The Day We Have All Been Waiting For
A team with 3 or 4 really good athletes can win a state championship. It happens all the time. This is not unique to Massachusetts; it’s simply the nature of the sport and a product of the scoring format. We watch this same phenomenon happen in all 50 states, and we even see it at the NCAA Championships. Theoretically, one athlete can score 30 points, and we have a couple this year that may come close to that. But, does having one or two athletes score 20-30 points indicate a quality “team”? That is certainly a debatable topic.
Mansfield is doing things a little differently this year. They have the high profile athletes that will score big points, but they also have an unprecedented number of participants in this year’s All-State Meet. Combined, they have approximately 18 athletes that will be competing (the exact number is not known because of relay team choices). Not every athlete will score points, but each will help their cause due to one simple fact…….you can’t score points in an event you are not participating in. Mansfield has more athletes in more events than anyone. It’s an impressive display that illustrates the quality of their program and makes them the favorite for both championships.
Predicting the individual events becomes difficult at this time of year because so many factors come into play. Nerves, experience, and fatigue can plague young athletes in championship events and make them perform out of character. Adding to the complexity is the fact that race strategies have shifted emphasis from simply qualifying to winning.
No set of events experiences this more dramatically than the distance races. If a race lacks a truly dominant athlete, you will sometimes see the pace slow down as athletes become afraid to do the workload for the pack by leading. Also, you will sometimes see races with a clear favorite slow if that athlete is confident in their kick. The pack waits for them to make a move mid-race and it never happens. Before you know it, the race is entering the final lap and athletes with good foot-speed find themselves on the podium. Long story short, you don’t know how the race is going to unfold, and athletes have to be flexible (and confident) enough to abandon their prerace plan if something unexpected happens.
Gone is the added complexity we experienced last week of having to watch the clock or track marks from other sections. This week, the athletes are only concerned with who is standing next to them, and we are fortunate enough in Massachusetts to have some fearless athletes who are going to press the pace regardless of what the rest of the pack is doing.
Based on the performance list, here are the projected team point totals and a brief look at each event:
Boys
1. Mansfield - 49
2. New Bedford – 34
3. Newton North – 29
4. Acton-Boxboro – 26
5. Bishop Feehan – 24
Note: Andover is close behind with 22 points, followed by Marshfield, Pembroke, and Woburn all with 18.
Girls
1. Mansfield – 37.3
2. Newton North - 32
3. Lincoln-Sudbury – 30
4. Franklin – 29
5. Andover – 24
Boys
55 Meter Hurdles – Defending champion Greg Boursiquot of Stoughton takes to the track after running the fastest time in Massachusetts history last week at the Division 2 Championships. His 7.37 record breaking seed time is over 2 tenths faster than #2 seed and league rival Josh Quinnie of Attleboro. Quinnie knows Boursiquot well, and he also knows that the 55 Meter Hurdles can be an unpredictable event. Mistakes happen, and Quinnie hope to capitalize.
55 Meter Dash – Brett Buskey of Blackstone-Millville enters the meet as the top seed after setting a new meet record of 6.52 last week at the Division 4 Championships. Keith Hamel of Dracut looked impressive in his Division 2 win and should occupy a center lane in the finals. The real wildcard will be the health of Phito Gondre of New Bedford. Gondre won the Division 1 Championship while dealing with pneumonia and bronchitis. Hopefully there are no negative residual effects of his 3 event performance last Saturday.
2 Mile Run – This is the race many have been waiting for all season. Shayne Collins of Mansfield enters the race with the #2 time in the country of 9:14.51; something he did all alone at the Division 2 Championships. John Murray enters the race with the #9 time in the country (9:23.25) and a running resume 2 miles long. What makes this match-up so intriguing is that both athletes have similar racing styles. They both run fearlessly and enjoy pressing the pace. It will be interesting to see who does the majority of the leading, and who has the better kick.
1 Mile Run – Josh Lampron (Mansfield) and Kevin Thomas (Marshfield) had a nice little battle going last week at the Division 2 championships. Lampron used his 1:55.32 800m speed to eventually win the race, but not before being tested by Thomas. Wesley Gallagher and Brendan Adams of Pembroke went 1-2 in the Division 3 Championship race and seem to be rounding into post season form. Then you have Dan Zawalich, Jonathan McKinley, Brendan Roberston and David Taranto who all ran 4:22 to qualify. Expect this pack to stay together for the majority of the race and for the Pembroke boys to throw in several moves in an attempt to distance themselves from Lampron’s foot-speed.
