Ava Vasile's attention to detail resulted in a satisfying conclusion for the Medway senior during the MSTCA Pentathlon Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Powering through a pre-race plan with precision, the UVM bound senior tallied 3236 points on the way to taking the individual title at the grueling five-event showdown.
"I had a specific order of events in my head," said the newly minted champion. "Following the hurdles I thought I'd do the high jump because it takes a lot of energy out of you then I did long jump a shot put to provide my legs a little rest before the 800m. I thought that would be a smart strategy going in and in every event I gave it my all, knowing this would be my last pentathlon. I kept saying to myself 'last one, best one'."
Vasile clocked 2:25.77 in capturing the 800m; resulting in a 747 point gain to her overall efforts. South Hadley junior Lindsay Marjanski garnered second place in 2:29.04 while Emerson Maccarone (Dighton-Rehoboth) took third in 2:30.21. Over the straightaway barriers, she broke the finish line if 8.74 (853 points), finishing well within arms reach of runner up Madi Krohto's (Pentucket) 872 mark and Desmond's 8.64. Vasile finished 4th a year ago, amassing 3193 points.
Individual wins went to Westborough's Grace Desmond in the 55m hurdles, Sarah Laverty of North Andover in the high jump, Andover freshman Jodi Parrott (long jump) and Doherty senior Kaiya Saunders in the shot put. Laverty who leaped 1.52m in the 2018 edition of the multi championships soared 1.67m this time out; equaling a shared meet record. Parrott, who finished ninth overall with 2957 points paced all freshman while Emily Rubio of Pentucket placed (13th/2675 pts) and Billerica's Paige Murphy at 23rd (2495) rounded out the freshman class.
"I think the key for me tonight was getting into the right mindset to run the 800m at the end because you're already tired at that point," said Vasile. "I relied on my emotion to push me tonight. Knowing that this was my last one and it was exciting but somewhat sad at the same time, and I think I was able to use that to my advantage."
Westborough, led by Desmond's efforts powered past the field to win the team championship with 8652 points followed by South Hadley (7834) and Wachusett (7803).
