DISTANCE EVENTS
800 Meters
(Prelims, Sunday at 10:10 a.m.; Finals, Sunday at 2:55 p.m.)
Lexington's Thomas Lingard and Dover-Sherborn's Erik Linden, the 1-2 finishers in the 1,000m at the All State Meet, will toe the line in this race. Both have clocked times of 1:56 on the outdoor surface for 800m and will more than likely be focusing on improving those times this weekend. Lingard appears ready to run a mid-to -low 1:50 effort. In winning his second straight 1K crown, the Lexington star clocked an all-time best of 2:27.62, passing through 800m at 1:59 and still having enough in the tank to run 28 seconds for his final 200m. He did not compete at the New England's with eyes on prospering at the nationals. Like Lingard, Linden also had a peak performance at All States where he had a three-second PR of 2:30.
Mile
(Sunday, Unseeded at 11:50 a.m.; Seeded at 2:39 p.m.)
Lexington's Lingard and Plymouth North's Nick McNamee, both sub 4:20 guys, will represent MA in this event. Lingard will be running his race about 90 minutes to two hours after a sure-to-be, all-out effort in the 800m. He should recover enough to muster a strong time in the mile. Lingard ran a PR of 4:17.24 at the New Balance Grand Prix on Feb. 10. McNamee is coming off a similar time and seven-second best of 4:17.34, which he did to finish second at the All State Meet.
2 Mile
(Sunday, Unseeded at 9:40 a.m.; Seeded at 1:26 p.m.)
Here's a race where MA has its best chance to make it to the podium this weekend. At the New England's this past Saturday, Arlington's Ryan Oosting clocked the nation's best time for 2M by setting a meet record with his winning time and PR of 8:57.59. To win on Sunday, or even place among the top 3, Oosting will more than likely have to race to a low 8:50 effort, possibly even faster. The favorite is defending champion Brodey Hasty of Brentwood (TN), who won the 2017 event with a PR of 8:45.16. He also won the Brooks PR Invitational on June 17 with time of 8:45.95. Hasty hasn't competed in the two mile yet this season, but has made some noise in the mile where he has been chasing a sub four-minute effort. He nearly accomplished the feat with a 4:00.05 at the Millrose Games last month. Hasty has a devastating kick and will be tough to beat once again inside the Armory. There's also Dalton Hengst of Pennsylvania. Hengst won the Grand Prix race last month in a PR of 4:10.57 and has clocked 8:56 for 3,200m on the outdoor surface. Judging by his dominating performances at the New England's and the All State Meet - he won that meet in 9:08 after running 4:21 for the mile - Oosting certainly should be listed among the contenders this weekend. St. John's Prep's Tristan Shelgren and Newton North's Andrew Mah are capable to running fast times, too. Both have proven they can run sub 9:10 this weekend.
5,000m
(Friday, Unseeded at 3:30 p.m.; Seeded at 5:40 p.m.)
A trio of talented MA runners will be competing in the 5K on Friday - Brookline's Lucas Aramburu, Saint John's Joshua Rahn and Mah. It wouldn't surprise us if at least two of these runners finished among the top 15. In last year's meet a time of 15:37.70 would secure 15th place. Mah, who has been running very well the past two weeks, finishing third at the New England's (9:13.15) and second at the All State Meet (9:12.27), appears ready for a low 15-minute effort or possibly under. On Feb. 10, Mah ran 14:45.08 at the Dave Hemery Invitational at Boston University. If he can match or come close to that time, he would seem primed for a top-3 finish, top six at the least. Aramburu earned a trip to the Foot Locker Nationals this past cross-country season when he finished third at the regional meet. He has a 9:24 best for two miles and 15:24 for the 5K on the X-C trails. Rahn won the Division 1 state meet with a best of 9:22.64 a few weeks ago.