Lowell, Wachusett Get It Done In Division 1

MIAA Division 1 Championships
Stephen Mazzone


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. 

Led by a double-winning effort from Victoria Steffon, Wachusett Regional captured the girls' team title with a 65.2-52 triumph over second-place Newton North. Andover was third with 48 points and Newton South finished fourth overall with 44 points.  With top three placements in five events, including a key first-place finish by its 4x800m relay, Lowell pulled out the win in the boys' meet with 51 points.The Red Raiders defeated Lexington and Newton North, who tied for runner-up honors with 41 points. 

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. 

Acton-Boxborugh's Adam Yang was a double winner. Yang crushed the meet record in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 11.75 inches. He broke the 13-year-old mark by 11 inches! Yang also took the 55m hurdles, clocking 7.62. 
The upset of the meet belonged to Jonathan Polanco of Leominster in the 600m. With a strong kick the final 100m of the race, Polanco Soto was able to catch top-seed Theo Burba of Newton North at the line, winning with a three-second PR of 1:20.79. Burba was timed in 1:20.98. 
Andover's Julianna Kennedy cruised to the state's fourth fastest time in the girls' 600. She finished with a PB of 1:35.40. Shrewsbury's Reagan Gillooly was second in 1:36.46. 
Springfield Central's Kyla Hill blazed to a state-leading time of 7.14 to capture the girls' 55m dash. Hill had to hold off Wachuett's Steffon, who secured second in 7.17. It was reverse order in the 300m with Steffon getting the best of her rival with a winning time of 40.42.  Hill crossed the line in 40.53. Kimesha Lewis of Lowell placed third at 41.43. Steffon also anchored her team's third-place 4x200m squad (1:45.87).

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.

St. John classmates Josh Rahn and Patrick Craemer swept the top two positions in the two mile. Rahn took the event with a PR of 9:22.64. Craemer was second in 9:24.31. Newton North's Andrew Mah, the early race-leader, was third in 9:28.07. 
Lexington's Thomas Lingard won a close battle with Westfield Academy's Jason Dolan and St. John's Tyler Griffin in the 1,000m. Lingard edged Dolan at the finish with a time of 2:30.27 to Dolan's 2:30.53. Griffen placed third in 2:31.93. 
Newton North quartet of Raghav Kadambi, Devin Coughlin, Forest Kaplan and Burba set a MR in the 4x400m relay with their winning time of 3:24.23. The Tigers were anchored by Burba, who unofficially clocked 49 seconds for his leg. Needham was second in 3:25.53.

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