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By Seth Kirby Stiff competition has been a trademark of the Catholic Conference for years, and the 2012 Conference Meet was no different. In team the scoring, the balanced team of St. John’s Prep was pitted against Xaverian and regular season Conference Champion BC High. As a sample of the competitiveness in the Conference throughout the year , the third place Hawks had beaten BC High by a point in cross-country, lost to BC High by a point indoors, and tied 68-68 this outdoor season. Individually there were some standout performances in the Conference meet, exemplified by Malden Catholics Victor Gabbidon, who was named conference MVP (PR’s 22’0 LJ, 42’10 TJ, 23.7 200m) , and Catholic Memorial’s All- State caliber standout Donavan Henry was name Conference Outstanding Performer. In the field events, St. John’s Prep led the way, especially in the Shot Put and Discus. The Prep took 1,2,4 in the shot (Evan Dombrowski, David Roy and Morgan Johnson respectively), while CM’s Godswill finished a solid third. St. John’s Prep discus squad, led by Morgan Johnson's first place finish, took four of the top five places. However, the throw of the day arguably came from Denis Galinski in the Javelin, who on his last throw hurled a huge PR to win the event (157-03). The jumps saw more parody among the Conference teams. The Prep's Robinson won the high jump (6’2), Malden Catholic's Mastascusa took 2nd (6’0’’ HJ, along with a 151’ Jav), with BC High taking 3-6th. Xaverian showed their strength in the long and triple jump. Dana Pagliuca’s had a huge day by winning the triple jump (in 44’04, along with a 1st in the 400mH in 57.38 and 3rd in 200m 22.91) , while teammate Kyle Darrow won the long jump with a 22-04 effort. BC High made up most of their points on the track to take the meet title, but not without some stiff competition. Some of the tightest and most exciting races of the day were the 1 mile and 200 meters. After winning the 100 Meter dash, and with only a short rest, Sophomore William Biggs charged at the line to edge Dana Pagliuca by .01 for second place. Donovan Henry motored to a commanding first place; while all three runners broke the 23 second barrier. The mile pitted three veteran seniors against one another. Dennis Muldoon of CM, Jake Smith of SJP, and Dylan Newman of BC High, after 1500m of jockeying the latter put on a huge burst for a win in 4:27. Ryan Blake charged to pick up an important 4th for the Eagles. The 800 meters was won by Xaverian’s James McDermott, with Justin Marcantonio of BC High beating brother Robert of Xaverian down the straight away; Ryan Santos also made a charge for the Eagles to pick up a 4th place. Catholic Memorials 4x100m took a commanding 1st place in a time of 43.14. However, the meets outcome was sealed in the two mile with the BC Eagles Ian O’Leary cruising to a 9:53 first place finish , followed by Preps sophomores Dow and Loehner (2nd 10:01 and 4th 10:05) with Xaverian Tonelli placing third. Aside from the times mentioned, there were numerous battles for 4th and 5th that had an impact on the final results. There were many big PR’s for the non-scorers on all sides, and fond memories for the seniors who competed in the last conference meet of their high school careers. |