300 Meter Dash – Charles Ruffin of King Phillip enters the event as the top seed with a time of 35.21, but he will be trying to hold off Hockomock League rivals Steve Gannon and Nick King of Mansfield. It would be a major blow to the other teams trying to dethrone Mansfield from the team championship if Gannon and King score big points in this event. Standing in their way is Isiah Penn of Newton North. Penn is seeded second in 35.70 and ran a blistering 4x400m leg last week. He looks ready.
600 Meter Dash – Andre Rolim of Somerville was 4th in this event as a freshman last year. This year he is stronger, smarter, and more experienced; all leading to his #1 seed time of 1:22.05. He will be battling Jair Crukashank (Nashoba Reg.), Matt Jessup (Westwood) and a host of athletes that have run 1:23. In that group of athletes that qualified with sub 1:24 times is Jon Horstman of South Hadley. Horstman was impressive in his successful defense of the Division 4 crown. If he can maintain contact entering the final corner he should have a shot at a top 3 finish.
1000 Meter Run – Billy Looney is ultra competitive. So much so, that he was disappointed when he learned that Josh Lampron had moved up to the mile. Looney is the only athlete in the field to run under 2:30 but several others look poised to join him if the pace remains honest early on. Joel Hubbard of Marshfield was 3rd in 2010 and is the most experienced athlete in the field at this distance. But Looney and Hubbard will have to look-out for Curt Owen and the other three athletes that qualified in 2:32. Owen unleashed a fierce kick in the final 50 meters to win the Division 1 Championship and could be dangerous if he has contact with the leaders late in the race.
4x200 Meter Relay – New Bedford needs to win this event and Mansfield needs to slip-up if the Whalers want a shot at the team title. Standing between the two is Andover who is seeded at 1:31.98. But, the 4x200 Meter Relay is second only to the 55 Meter Hurdles with regard to race volatility and anything can happen.
4x800 Meter Relay – 5 teams qualified under 8:10.00 and we may see a team get close to 8:05.00 because you will see a smaller number of athletes running multiple events this week. Andover is the top seed at 8:06.22, followed by Lowell (8:07.92), and Pembroke (8:08.97).
4x400 Meter Relay – We may get to see another anchor leg show-down between Andre Rolim of Somerville and Brian Sommers of Acton-Boxroro. They are the top two seeds at 3:26.23 and 3:26.58 respectively.
High Jump – The top five qualifiers all have state championship experience. Nick Staley (B.C. High) was second in 2010 and is tied with Matt Sidney as the top seed at 6’6”. This week will seem like a vacation to Sam Yoder of Bishop Feehan because he is only competing in two events instead of his usual three. Look for Yoder to have a little more life in his legs as he tries to regain the 6’8” form he displayed earlier in the season.
Long Jump – Phito Gondre (New Bedford) is the only athlete to jump 22 feet last week. He will be the favorite, but he is followed by 12 athletes that jumped over 21 feet in qualifying. In that group is Craig Langes of Woburn who has plenty of experience jumping against Gondre. In their head-to-head long jump competitions Langes has the edge 4 to 3.
Shot Put – Tresley Dupont has arrived! Dupont is the top seed after winning the Division 1 Championship in 54’8”; handing Swardiq Mayanja of Newton North a rare defeat. Can he do it twice? Remember, Mayanja is the state leader at 56’2.5”.
Girls
55 Meter Hurdles – In 2010 Nicole Genard (Somerville) was 2nd and Vanessa Clerveaux (Brockton) was 3rd. This year the tables have turned……at least on paper. Clerveaux is the #1 seed at 8.20, followed by Genard (8.33) and Jen Esposito of Mansfield (8.45). But this event may also have very important team championship implications. Every point is going to matter this week and Mansfield has 3 athletes seeded in the top 12. Lincoln-Sudbury has a very talented Lauren Ready seeded at 10th who can really help her team if she can finish in 6th place or better.
55 Meter Dash – As expected, Rebecca Robinson (Arlington) is the top seed at 7.19; followed by Carla Forbes of Newton North ( 7.31), Brianna Tabin of South Hadley ( 7.31), and Kayla Comer of Mansfield (7.32). Tabin was 2nd and Forbes was 3rd in 2010, but Robinson has been a dominant athlete this year and remains undefeated at the distance.
2 Mile Run – Seed times in this distance can be deceiving because they are often dependant on the type of race that unfolded the week before. Megan Ross of Franklin is the top seed (11:03.19) and she doesn’t wait for races. Her very confident running style often forces her to the lead and produces times that are a slightly more consistent from week to week. At the Division 3 championships, Camille Blackman (Longmeadow) gave Viviana Hanley (Bishop Feehan) a 40 meter gap early and had to work her way back into the race. If she can avoid the same mistake and maintain contact with Ross, both have a chance to run under 11 minutes. Hanley, Rebecca Skodis (Wachusett) and Maggie Mullins (Andover) will also be in the front pack looking to make a move on Ross. Mullins is the only athlete in the field to run under 11 minutes this season and should challenge for the win.
