Last Week in Review: Close dual meets, impressive road miles, and young athletes shine at Rt. 228

Apr 19, 2011

It was a busy week on the track, but the Boston Marathon had everybody thinking about road racing. Several of the state's top distance runners put away the spikes for the weekend and laced-up their racing flats for a variety of road races around the Greater Boston area.

Familiar rivals Newton South and Newton North turned the streets of downtown Boston into a distance dual meet at the B.A.A. Invitational Mile. David Melly (Newton South) would edge Ezra Lichtman (Newton North) by .08 for the win; finishing with an official time of 4:34.0. On the girls’ side, Kathy O’Keefe of Newton South would completely control the race, pulling away from the field and winning the event in 5:10.6. Margo Gillis of Newton North would finish second in 5:26.5, followed by Kellie Lodge of Hopkinton at 5:29.0.

Kieran Kinnare of Ipswich High School dominated the 6^th Annual Chase the Gorilla Down Argilla 5k in Ipswich; winning the event by almost a full minute in 15:48. Argy, the local police officer in the gorilla suit, allegedly fell off his Segway in the first 400m, but would bravely return to lead the race. Argy could not be reached for comment because his identity is a closely guarded secret.

In other road racing news, Annika Gompers of Gann Academy continues to make the best of the fact that her school does not have an official track team. She took to the road on Saturday to win Newton’s Heartbreak Hill 1 Mile Youth Race in 5:41; an impressive time considering the course.

On the track, Patrick Coppinger and Mike Giardina of Lowell would combine to produce a pair of impressive distance doubles in their meet against Andover. Coppinger would win the 800m (1:58.2) and was 2^nd in the mile (4:34), while Giardina won the 2 Mile (9:42) and finished 2^nd in the 800m. Their combined 16 points, coupled with Gilberto Brown’s 10 points from winning the jong Jump (21’3”) and the triple jump (41’7.5”) helped propel Lowell to a 74 to 71 win over Andover. The Andover Golden Warriors would rebound on Saturday by winning both team titles at the Notre Dame Academy Rt. 228 Invitational.

The Amherst boys edged Longmeadow 73 to 72. Tchuijo Nkamebo of Amherst won 3 events in the effort; taking the 200m (22.8), the long jump (20’7), and the triple jump (45’2”).

Kevin Comeau of Belchertown set a new school record of 120’0” in the javelin against Holyoke Catholic.

The Norton boys won every field event on their way to an 83-53 victory over Holliston. Tim Johansmeyer won the 400m (61.1), the long jump (20’1”) and the triple jump (42’0.25”).

North Attleboro used a series of second and third place finishes to secure a pair of victories over Oliver Ames in the Hockomock League. Sydney Bennett of North Attleboro set two personal bests en route to winning the 200m (27.6) and the shot put (35’9”).

Vanessa Noelte of Seekonk won the high jump (4’4”), the 400m (62.4), and the 400m hurdles (69.0) in their dual meet against Dighton-Rehoboth. Noelte also finished 2^nd in the long jump, but her 18 total points would not be enough to overcome a 24 point loss.

Although it actually took place on April 6, 2011, Mansfield (pictured below) was invited to the Massachusetts State House by Representative Jay Barrows in recognition of their Indoor State Championships in both genders.

Here is a look at the rest of the week: