D1 Recap: Top Seeds Don't Disappoint

Dominance.

How can one school with different coaches produce two dominating performances on the same day at the same meet? Perhaps it was a fluke coincidence. Perhaps it was something in the water. Or, perhaps it's the tradition of track and field at a school with three Hall of Fame Coaches and dozens of state meet trophies in the trophy case.

That school is Newton North. And to the surprise of virtually nobody at Durfee High School on Sunday, that double was performed by Jim Blackburn's Tigers (64) and Joe Tranchita's Lady Tigers (95.5). Acton-Boxboro, meanwhile, took runner-up in both meets (55 for the boys, 62 the girls), with Lincoln-Sudbury (45 boys, 56 girls) taking 3rd in both as well.

The girls meet was never in doubt. After a hotly contested two mile race, one in which Catarina Rocha of Peabody expectedly dominated from the gun (11:03.43), the battle for 2nd came down to the final lap. Maggie Mullins of Andover succumbed to an aggressive early pace, giving way to Weymouth's Molly Barker (PR 11:14.41) and Lowell's Grace Ndungu (11:18.36) for a nice battle for runner-up. Rocha looked every bit like she was conserving for later, but a mile double-back was not in the cards.

Weymouth was actually the surprising leader through three events, thanks mostly to a dominating race from junior Jen Kimball in the 400 hurdles. Having taken 3rd in her conference meet a week earlier, Kimball was out for some revenge, and set a blistering early pace, only to have Acton-Boxboro's Savannah Craib match her over the 8th hurdle. Kimball took the edge over the final hurdle, and showed great closing speed to take the win in 1:03.85, breaking Rebecca Stabile's 2011 meet record. It was the 2nd fastest time in Mass. this spring, and a school record for Kimball. Newton North's Ally Hurwitz (66.07) was 4th, lighting up the board for the Tigers for the first of many times.

The mile proved to be another great battle, with eventual winner Marika Crowe of L-S (5:10.80) cruising within the pack for 800 meters before unleashing her strong finishing speed. Lowell's Bryanna Allison went with her then, but fell to 3rd when Franklin Alex Giese (5:11.29) caught her with 100 meters to go. North's Evie Heffernan (5:13.28) took a key 4th place, with Weymouth's Julie Tevenan (5:15.55) not far behind in 6th. Weymouth would surprisingly lead with 21 points, but with Peabody right behind, and Lowell and Newton North lurking.

North started pulling away once field event results trickled in. Carla Forbes broke her own meet record in the triple jump, soaring 41'0", 9 inches better than her freshman mark at this meet. Brockton's Vanessa Clerveaux was a ways back, but with a very respectable 38'1.75". Qualifying for the final of the discus on their final throws, Lucia Grigoli (108'11") and Michaela Smith (104'1") were 2nd and 3rd, behind only Brianna Davis of Cambridge (120'4"). Those 14 points gave North 34, and a lead they would never rescind. This was also a time in which Nicole Genard of Somerville would heave the javelin an eye-opening 139-10", a whopping 18 feet further than Brookline's Amanda Jew for the win. Not long after, Steph Brown would return to the podium in the pole vault, winning at 11'0" by a foot over Lowell's Grace Ashworth and Newton South's Kira Visnick. Brown's vault was a nice story of a kid who was unable to compete at states a year ago due to a back injury.

Acton-Boxboro's Maya Jarostchuk (56.85) began to tighten things up with a dominating performance in the 400, perhaps the meet's deepest race. Kendall Knous (57.45) was able to take 2nd, but North stayed ahead with a 6th place finish from Meghan Bellerose (59.30). Only half of the team's points had been totaled to this point, but results were coming in from all over that pleased Coach Tranchita. Within minutes, Kayla Wong (14.49) had taken 2nd in the 100 meter hurdles, and Carla Forbes had hammered the field in the long jump, setting another meet record in 19'3" (on what were not the friendliest pits). Clerveaux of Brockton was the hurdle champion, going 14.14, breaking her own meet record, and running the fastest time in the state in 2012. A dream of hers is to break 14 seconds, and she looks poised to do so a week from now.

Lincoln-Sudbury simply dominated the high jump, with sophomore Lucy Alexander (5'5.25") taking the win over teammate Leah Potter (5'2"0 and Savannah Craib of A-B (5'2"). The shot put featured somewhat of an upset as well, as Maya Umoren (38'0.75") knocked off indoor champion Stephanie White of Billerica (37'5.75") in a spirited battle. By now, the heat had subsided, but the track was still searing. After Bryanna Allison of Lowell doubled back in the 800, a tight first lap allowed the race to play into her hands. She raced to a fairly easy win in 2:17.97, with L-S sophomore Brianna Bisson taking the silver in a PR 2:19.22. Two more L-S underclassmen led to the team's dominancein yet another event, with Sarah Mepham (4th, 2:21) and Bryn Miller (7th, 2:23) leading that charge.

The sprint finals were impressive to watch, as Attleboro's Briana Robitaille (12.13) took the state's fastest time of the season, ahead of Barnstable sophomore Amanda Henson (12.48). Henson would come back in the 200 for the win (25.53), showing incredible poise in what is a tough double on a very warm day. Laquasia Anderson (26.13) of Brighton proved to be a rising star with her runner-up finish.

