Oosting, Gaughan Dominate 2M At New England's!

New England Indoor Championships
Stephen Mazzone


There was no denying Ryan Oosting or Jackie Gaughan from improving on their nation bests in the two mile at Saturday's New England Championships.

Oosting, a junior from Arlington, ran negative splits for the last half of his race and broke the tape with a winning time and meet record of 8 minutes, 57.79 seconds. Oosting clocked 4:25 for his final mile and won by 10 seconds. Finishing second was Drew Thompson of Fairfield Prep (CT), who secured second with a 9:07.59. Andrew Mah of Newton North (MA) was third in 9:13.15. 



Gaughan, a senior from Exeter (NH), was on cruise control from the start. She passed the mile mark at five minutes flat and finished wit a MR o of 10:09.20. Elizabeth Stockman of Rocky Hill (CT) was  the runner-up with a time of 10:31.84. Manchester West (NH) junior Julia Robitaille, who captured the mile earlier in the meet, was third in 10:50.18. 

Nikki Merrill, a junior from Portsmouth (RI), defended her 600m crown with a nation No. 2 of 1:31.79. Merrill took all the guesswork out of the outcome early and passed her opening 400m in 59 seconds. Freshman Makayla Paige of Tewksbury was second in 1:35.42, the second fastest time for ninth-graders in the country. 

As expected, the boys' 600m turned into a down-to-the-wire affair with Malcolm Going of Danbury (CT) taking individual honors in 1:20.38. Cebastian Gentil of East Greenwich, who did most of the pace-setting in the three-lapper, held on for second in 1:20.67. Marcus Manson of Windsor (CT) was third at 1:20.92. 

Emily Philippides of Greenwich (CT) captured the girls' 1,000m in a competitive race where the top six finishers were under 2:57. Philippides broke the tape in a season best of 2:51.30. Lucy Jenks, a sophomore  from Newton South (MA) finished second (2:51.82), while Tewksbury (MA) senior Rachel Sessa placed third (2:52.97). 

Jason Dolan of Westford Academy (MA) claimed the boys' 1K crown with a two-second best of 2:28.47. Dolan held off Connecticut's Ian Bartlett of Fairfield Ludlowe down the final straightaway to secure his triumph, Bartlett also broke 2:29 with a 2:28.72 effort. Tyler Griffin of Saint John's (MA) was third in 2:30.49.


COMPLETE RESULTS

Girls Highlights