Boys PreviewThe Hockomock League has been tough for a long time. Its history talks of teams that put together long winning streaks. But by the nature of the sport – sooner or later the well of athletes runs its course or a giant killer comes along. Then there’s a new king of the Hock. Don’t hold your breath. As dominance goes, Mansfield boys have had a strangle hold on indoor championships for ten years. Rather than going quietly after a good run, the Hornets are still strong. Last year’s Hock winning total of 103.5 points was their highest ever as they went on to win the divisional title at 98 points and the All-State crown as well. They might not be quite the juggernaut of 2011, but they will continue to rack up huge points on Saturday. Most will come on the shoulders of seniors Josh Lampron, Brian Ferreira and Nick King. Lampron sat out most of the cross country season injured, yet after a couple of indoor meets back in action he already holds the league best in the 1000M – he’s also the defending champion and meet record holder in the event. He shouldn’t even be pushed. Ferreira is clearly the league’s best at the 55M hurdles and is capable of scoring big points in the high jump. Nick King could place high at any distance from the 55M to the 600M and is a key cog in what will probably be the winning 4X400M team. His choice of the 300M puts him in an exciting matchup with top seed Kiivone Howard of Foxboro and Alex Jette of North Attleboro. It’s any man’s race between those three – one of the better races of the day. Mansfield has some weaknesses and other teams will look to exploit them. The problem is Mansfield’s depth. They will have more athletes score than any other team and those points should mean a victory. It could balloon to a 30-point win if everything goes their way. North Attleboro, a perennial runner-up, has some big scoring coming from senior Dan Duquette and junior Eric Beckwith. El-Duq has the best time in the 600 although Canton’s Cameron Huber isn’t ready to concede the first place. That event is shaping up as one of the tightest races. Right on their heels will be a solid pack of runners including Franklin’s Paul O’Donohue. The top-10 in the league are all seniors! Beckwith has been dominant in the shot put. At 54’10”, he holds a 6’+ advantage over Stoughton’s Brandon Alves. North’s Alex Jette in the 300M, Mike Curley in the 2 Mile and Wes Nichols in both high jump and 55M dash are all big point scorers as well. And don’t forget the 4X4, which is always a solid event for them. King Philip will give North a serious challenge this year. Seniors Charles Ruffin and Chris Allen are good bets to win their events. Ruffin is virtually untouchable in the 55M and/or the 300M. Allen is the man to beat in the two-mile even though he’s ranked behind Curley by two seconds. If you believe in history, Allen will bring it on when it counts most. . This is a great year for KP now that the long jump is a scoring event. They hold the top two spots on the league-best list with Ruffin (20’10.5”) and Matt Bowers (20’10”).
Other athletes to watch: Kevin Cutler (Attleboro-senior) will put on a show at the high jump. He’s always a threat to jump 6’6” or higher. Jason Vogel (Foxboro-junior) and Dean Chaput (Franklin-senior) will put on a fierce battle for 2-3 in the 55M hurdles. I don’t know how things will fall for seniors Drew Beck (Oliver Ames), Brendan Sullivan (Foxboro) and Andrew Hood (Franklin). They are all star distance runners looking to make that final star performance on the Hockomock indoor stage. The only understudy in the distance crew will be sophomore Owen Gonser of King Philip. Those four opted for the mile and are the top-4 seeds. Seriously, any of the group could win. Call this “THE RACE OF THE DAY!”
Predictions: 1. Mansfield wins by over twenty. 2. Second place between North Attleboro and King Philip is decided in the 4X400M relay. 3. Attleboro and Franklin battle for 4-5. 4. Foxboro and Oliver Ames are looking at 6-7. 5. Best Sophomore Performance of the day will go to Adam Gosner in the mile. 6. The only meet record to be challenged is the 55M dash and the winner of the long jump will establish a new meet record.
Girls Preview
The Hockomock Championship for girls is a four-team race. For the first time in awhile, Mansfield isn’t the favorite. That distinction falls to Franklin. It will take a strong performance by the other contenders, Mansfield, North Attleboro or Oliver Ames to knock them off. Mansfield does most of their damage in the sprints while Franklin dominates the longer distances. North Attleboro and Oliver Ames present a more balanced attack relying on both running and field events. Mansfield scores big right out of the gate. Though Attleboro junior Brianna Robitaille should win the race and challenge the meet record, Brianna Chiusano and Meg Chemburkar score big for the Hornets. Canton’s Victoria Tondre should split that duo. Then in the 55M hurdles Mansfield’s senior sensation and Elon University bound Jen Esposito will take aim on the meet record held by Meghan Ferreira. Mansfield will load up in this event getting points from sophs Kelsey Ferreira and Sabrina Pray. NA starts to get things rolling with junior Sydney Bennett who should place 2nd. The mile won’t be much help for either of those teams. In an event in which the Hockomock has two runners at sub 5:10, both went to other events leaving senior Stacey Wojcek of KP as top seed at 5:21.54. Her biggest challenge is sophomore Haley Sykes of Foxboro. Sarah Vetrano (JR) and Emily Hood (SO) of Franklin could grab the next two spots. Franklin continues to load up points in the 600M with senior Kendal Knous a clear favorite. She has owned that event since freshman year. Seniors Jade Paul of Stoughton and Nicole Sarkis of North Attleboro are seeded 2-3 but they will face a challenge from Attleboro freshman Elizabeth Gulino. This is an event that shows a lot of new talent as Mansfield sophomore Maddie Oldow and King Philip freshman Gianna Bender are also in the seeded heat. North’s Samantha Kroll (SR) is top seed in the 300M but will face a serious challenge from Kayla McKinsey (SR-OA) and Julia Jones (JR-MN). They could all break 43. It is inevitable that the girls’ meet would have outstanding young talent and none may be better than Foxboro’s Liz Holmes. Her 5:03 mile at the MSTCA Elite Meet makes her one of the best ever. She enters the 1000M as co-leader with Franklin junior Lauren Hagen. The battle isn’t just between those two as meet record holder Emily Grotz (SR-OA) is seeded third. The record could fall. Another youngster, frosh Kayla Sepe of Foxboro is seeded 4th. Expect the two mile to give the most suspense. Seniors Emily Stickles and Alexandria Geise of Franklin are seeded 1-3 sandwiching OA senior Shannon Hickey. All three could go sub-11:30. KP’s Caityn Croke (SR) is the top seed in the high jump at 5’2” but is chased by three other 5’ jumpers. They are Michaela Nichols (SR-OA), Patricia Kinhart (SR-FR) and frosh phenom Olivia Mileika of Oliver Ames. This event brings OA back into the team championship picture. Long Jump probably goes to Victoria Tondre of Canton but senior Lauren Johnson of NA and Brianna Robitaille of Attleboro also have a chance at establishing the meet record – this being the first year the event counts toward scoring. In the shot put it comes down to who has the better day between top-seed Sydney Bennett (NA) and last year’s champion senior Lauren Daley of OA. That leaves just the relay.. If everything was even going in the event would favor Mansfield, but most likely they will be playing catch-up to Franklin. If so, it won’t be easy since Franklin could place second – or third at worst. If things fell great for OA they will be the team battling Franklin at the end. Teamwise, Franklin has the best chance of scoring over 60 points. Mansfield would need a great day to reach that mark. More likely they will edge NA and OA who will both be in the 50-point range. As to the individual races: Expect meet records to fall, seniors to go out with a bang and a track full of frosh to make some noise – as will the crowd. See you there. |