Katharine Duren has been concentrating on exploding out of the starting blocks in the 55-meter hurdles from day one of the season. Last night the Central Catholic junior had her best two starts of the winter at the Div. 2 championships.
Racing on the Reggie Lewis Center infield, Duren won her preliminary heat and was out fast in the final to tie the meet record with her 8.20-second win. The time was a personal best and the fastest in the state this season for the defending champion in a meet littered with record-breaking performances. Duren will be looking for an even faster time at next Saturday's All-State meet.
"I've been working on my starts and firing out of the blocks," said Duren. "The preliminaries felt smooth and the start in the final felt really good. My second half of the race has been quicker than the start for most of the season."
Wellesley swept the boys' (74 points) and girls' (62 points) team competition with several standout performances.
Derek Chalmers of Wellesley burned the final straightway on the way to a meet record of 34.60 in the 300. Wellesley also came up big in the 4x800 as the lineup of Zachary Barry, Jason Norris, Geogre Luzaitis and Jackson O'Toole set the meet record at 8:02.09. Jackson O'Toole took the 1000 for Wellesley in 2:31.62. The Raiders had one win in the girls' competition with the 4x200 lineup of Chantal Coelho, Isabella Turco, Mary Daniel and Abby Comella clocking a 1:44.99.
Concord-Carlisle's girls dominated the mile, sweeping the top three spots. Emma Kerimo eased off on the final straightaway for the 5:07.16 win. Nora Johnson was just a step back in 5:07.20 and Katharine Stevens clinched third with a 5:18.0. Concord-Carlisle also got a runaway win from Iris Bergman who led from the gun in the 1000 on the way to a stellar 2:56.06.
India Ingemi of Beverly had a big night, picking up a win in the 55 in 7.37 and taking the 300 with a quick 39.44, the seventh-fastest all-time in Massachusetts. Brooklyn Manna of Woburn got terrific height on her winning effort in the long jump, breaking the meet record with a 19-6 mark. Stephanie Simon of Chelsea also bettered the previous record with her 18-10-1/4 jump.
"My height felt really good," said Manna, who defended her title and also finished second in the 55 hurdles. "I thought I hadn't jumped that high so I knew it was going to be a good one."
The Marshfield girls got into the meet record frenzy by lowering the mark in the 4x800. Julie Condon, Ava LoVuolo, Ciara Hume and Charlotte Henning combined to run 9:31.11.
On the boys' side, Mike Griffin of King Philip destroyed the field with a blazing 4:16.46 in the mile and followed it up with a personal-best second-place finish in the 2 mile in 9:22.47. Will Chaffin of Concord-Carlisle captured the "deuce," pulling away over last 800 and breaking the finish tape in 9:18.91.
Griffin, who will attend the University of Tennessee, will run the mile at All-States and possibly pull another double.
"I'm really pumped about it (2 mile personal best)," Griffin said. "I was really happy with the 2 mile. I was going for the meet record in the mile and just missed it, but I'm ok with it."