By the time the relays began, Newton North had garnered 76 points, more than enough for the win, but their depth was only beginning to be demonstrated. Lincoln-Sudbury (9:29.58) used a strong anchor leg from Marika Crowe to take the 4x800 win, but a great battle for 2nd went to North (9:34.60), ahead of Peabody (9:36.39, using a 2:19 anchor from Rocha) and Weymouth (9:38.51). The 4x100 was all Brockton (48.75), who took down Andover's 2007 meet record in the process. But three other teams- Somerville (49.57), Newton North (49.63), and Acton-Boxboro (49.92) broke 50 seconds as well. With Forbes tripled out after the 4x100, the 4x400 was now wide open, and Lexington took advantage of the opportunity with a win in 4:02.64. A great battle for 2nd went to Acton-Boxboro (4:06.34) over Newton North, with Bridgewater-Raynham (4:08.81) edging Weymouth (4:08.89) for the final ticket to Fitchburg.

If North's dominance in the girls meet was expected, the boys was more of a surprise. Several teams appeared to be a threat, and when Weymouth's Tyler Mulcahy (54.78) won the 400 hurdles, and teammate Khary Bailey-Smith took both the high jump (6'11") and long jump (22'0.5"), they appeared to be in command. Mulcahy would add points in the long jump (20'11" for 2nd) and triple jump (44'0.25" for 4th), and Bailey-Smith would anchor their 4x100team (44.02) to 5th place, but 41 points would not be enough on this day.

North's David Oluwadara came up with some clutch points in the triple jump, soaring 45'7" for 2nd place, behind Xaverian's Dana Pagliuca (46'4") who set his own PR and flirted with the meet record in the process. For North, the throws would set the table for the meet, especially the shot put, contested right away. Swardiq Mayanja did double duty for the Tigers, hurling th shot put 56'2" for the victory, and coming back to win by 12 feet ion the discus in 147'8". Young Guang gave North even more points, going 4th in the shot (50'9.5") and 5th in the discus (130'1"). Jermel Wright also took 6th in the shot, and Nick Fofana added an 8th in the javelin. Those counting at home would give Newton 33 points in the throws, more than half of their team total. Only Lowell could come close, thanks to shot put runner-up Colin Hoey (53'6") and javelin champion Pat McHale (173', just ahead of B-R's Brendan Page in 171'4"). The only field event left was pole vault, one in which Westford Academy's Brendan Sullivan vaulted 14'6" for the win, just shy of Mark Vetere's meet record.

On the track, Nat Adams of Lexington returned to his special form from earlier this year, with a dominant 9:26.96 effort in the 2 mile. But Newton North's Justin Keefe got the meet rolling for the Tigers on the track, taking 2nd here in 9:33.85. Framingham's Ben Groleau (4:18.00) took the win in the mile, coming through in what was a spirited race from the gun. Mike O'Donnell of Methuen came next, heading a cast of 7 guys 4:25 or better. In the 800, Andre Rollim (1:55.95) looked smooth from start to finish, beating fellow junior Scott Arsenault (1:56.52) of Billerica. It might be hard to imagine Rollim taking down Mansfield phenom Josh Lampron next week, but he looked relaxed enough today that it might just be an added effort and a close race that he needs.

Nathan Pierre-Louis of Waltham (48.56) looked equally smooth in the 400, with A-B's Brian Sommers (49.36) closing on him in the final meters, but no flinch from the Waltham senior to be seen. Ryan Lucken took a key 4th place here, giving North yet another five points to add to their growing total. The 200 proved to be a DCL affair, with Anderson Koenig of L-S (22.27) edging Newton South's Youssef Elkorchi (22.42) by a nose. In a 110 hurdle final reminiscent of a bar fight, Peabody's Zachary Grube (14.93) came out on top, just a tenth of a second ahead of Brockton's Jesse Montero. The first hurdle on the track was no obstacle for this fearless group, as just about everybody had to survive an awkward start to run as fast as they did. Brockton's Kevin Brizzard added a 100 meter (10.99) victory to his long jump runner-up (21'10") to put Brockton in the hunt for a brief time. Heading into the relays, the Boxers held onto 29 points, but would muster only 3rd in the 4x100 to finish 6th with 35.

Newton North entered the relays with 54 points, but only a 4x800 capable of placing. A-B was sitting on 45 points, with a 4x100,  4x800, and 4x400 capable of scoring. A strong effort in the 4x800 could essentially clinch the meet for North, and all they did was all that could be done. Sitting on Brookline impressive squad for three legs, Justin Keefe took the stick and the lead was North's (8:02.56). A-B was back in 7th, needing to be perfect to overcome the Tiger lead, now standing at 64-47.

As soon as Lawrence (43.40) and Peabody (43.46) crossed the finish line in the 4x100, Newton North had secured the victory. A-B was DQ'd in the event, and their runner-up to Lincoln-Sudbury (3:27.11, featuring a magnificent anchor leg from 200 meter champ Koenig) in the 4x400 left them standing at 55 points. It was a valiant effort from the DCL's top two teams, but North's depth in the throws and success on the track was too much too handle.

Jim Blackburn and Joe Tranchita each hoisted trophies on the sweaty infield at Durfee High School on Sunday, and each did it in their own ways. The boys used a dominant performance in the throws, some nice distance depth, and great individual efforts from Lucken, Keefe, and Oludawara to get theirs done. The girls used dominance from Carla Forbes in the jumps, but then a slew of step-up efforts in the throws, hurdles, vault, distances, sprints, and relays. Different paths to the same goal- Division I Eastern Mass. champs.