|
When three different seniors break a meet record and run 9:17 or better for 2 miles, it's easy to understand why the eyes of the Massachusetts track universe might focus on Weston's fantastic Twilight Invitational, a fan and athlete favorite for over a decade on the first Saturday of every May. However, there are still two other meets that deserve as much attention as Weston's, MSTCA's Large and Small Freshman-Sophomore Meets, this year taking place at Newton South and Westwood High School, respectively. It might be surprising that some of the state's best marks were made, not in Weston, but at those two lesser known sites in the morning and early afternoon hours.
At the Small Schools Meet in Westwood, the story had to be the efforts of two of the state's truly elite distance runners, Abby McNulty of Bishop Feehan, and Liz Holmes of Foxboro. McNulty, a stalwart on the Shamrocks' Division II Champion XC team in the fall, simply dominated the 2 mile, just nipping the meet record held by Oliver Ames's Jenna Davidner, and going 11:07.64, the state's fastest time, even after the sun came up on Sunday. Freshman Shelby Aarden of Hopkinton was in tow, taking the silver in 11:28.70, running a very respectable PR, but unable to stay on the scorching pace set by McNulty. Holmes' 5:06.61 was equally dominant, a full 11 seconds ahead of another Hopkinton runner, Melissa Lodge, who also broke the meet record of Pembroke's, and now Air Force's, Heather Connick from 2009. Holmes will not likely sneak up on anybody this spring, as the track world witnessed her coming out party in the winter when she ran seven laps with Catarina Rocha before succumbing to that blistering pace.
Another record breaking performance came from Foxboro's Kayla Sepe, Haley Sykes, Katherine Tamulionis and Liz Holmes, who ran the 4x800 relay in 9:49:26, smashing the old record and showing that Holmes is not the only young Foxboro distance runner to take notice of.
Norwell's Danielle Griffin walked away with another meet record, going 2:21.53, about a second better than Pembroke's Kathryn Nathan's 2007 mark. Griffin would come back and win the triple jump at 34'6", and then that night run under 60 seconds in the 400 at Weston, showing range that will take the Clippers a long way at the end of the month. And Norwell wasn't done either, as freshman Emily Sennatore broke the meet record in the discus, tossing it 94'5" for a four foot win.
The meet's outstanding female runner had to be Amy Piccolo of Ursuline Academy. All Piccolo did was win the 400 meters (58.95) by nearly 2.5 seconds, and then come back to take the 200 in a photo finish over Holliston's Kylie Lorenzen, 26.39-26.49. Lorenzen would join Phoebe Fitzgibbon of Westwood and Paige Santos of Old Rochester at 5'3" in the high jump, each matching the meet record in that event, and then long jump 16'8.5", nearly a foot further than her closest competitor to take the outstanding overall athlete award. That triple, something a coach would dream of at a state meet from a senior captain, happened at the hands of a freshman.
Milton's Andriana Higgins ran away with the 100 meter hurdles, running 16.22, just about a hurdle ahead of her closest competitors. Kayla Rolston of Dennis-Yearmouth (13.39) edged the field in the 100 meters, and Foxboro had another winner with Katherine Tamulionis (1:08.50) was best in the 400 meter hurdles.
Norwell, Foxboro, and Hopkinton were not the only teams to impress, however, as Greg Zopatti's Pembroke squad showed signs of reloading after graduating a Division I class of Becky Stoyle (UMass), Mary Scanlan (Maine), and Heather Connick (Air Force), by chipping in with three event wins, and several state qualifying marks. Jess Gratzer (33'.5") was tops in the shot put and 3rd in the javelin (behind winner Lucy Belt of Seekonk, who simply belted one 98 feet ten inches and Bishop Feehan's Sarah Gaughan). The Titans came back with Gratzer, Kellie Cannone, Caroline Leung, and Katie Freitas to win the 4x100 (53.33), and doubled up with a win in the 4x400 (4:25.16) featuring Anna Devito, Theresa James, Brooke Mello, and Kendell Leddin.
While the nature of the development of young athletes leads there to be many more eye-opening performances from girls than boys at Freshman-Sophomore meet, the boys had their share of quality marks as well. Outstanding performer of the meet was an easy one to pick, as Somerset's Adam Couitt, among the favorites to win the high jump in Fitchburg, soared 6'6" to set the meet record and outdistance the field by nine inches. He had a smiliar experience in the long jump, and a similar result- a meet record 21'0".