Div. 2 Track Championships
(at Reggie Lewis Center)
BOYS
Team: 1. Wellesley 74,
Individual
55: 1. Tristen Howard, Medford, 6.49; 2. Sheldon Clark, Greater New Bedford, 6.65; 3. Brady Soren, Plymouth North, 6.69
55 hurdles: 1. Nathan Hebert, Central Catholic, 7.68; 2. Denzel Adyeman, Doherty, 7.75; 3. Andrew Morin, Beverly, 7.92
300: 1. Derek Chalmers, Wellesley, 34.60; 2. Jeff Yang, Plymouth North, 35.31; 3. Peter Martel, North Andover, 36.07
600: 1. Evan Mills, Central Catholic, 1:23.60; 2. Clay MacDonald, Marhsfield, 1:23.60; 3. Alex Cravens, Woburn, 1:24.27
1000: 1. Jackson O'Toole, Wellesley, 2:31.62; 2. Marko Kovacevic, Concord-Carlisle, 2:32.96; 3. James Pothier, Central Catholic, 2:33.09
Mile: 1. Michael Griffin, King Philip, 4:16.46; 2. Zachary Barry, Wellesley, 4:23.55; 3. Justin Lombardi, Lincoln-Sudbury, 4:24.55
2 mile: 1. William Chaffin, Concord-Carlisle, 9:18.91; 2. Mike Grffin, King Philip, 9:22.47; 3. Michael Norberg, King Philip, 9:23.06
4x200: 1. Wellesley 1:31.85, 2. North Andover 1:32.48, 3. Plymouth North 1:33.19
4x400: 1. North Andover 3:29.69, 2. Woburn 3:30.16, 3. Bridgewater-Raynham 3:33.67
4x800: 1. Wellesley 8:02.09, 2. North Andover 8:05.58, 3. Concord-Carlisle 8:09.04
High jump: 1. Andrew Williams, Mansfield, 6-6; 2. Austin Mowry, Algonquin, 6-6; 3. Matthew Palmisano, North Andover, 6-0
Long jump: 1. Brady Sorensen, Plumouth North, 22-7; 2. Derek Chalmers, Wellesley, 21-10; 3. Alexander Dacruz, Greater New Bedford, 21-6-1/2
Shot put: 1. Caleb Yee, Lincoln-Sudbury, 47-3; 2. Keegan Kearny, West Springfield, 46-1/4; 3. Jakye Touset, Chicopee Comp, 45-6-3/4
GIRLS
Team: 1. Wellesley 62, 2. Natick 51, 3. Central Catholic 40, 3. Concord-Carlisle 40, 5. Woburn 39, 6. North Andover 38.5, 7. Marshfield 37.6, 8. Beverly 34, 9. Chelsea 24, 10. Lincoln-Sudbury 23
Individual
55: 1. India Ingemi, Beverly, 7.37; 2. Stephanie Simon, Chelsea, 7.37; 3. Carleigh Driscoll, Plymouth North, 7.39
55 hurdles: : 1. Katharine Duren, Central Catholic, 8.20; 2. Brooklyn Manna, Woburn, 8.33; 3. Carla Bouchrouche, Central Catholic, 8.91
300: 1. India Ingemi, Beverly, 39.44; 2. Abby Comella, Wellesley, 39.87; 3. Rachel Arthur, Lincoln-Sudbury, 41.27
600: 1. Nicole Frail, Natick, 1:37.22; 2. Courtney Dalke, North Andover, 1:37.26; 3. Kelcey Dion, North Andover, 1:37.93
1000: 1. Iris Bergman, Concord-Carlisle, 2:56.06; 2. Julie Condon, Marshfield, 2:59.87; 3. Kate Connolly, Natick, 3:00.12
Mile: 1. Emma Kerimo, Concord-Carlisle, 5:07.16; 2. Nora Johnson, Concord-Carlisle, 5:07.20; 3. Katharine Stevens, Concord-Carlisle, 5:18.0
2 mile: 1. Kylie Oblak, Lincoln-Sudbury, 11:09.25; 2. Sarah Ross, Agawam, 11:10.90; 3. Mary Dougherty, Natick, 11:28.18
4x200: 1. Wellesley 1:44.99, 2. Bridgewater-Raynham 1:46.99, 3. Algonquin 1:47.31
4x400: 1. Natick 4:02.59, 2. Wellesley 4:03.96, 3. Central Catholic 4:07.46
4x800: 1. Marshfield 9:31.11, 2. North Andover 9:32.79, 3. Concord-Carlisle 9:39.86
High jump: 1. Sarah Lavery, North Andover, 5-6; 2. Stephanie Simon, Chelsea, 5-4; 3. Priscilla De Carvalho, Algonquin, 5-2
Long jump: 1. Brooklyn Manna, Woburn, 19-6; 2. Stephanie Simon, Chelsea, 18-10-1/4; 3. Zoe Gieger, Wellesley, 17-4-1/2
Shot put: 1. Shallen James, Braintree, 39-6; 2. Juliana Nakouzi, Bridgewater-Raynham, 36-6; 3. Emily DeMinico, Central Catholic, 35-11