat Gavish was second in 11:36.15.
Wachusett's Sara James captured a hotly-contested girls' high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches. Westford Academy's Paige Kacherian and Newton North's Natalie Marshall finished second and third, respectively, also at 5-4. Methuen's Saul Cespedes and Boston College High's Julian Silva tied for first in the boys' high jump, clearing 6-4.
Haverhill's Jayla Kitchings (8.56) and Acton Boxborough's Adam Yang won their respective 55m hurdle events.Newton North's Natalie Marshall finished second to Kitchings in the hurdles and earned gold in the long jump with a state-leading leap of 18-2.
Julieth Nwosu of Brockton nearly became the fourth girls over 40 feet in the shot this season with a winning toss and PR of 39-11. Tom Aicardi of Boston College High led four athletes over the 50-foot plateau in the boys' shot with a winning distance of 54-8.5.
Girls Highlights
- 1000m -
- Samantha Friborg - Acton-Boxborough High School 2:49.86
- Vivian Mcmahon - Brookline High School 3:02.07
- Julie Tassinari - Boston Latin School 3:02.20
- Sara Fragione - Methuen High School 3:02.82
- Odelina Kingsley - Lawrence High School 3:02.96
- Grace O'hara - Andover High School 3:04.38
- 2Mile -
- Caroline Barry - Newton South High School 11:01.44
- Einat Gavish - Newton North High School 11:36.15
- Phoebe Smith - Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School 11:39.70
- Julia Danko - Wachusett Regional High School 11:43.36
- Jamie Falla - Wachusett Regional High School 11:45.63
- Maya Barrett-Tzannes - Lexington High School 11:46.15
- 300m -
- Victori Steffon - Wachusett Regional High School 40.42
- Kyla Hill - Springfield Central High School 40.53
- Kimesha Lewis - Lowell High School 41.43
- Delia Barbanti - Andover High School 42.01
- Samantha Tichelaar - Taunton High School 42.66
- Lynn Jean - Lowell High School 42.67
- Saisha Small-brown - Framingham High School 42.73
- Damahya Phipps - Springfield Central High School 42.98
- Zoie Carter - Framingham High School 43.14
- 4x200m -
- Andover High School 1:43.84
- Lowell High School 1:45.83
- Wachusett Regional High School 1:45.87
- Newton North High School 1:48.10
- Framingham High School 1:48.82
- 4x400m -
- Andover High School 4:03.81
- Wachusett Regional High School 4:05.59
- Newton North High School 4:07.03
- Acton-Boxborough High School 4:08.84
- Brookline High School 4:10.38
- 4x800m -
- Franklin High School 9:35.02
- Newton South High School 9:35.98
- Newton North High School 9:36.21
- Needham High School 9:39.16
- Wachusett Regional High School 9:55.27
- Andover High School 9:55.35
- Shrewsbury Senior High School 10:01.88
- 55m -
- Kyla Hill - Springfield Central High School 7.14
- Kyla Hill - Springfield Central High School 7.28 p
- Victori Steffon - Wachusett Regional High School 7.17
- Victori Steffon - Wachusett Regional High School 7.29 p
- Jessica Kroushl - Franklin High School 7.36
- Ally Bennett - Andover High School 7.38 p
- Jessica Kroushl - Franklin High School 7.38 p
- 600m -
- Julianna Kennedy - Andover High School 1:35.40
- Reagan Gillooly - Shrewsbury Senior High School 1:36.46
- Elena Oberle - Needham High School 1:36.96
- Luana Machado - Methuen High School 1:37.88
- Nicole Stevens - Needham High School 1:38.52
- Mary Corcoran - Brookline High School 1:38.95
- Brianna Steele - Wachusett Regional High School 1:39.37
- Olivia Dias - Taunton High School 1:40.05
- Leah Smith - Lexington High School 1:40.50
- Hannah Fraser - Newton South High School 1:41.26
- HJ -
- Sara James - Wachusett Regional High School 5-04.00
- Paige Kacherian - Westford Academy 5-04.00
- Natalie Marshall - Newton North High School 5-04.00
- LJ -
- Natalie Marshall - Newton North High School 18-02.50
- Mile -
- Lucy Jenks - Newton South High School 5:02.58
- Caroline Barry - Newton South High School 5:05.02