The 800 meters was another indication of what these young guys can do, as both Martha's Vineyard's Jeremy Alley-Tarter (1:58.32) and Ty Enos of Dighton-Rehoboth (1:59.92) shattered the 6 year old meet record. Mike Wyman of Old Rochester continues to defy his youth and inexperience, blasting away from the field in the mile, leading from tape to tape, and crushing Charlestwon's Omar Aden's old meet record and setting a PR of 4:27.33. Paul Hogan of Burlington and Ian Robertson of Medfield had a spirited race in the 2 mile as well, with Hogan (9:47.30) flirting with the meet record of 9:45, set by Johnny Gregorek four years ago.
Mashpee's Vernon Pocknett (11.49) dominated the 100 meters, closing with a .21 lead from the field. Teammate Hayden Kilpatrick could not help Mashpee sweep the straightaway though, as Randolph's Evandro DaCosta was too much to handle in the 110 hurdles. DaCosta's finals time of 15.89 was good, but it was his dominace in the trials (15.58) that has left the state's best hurdlers taking notice. Oh, and Kilpatrick might have been a little tired, having won the 400 hurdles earlier in the day in 59.72. But then again, so might have been DaCosta, from winning the triple jump in a meet record 42'7". Bishop Feehan's Jordan Majka (52.07) left the field far behind in the 400, with only Wayland's Bennet Keyes in his wake. Closing out the sprints. Plymouth North's Ian Allen (23.16) was able to overcome Southeastern's Trevon Meserve, despite being seeded 5th after the trials and coming out of lane one.
Dan Carroll of Dover-Sherborn won the discus in 134'9", just ahead of Pembroke's Alden Graham (129'8") in a quality battle between young throwers. Martha's Vineyard's Joseph Turney gave the Vinyearders another gold medal with his toss of 150'3" in the javelin, and the home team of Westwood got a win of its own in the shot put, with Ryan DiMarinis tossing 46'8".
The Large Schools Meet was no different, on a calm, overcast day perfect for running at Newton South High School, where Coaches Steve McChesney and Ted Norton played host to the largest number of competitors this meet has seen in some time.
The boys meet featured two Bay State League teams duking it out a couple days early, as Newton North and Weymouth will square off Tuesday in a dual meet to decide league supremacy. Each team took a relay title, Weymouth's 4x100 of Dave Harrison, Derrell Fernandez, Tyler O'Brien, and Henry McDonald slipping past Dartmouth in 45.10, and North's Gabe Montague, Mike Schlichting, Adrian Butterton, and Jared Forman setting a new meet record in the 4x800 in 8:28. It should be no shocking surprise that these two teams ran this fast, as Harrison was the 400 meter champion (51.44), O'Brien (23.74) was runner-up to Norwood's Jake Ryan in the 200, and Fernandez was on the podium in the 100, but not quite as fast as Cambridge R&L's Shaquel Anderson (11.66). For North, Montague was a winner in the 800 (1:58.60), with Butterton not far behind in 7th, and Schlichting a runner-up in the mile to King Philip's Owen Gonser, whose 4:26.48 broke a meet record set by Northeastern University's and Weymouth's Steve Sollowin. Gonser looked in control throughout, and was never challenged, and one has to wonder where he can go with tougher competition this season.
North Quincy freshman Mike Mullaney (10:04.27) won a spirited battle in the 2 mile over Weymouth's Matt Murphy (10:05.97), in a race that featured a great pack of seven runners going 10:08 or under. The race got going with 600 meters to go, with all seven athletes in it to win it, but it was the only freshman on the podium, Mullaney, who figured out how to close down the win.
The most dominating performance of the day for the boys came at the hands of Newotn North's Nick Fofana, named the Meet's Outstanding Performer. Fofana threw the javelin 170'10" for a meet record and a 12-foot win (as well as a 14 foot personal best). Coach Jim Blackburn acknowledged an assist form Newton South, who lent Fofana a javelin when the Tigers forgot their own. I wonder whether that loan turned into a purchase, given the success on Saturday and the gravity of the meet on Tuesday. Fofana followed that up with wins in the high jump (6'1") and 110 meter hurdles (16.36) to take the honors. Ryan Kim of Newton South gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about, winning the shot put (51'8") over North's Jermel Wright (50'10"), and taking runner-up status to Belmont's Lucas Ribiero (130'2") in the discus. Other winners in the field were Isaac Yiadom of Worcester's Doherty HS taking the triple jump in 43'10.5" and Dartmouth's Tim Smith breaking yet another meet record, taking the long jump at 21'1.5".
