Another Impressive Day for Mansfield
Many thought it would be impossible to equal the extraordinary quality of performances from the MSTCA Girls Invitational, but the Massachussetts male distance runners had other ideas. 116 National Elite marks were set on the second day of competition and leading the way was Mansfield High School behind the state leading performances of Josh Lampron and Shayne Collins.
Lampron found himself in the middle of the most highly anticipated race of the 2011 season thus far; one that resulted in 22 of the 116 National Elite marks on the day. The stacked field was an all-star affair, including Foot Locker Cross Country Finalist John Murray of Shrewsbury, Joel Hubbard of Marshfield, William Looney of Bishop Feehan, and Mike Giardina of Lowell. Unfazed by the reputations surrounding him, Lampron took the lead early and posted splits of 57.6 at 400m and 2:01 at 800m. He continued to stretch his lead in the final 200m for the eventual win and a US#2 time of 2:29.77. Lampron is now just .01 away from current 1000m national leader Jeremy Greenwald of Grassfield, Virginia. In addition, Lampron ran a very impressive leg on the winning 4x400m team and was named Runner of the Meet for his efforts.
After watching his teammate dismantle the 1000m field, Shayne Collins decided to employ the same tactics in his 2 mile race. He took the lead early, on another high quality field, and went largely unchallenged en route to a US#1 time of 9:22.28. His dominant performance earned him the Athlete of the Meet award.
The times from the 1000m were impressive, but the depth of the 600 was unprecedented. 30 of the 116 National Elite marks came from the 600m. Leading the way was Jair Cruikshank (Nashoba Regional) who posted the second fastest time in the state at 1:22.06. All 30 runners ran under 1:27.00 and 18 of them were sub 1:26.00.
The Field Event Athlete of the Meet went to Craig Langes of Woburn for his 22’3” mark in the long jump (#2 in the state). Although Craig may have had the best field event performance of the meet, arguably, the best effort of the meet was put forth by Sam Yoder of Bishop Feehan. In one 20 minute period, Sam jumped 6’5” in the high jump, long jumped 20’5.5”, and ran 8.11 in the 55m hurdles. It is difficult for multiple event athletes to plan their day when no time schedule is posted for a meet. Coaches and athletes decide what needs to be accomplished when submitting entries weeks earlier, and they hope the event start times are accomodating on race day. Unfortunately, all three events ended up minutes apart and we never had the chance to see what Sam could do with fresh legs. Despite the setbacks, Sam put on a smile, changed shoes a half dozen times, and went about his business like a veteran decathlete.
The top 24 athletes in each event from today's meet qualify for the McIntyre Elite meet on February 6, 2011 at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Complete Results
National Elite Performances
Photos