- Nicole Clermont - Franklin High School 5:16.41
- Nicole Dunbury - Brockton High School 5:18.22
- Jamie Falla - Wachusett Regional High School 5:19.57
- Maggie Burnham - Wachusett Regional High School 5:19.76
- S -
- Julieth Nwasu - Brockton High School 39-11.00
- 1000m -
- Thomas Lingard - Lexington High School 2:30.27
- Jason Dolan - Westford Academy 2:30.53
- Tyler Griffin - Saint John's High School 2:31.93
- Devin Connell - Andover High School 2:33.92
- Dave Glavin - Weymouth High School 2:34.33
- Eric Salvo - Methuen High School 2:34.37
- Nate Meyer - Wachusett Regional High School 2:34.99
- Marc Alperen - Peabody 2:35.08
- Keith May - Haverhill High School 2:35.95
- Antonio Escallonalviar - Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School 2:37.59
- Selvin Backert - Lexington High School 2:38.27
- Jadiel Pinales - Lowell High School 2:38.33
- Matt Maio - Needham High School 2:38.86
- 2Mile -
- Joshua Rahn - Saint John's High School 9:22.64
- Patrick Craemer - Saint John's High School 9:24.31
- Andrew Mah - Newton North High School 9:28.07
- Eli Gappelberg - Lexington High School 9:37.22
- Ian Horsbugh - Newton North High School 9:38.61
- Marcus Lespasio - Boston College High School 9:41.46
- Andrew Kaye - Shrewsbury Senior High School 9:45.17
- Benjamin Burgess - Framingham High School 9:45.55
- John Riley - Boston College High School 9:48.31
- Claudio Rocha - Peabody 9:51.74
- 300m -
- 4x200m -
- Shrewsbury Senior High School 1:30.59
- Lowell High School 1:31.82
- Lexington High School 1:32.10
- Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School 1:32.88
- Acton-Boxborough High School 1:33.74
- Everett High School 1:34.09
- Haverhill High School 1:34.31
- 4x400m -
- Newton North High School 3:24.23
- Needham High School 3:25.53
- Lowell High School 3:27.97
- Methuen High School 3:28.55
- Boston College High School 3:29.23
- Lexington High School 3:30.27
- Leominster Senior High School 3:30.77
- 4x800m -
- Lowell High School 8:07.44
- Brookline High School 8:07.83
- Saint John's High School 8:07.93
- Weymouth High School 8:13.07
- Acton-Boxborough High School 8:14.46
- Newton North High School 8:14.91
- Franklin High School 8:20.33
- Lexington High School 8:21.43
- Methuen High School 8:21.86
- 55H -
- 55m -
- Davonte Burnett - Needham High School 6.36
- Davonte Burnett - Needham High School 6.51 p
- Harch Souffrance - Everett High School 6.60 p
- 600m -
- Jonathan Polanco - Leominster Senior High School 1:20.79
- Theo Burba - Newton North High School 1:20.98
- Lincoln Sena - Brockton High School 1:22.02
- Quinn Gangadharan - Brookline High School 1:22.19
- Javier Donegan - Brockton High School 1:23.23
- Andrew Murray - Boston College High School 1:23.73
- Andrew Mcgovern - Lexington High School 1:23.83
- Herlin Rijo - Worcester Technical High School 1:24.07
- Gabriel Lundy - Acton-Boxborough High School 1:24.29
- Stewart Griffin - Brookline High School 1:25.04
- Dylan Kehoe - Franklin High School 1:25.06
- Joshua Backert - Lexington High School 1:25.61
- Alex Warner - Needham High School 1:26.06
- Andrew Coutu - St. John's Prep 1:26.35
- Bear Martens - Boston College High School 1:26.35
- LJ -
- Adam Yang - Acton-Boxborough High School 22-11.75
- Jaylynn Cundiff - Brockton High School 22-02.00
- Mile -
- Tristan Shelgren - St. John's Prep 4:20.94
- Tyler Brogan - Franklin High School 4:21.06
- Nasir Gibson - Lowell High School 4:21.15
- Lucas Aramburu - Brookline High School 4:21.30
- William Cole-french - Boston College High School 4:23.70
- Carlos Rivera - Lowell High School 4:24.23
- Noah Whiting - Newton South High School 4:25.01
- Anders Narita - Wachusett Regional High School 4:28.63
- Dominec Mastromatteo - Saint John's High School 4:29.67
- Jack Dwortz - St. John's Prep 4:30.72
- S -
- Tom Aicardi - Boston College High School 54-08.50