1 Mile Run – Kathy O’Keefe (Newton South) is the defending champion and the only athlete in the field to run under 5 minutes this year. O’Keefe led the Division 1 race wire-to-wire last week and expect her to do the same this week. Catarina Rocha (Peabody), Abigail Pohl (Weston), Jillian Corcoran (Weymouth) and Colleen Sands (Wachusett) will all have to run sub 5 minute pace if they expect to challenge for the win. Laine Jowett (Central Catholic), Renee Capps (Narragansett) and Viviana Hanley (Bishop Feehan) all looked very strong at their respective divisional meets and should be in the front pack for the majority of the race. Strength will be key, as O’Keefe’s pace will start to pull the pack apart at 800 meters.
300 Meter Dash – We may see a meet record fall as Rebecca Robinson (Arlington) and Jen Esposito (Mansfield) square-off again. Esposito was 3rd in the state last year as Robinson was disqualified for impeding another runner. But Robinson has not lost a head-to-head match-up with Esposito this year, and her 39.41 seed time is just over a tenth of a second away from the 2006 record of 39.30 set by Sarah Wernick of Northampton.
600 Meter Run – Kendal Knous (Franklin) is the defending champion and fresh off a meet record of 1:34.43 at the Division 1 Championships. She is the favorite but will be challenged by Alex Stanton of Medfield who is also in the 55 Meter Hurdles. Stanton’s odd double displays her tremendous athletic ability. Outside of Stanton, 5 other girls qualified in 1:36 and you may see several athletes from the second to last section make the podium.
1000 Meter Run – Andrea Keklak (Lincoln-Sudbury) is the top seed at 2:49.88 and has a shot at Ari Lambie’s 2003 record of 2:45.46. Expect Keklak to go out hard and pull teammate Marika Crowe with her. Lincoln-Sudbury will need all 18 points from this event if they expect to contend for a team title. Look for Laura Williamson of Wachusett, Marrgo Gillis of Newton North, and Lauren Hagen of Franklin to make an attempt to break up the duo.
4x200 Meter Relay – Mansfield and Marshfield get another chance to battle it out. Mansfield won the Division 2 Championship in 1:46.31 but they needed everything they had to hold off Marshfield at 1:46.86. Shrewsbury, Algonquin, and Brockton should also contend for the win.
4x800 Meter Relay – This will be the second race of the day for Andrea Keklak and Marika Crowe of Lincoln-Sudbury, but that might not negatively impact their chances of winning the event. Their seed time is 18 seconds faster than second seed Newton South and an anchor leg showdown of Andrea Keklak and Kathy O’keefe may never materialize if the other Lincoln-Sudbury girls run well. In addition, look for Franklin to challenge Central Catholic for 3rd place.
4x400 Meter Relay - Newton North will be trying to secure a team championship and possibly a new meet record. They are the only team to have run under 4 minutes in qualifying and their seed time of 3:57.71 is almost two seconds faster than the 2008 record set by Lincoln-Sudbury. We may see 4 or 5 teams challenge the 4 minute barrier as Pembroke, Duxbury, and Andover all qualified in 4:01.80 or better.
High Jump – Last week was a tough one for the jumpers and we didn’t see anybody challenge the state leaderboard. Do not expect the same this week. Jess Salley (Andover) is the top seed at 5’5”; followed by Kristen McDonagh of Mansfield, Emily Cahill of Uxbridge, and Haley Laird of Algonquin all at 5’4”. McDonagh still leads the sate at 5’8” and winning the event will really help Mansfield’s chances of a team title.
Long Jump – Carla Forbes’ 2010 All-State Championship as a freshman was no fluke. Although nobody thought it was given her youth track and field background. She enters this championship as the top seed and the only athlete to qualify with a jump over 18 feet. In addition, she is the only athlete to jump over 19 feet this season; as she jumped 19’1” to win the MSTCA Girls Invitational. Lauren Ready (Lincoln-Sudbury) is sitting in 7th at 17’00” and could impact the team championship standings with a solid performance.
Shot Put – Adrienne Thornton (J. D. O’Bryant) was 5th in 2010 and is the top seed at 38’6.25”. She seems to be peaking at the right time as she took control of the #2 spot in the state with her winning throw at the Division 3 Championships. 5 girls had marks of 36 feet or better in qualifying, including Lauren Duggan of Norwood. Duggan has thrown 38’2” this season and should challenge for the win.
Several meet records are in jeopardy, and this should be another exciting year as we watch athletes battle for the coveted title of state champion. Live results will be available on Saturday and the meet coverage page will be updated as information becomes available.