The girls contest was perhaps the deepest we have seen in the meet's history, as it featured an incredible nine performances under the meet records, seven of those coming in just two events- the shot put and the mile.
With every place winner throwing at least 33 feet in the shot put, no underclass meet has ever seen this level of talent, a sign that the event may put Massachusetts on the national stage in a year or two from now. Brockton's Dominique Coley was the winner (38'5.25"), shattering the meet record and separating herself from such an impressive field. North Quincy's Maya Umoren (37'7") and Newton North's Michaela Smith (35'8.75") were also ahead of the meet record, with Taunton's Melissa Malcolm (35'2") not far back. Smith (99'1") snuck past Umoren and Malcolm in the discus, giving Coach Joe Tranchita yet another in a long line of great throwing prospects. Oliver Ames' Michaela Lievi (116'9") was tops in the javelin as well.
The running event of the day had to be the girls mile, featuring what was sure to be a great 1-2 punch between Lincoln-Sudbury's freshman Sydney Clary and Newton North's Evie Heffernan. With neither a stranger to big races, Clary having run 5:17 indoors for 5th at the DI meet, and Heffernan having finished 7th at the State meet as a freshman in 5:07.77. Clary made her move at the 800 meter mark, but Heffernan stayed close, and a surprising surge from Weymouth freshman Ashley Betts put three athletes in the race. In the end, Clary (5:13.72) was tops, just a second ahead of Heffernan. But Betts (5:17.92) walked away with a 14 second jump from her best, and a renewed confidence that she can compete among's the state's young elite.
The 2 mile was equally entertaining, with NQ freshman Emily Bryson running a furious last lap to run 11:25.13 to distance herself form a pack that included Mansfield sophomore Sami Carey and a pack of three other freshmen (Sharon's Julianna Schultz, King Philip's Abbey Seaburg, and Newton North's Sonya Jampel), and a total of five girls under 11:43. Walpole's Gina Conti (2:20.89) won the open 800, with Newton South's Anna Rhatigan, Lizzie Fineman, Alekhya Chapparala, and Lucrecia Aguilar combined to wi the 4x800 in a meet record 9:57.84, 10 seconds ahead of their crosstown rivals, the Newton North Tigers.
The sprints featured spirited battles of Barnstable and Notre Dame athletes. NDA's Amada Reilly (13.14) edged Barnstable's Amanda Henson in the 100, but Henson was able to take the 200 (26.32) over Wellesley's Emily Ryan. In the 100 meter hurdles, Isabella Dimare improved her prelim time by half a second to 15.70 for an easy win, and she and Reilly combined to lead the 4x100 team from NDA to a win in 51.74. Olivia Gaeta of Marshfield won the 400 meter hurdles (1:07.49), the Northampton 4x400 team showed no signs of bus lag in winning in 4:07.74, and Waltham's Jenny Sexton (59.34) edged Cambridge R&L's Maya Halprin-Adams in the 400.
Lucy Alexander of Lincoln-Sudbury was the winner in the high jump at 5'1", thanks to her having fewer misses than Marshfield's Ellen DiPietro at the same height. The dominace of LS high jumpers has been impressive all year long, with graduating senior Leah Potter giving way to Alexander at the season's end. Mansfield dominated the triple jump, sweeping the top 3 spots. Kelsey Ferreira (35'3.25"), Maddie Aldow (34'11"), and Marissa Horn (34'5") did the honors, turning the freshman-sophomore meet into a dual meet. Another Barnstable freshman, Morgan Richard (16'7") was the best of 8 jumpers over 16', another in a long line of deep girls events on the day.
In the end, a spectator at the freshman sophomore meets will do well to avoid having low expectations at this point. The gauntlet has been thrown down, and young athletes- armed with youth track and middle school experience, dedicated and patient coaches, and a legacy of great athletes coming before them- are no lolnger going to wait their turn. The future is now in track and field, so then what could the next future hold?
|