MSTCA Winter Festival Highlights

 

The MSTCA Winter Festival signaled the start of major invitational action in Massachusetts, and several prominent athletes from last year picked up right where they left off.  Over 900 athletes participated in the Friday "Small School" meet, and nearly double that (1600+) on Saturday for the "Large School" meet.  With 26 sections of the girls 300m scheduled to run on Saturday, you know it was going to be a long day.  But credit goes out to the fine officials of Massachusetts who ushered them through the finish line like clockwork.

 

Winter Festival Large Schools

 

Coverage

 

Saturday Highlights

  • Nick Christensen of Peabody opens the season at US#5 after his 9:26.41 winning time in the 2 mile.  Christensen and Mike O'Donnell of Methuen (9:32.19) broke from the field and put a 20 second gap on thrid place.
  • Bryanna Allison of Lowell stepped into the #3 spot in the state after her 5:19.57 winning performance in the mile.  Her Lowell team came up big in the event, taking three of the top ten spots.
  • Robert Massey of Chelmsford was the only athlete in the field to dip under the 4:30 barrier for the mile.  Massey put almost six seconds on Alex Andujar of Lowell to secure the win in 4:28.22.
  • Michael Darmiento (Algonquin) tops the state rankings in the 55m Hurdles with a winning time of 7.89.  The battle for second place came down to a photo, but it was Connor McCarthy (Walpole) who edged Gilberto Brown (Lowell) 7.9762 to 7.9767, respectively.  Brown won the long jump (20'7.25") and also finished second in the high jump at 6'4"; just narrowly missing the win to Oluwatoni Onikeku of Fitchburg who also finished at 6'4".  Zach Grube of Peabody also finished the day at 6'4" but ended up third based on attempts at previous heights.
  • Carla Forbes of Newton North had an impressive multi-event day.  She won the 55m Hurdles in a MA#2 time of 8.64, and then went on to win the long jump with a MA#1 mark of 18'7". Newton North took three of the top four spots in the long jump with Kayla Wong finishing third (16'5") and Kayla Prior finishing fourth (16'1.75"). Michelle Savoie of Milford was second at 16'10".
  • Swardic Mayanja picked-up where he left-off last year in the shot put.  The Newton North senior won the event with a US#9 mark of 52'7.75".
  • Amy Collins of Wachusett and Michelle Savoie of Milford were locked in a heated battle in the high jump.  Both would clear 5'4", but Collins would get the win based on misses. The two are now ranked MA#2 and MA#3, respectively.
  • The Chelmsford boys leap to US#9 in the 4x200m with their impressive 1:33.53 posting to win the event.  Newton North was second (1:35.36) and Peabody was third (1:36.58). 
  • Ryan Lucken of Newton North takes over the top spot in the state 300m rankings after holding off Bryan Browne of St. John's Prep.  Lucken had the fastest time of the day with a 36.32 showing, and Browne was not far behind at 36.50.'
  • Brendan Robertson (Westborough) and Nathan McCarthy (Lowell) are now ranked MA#1 and MA#2 after their performance in the 1000m.  Robertson got the win in 2:36.91 with McCarthy in second at 2:37.37.
  • The girls 1000m was equally impressive; with the top three girls all finishing under 3:08.  Laura Williamson of Wachusett collected the win (3:05.14), with Sarah Keiran of Iswich in second (3:07.31) and Marwah Haq of Methuen in third (3:07.93).

 

Winter Festival Small Schools

Adam Couitt's 6'6" winning jump (Photo by Patrick Bendzick)

 

Coverage

 

Saturday Highlights

  • Adam Couitt (Somerset HS) is now tied for the #1 mark in the country after his 6'6" winning effort in the high jump.  Couitt, who is just a sophomore, showed his pure athleticism by also winning the 55m in 6.76.  He is now MA#5 in that event.
  • Henry Dodge (Bishop Feehan) and Nickolas Kronaeur (Bromfield HS) put on a show for the crowd in the mile.  Dodge held off a late surge by Kronaeur in the final 200m to secure the win in 4:30.17. Kronauer was second in 4:30.72 and Rich Moschella of Bishop Feehan was third in 4:33.14.
  • Jane Clark (NDA Worcester) led a strong contingent in the 600m to collect the win in 1:39.80.  Clark ended the day as US#6 and four other girls from that event ran MileSplit National Elite times.
  • Bishop Feehan went 1-2-3 in the boys 2 mile with all three running under 10 minutes.  Evan Grandfield won the event (9:53.14) and was followed by teammates Mike Wood (9:57.83), and Mike Hanley (9:58.68).  
  • The Somerset-Berkley boys take over the top spot in the state after their winning performance of 1:35.59 in the 4x200 Meter Relay.
  • Steve Anderson (Somerset-Berkley) edged Mark Hill (Sutton) by half an inch to win the long jump in 20'5.5".
  • Gabe Solano (Whitinsville Christian) won his section of the 600m in 1:26.79, but it was Matt Becker (Nimpuc Reg.) who had the fastest time of the day in 1:26.72.
  • Matt Taylor is now MA#2 after winning the 300m in 36.56.  He is just .03 behind state leader Ryan Lucken of Newton North.
  • Ariele Krevosky won the long jump with a mark of 16'5" and finished second in the 55m Hurdles (9.14) to Emily Cahill of Uxbridge (9.02).  Cahill also won the High Jump with a leap of 5'2".
  • The Norton girls edged Hopkinton by .06 to claim the fastest time of the day in the 4x200m.  Norton won the event in 1:53.53.
  • The Bishop Feehan girls would not be upstaged by their male counterparts. They went 1-4 in the mile with Katie Powell leading the group in 5:23.05.  They looked like a State Champion cross country team with five in the top ten and a 25 second spread.
  • Jane Clark of NDA Worcester is now MA#2 after her performance in the 600m.  The sophomore posted an impressive 1:39.80 for the win.
  • Jessica Scott of Hopkinton won the 55m easily with a MA#1 time of 7.49.