Dartmouth Relays Recap

The 44th Dartmouth Relays at Dartmouth College NH once again provided some of the best performances in New England this season. We had a few stars shine bright and a few more teams flex their collective muscle. In the end we saw an entertaining weekend of high school track and field in the Northeast.

Boys Mile Run

With the announcement that the winner of the seeded mile getting an automatic bid into the Jr Mile at the upcoming New Balance Grand Prix meet in Boston a couple heavy hitters lined up at Leverone Field House to try an earn their way into a spot at the Grand Prix. Methuen MA senior Mike O’Donnell came in as one of the favorites after earning MileSplitMass/Marathon Sports athlete of the week for his 2:29 1000m win at the Boston Holiday Challenge. Chariho RI All-American Bryce Kelly came in boasting a 4:23 seed from the Hispanic Games in NYC, while other heavy hitters included NXN NY runner-up Mickey Burke (Rush-Henrietta NY) and the always dangerous Christian Alvarado from Fairfield Prep CT. From the gun O’Donnell took the lead and looked comfortable there pushing the pace. A chase pack maintained close contact with O’Donnell as he tried to pull away with 800m to go. That’s when Kelly saw his opening a made his move exploding over the final 600m to take the win in 4:20.13 and punch his ticket to Boston in February. Although O’Donnell had fell back a few spots he summoned his monster kick to roar past Burke (4:23.07) and Alvarado (4:23.10) on the back stretch to secure the 2nd place in season best time of 4:22.25.

Girls Mile Run

The girls mile may have been the race of the day with a lot of the best distance stars in the Northeast looking to earn their spot at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. A couple of sophomore stars provided the excitment up front as Sheridan Wilbur (La Salle RI) and Exeter NH’s Shannon Murdock made a bid at the 5:00 mark. Catherine Maloy (Holy Names NY) and Brianna Lenehan (Norwich Free CT) helped push the pace early and picked up the 3rd and 4th spots with 5:03 and 5:04 times respectfully, but it was Wilbur and Murdock that battled down the homestretch with Wilbur out leaning Murdock to get the victory 5:02.72 to 5:02.88. Wilbur was excited to be able to compete in the Jr Elite Mile at the NB Grand Prix and said her goal is to go sub 5:00. 

Boys 2 Mile

The boys 2 Mile went out fast and the pack separated early, Evan Grandfield (Bishop Feehan MA) anf Colin Tierney (Bishop Hendricken RI) did a lot of the work over the first mile, but it was two NY boys that took over from there. Averill Park senior Andrew Tario and Gloversville HS senior John Knox III took over the race in the second half and ran shoulder to shoulder with both finishing within hundreds of a second of each other. When the dust settled it was Tario that would claim the victory in 9:27.27 while Knox took runner up in 9:27.47.

Girls 2 Mile

The girls 2 mile was a one girl show as senior Bethanie Brown (Waterville ME) cruised to victory in a controlled 10:42.32, with MA Division II State XC champion Abby McNulty (Bishop Feehan) trailing behind in 10:54.90. The next closet finisher was almost a minute behind as these two showed they they were the class of the event.

Boys 600m 

After winning the open 400m race, Canadian Alex Tourigny-Plante (Les Estacades) turned his sights on the 600m, just missing the meet record while taking the victory in 1:21.76. Danbury CT senior Austin Winter (1:23.17) battled tough down the home stretch to hold off Connor Kwiecien (Pinkerton NH) and Will Hirnak (Mt. Ararat ME) to take third.

Girls 600m

Junior Abby Livingston (Barrington RI) took command from the lead and pressed the pace throughout the win in impressive fashion and break former Bishop Guertin and current Princeton University star Cecilia Barowski’s 2010 meet record. Livingston’s 1:35.93 puts her top 5 in the US, while Colonie NY sophomore Kristen Kaminski also put in an impressive time of 1:37.06 to take 2nd place.

Boys 1000m

The race for first in the boys 1000m was an interested one as Scott Arsenault (Billerica MA) took control of the early laps, before Chris Poggi (Pinkerton NH) settled into the lead. Those two along with a cast of others took turns out front until Poggi took over on the last lap and made a strong bid for the win running 2:33.52, but it was Arsenault that came roaring back over the last 100m to nip him at the line with a winning time of 2:33.27. Pembroke’s (MA) Christian Stafford was in the middle of the pack for most of the race before closing with a 30 second last lap to take 3rd in 2:36.24. La Salle RI Freshman Jack Salsbury ran an impressive 2:37.63 for 6th place.

Girls 1000m

The girls 1000m race looked to be an absolute rock fight on paper, with 3 elite runners toeing the line for battle. Molly McCabe (Bishop Guertin NH) fresh off her record breaking performance at the Boston Holiday challenge, Kellie Davis (Hillhouse CT) who was multiple sub 3:00 performances under her belt, and Leah Triller (Holy Names Academy NY) recent winner of the 800m at the Rhode Island Classic gave the 1000m the headliners needed. In the end it was Triller that provided the thriller by just missing the meet record on route to a US#3 performance of 2:55.23. McCabe (3:00.54) would hold tough for 2nd over a hard charging Davis (3:02.52) for 3rd.

Boys 800m

The boys 800m saw Somerville MA All-American Andre Rolim casually work the track over 400m to cruise to the victory in 1:59.93, while being pushed by Adam Vare (Fairfield Prep CT) and Billy Stafford (Pembroke MA). Vare took second in 2:00.04 while Stafford claimed 3rd in 2:00.41. Hingham MA senior Bill Lumbert moved up a distance and picked up 4th place (2:01.44) from the 2nd heat.

Girls 800m

Holy Names Academy NY continued their dominance of the girls mid distance events when sophomore Estela Smith (2:22.28) held off Whitney Curtis (Hillhouse CT) and pair of La Salle RI teammates, Caitlin Marino and Caroline Falvey. Curtis took 3rd in 2:22.60, while Marino (2:224.18) and Falvey (2:224.75)battled for the 3 and 4 spot. 

Boys SMR

On Friday night the boys sprint factory of Colonie NY got out to a early lead and never looked back taking the win in the sprint medley relay with a time of 3:39.99. New England got in the mix with Amity Regional CT (3:43.04) going 2nd and Mt. Ararat ME (3:43.09) taking 3rd. 

Girls SMR

The girls Sprint Medley Relay provided some fireworks on friday night as defending champs Hillhouse CT (4:07.05) broke their own meet record from 2012 on their to victory. Hillhouse got a stellar 400m leg from All-American Precious Holmes. Colonie NY did its best to keep it close clocking 4:11.58 for 2nd, while Norwich Free Academy CT (4:12.50) rounded out the podium.

Boys DMR

The boys distance medley relay proved to be a fun race to watch as some New England distance powerhouses battled it out on friday night. The star of the show was Chariho RI who used two member of their 2012 national record 4xmile team to pull away for the victory. After Jake Kilcoyne left them in a good position, ace Bryce Kelley took over on the anchor and worked the field on route to a US#10 time of 10:34.51. Fairfield Prep CT (10:38.93) and MA state XC champs Pembroke (10:39.82) battled for 2nd and 3rd spots, while the Bishop’s, Feeehan MA (10:44.66) and Hendricken RI (10:46.78) rounded out the scoring with impressive times.

Girls DMR

La Salle Academy RI and Coach Kelly Martin proved once again that they have one of the top distance programs in the Northeast defending their Dartmouth Relays distance medley title with a wining time of 12:19.63. Their Ocean State neighbor Barrington RI (12:29.20) took 2nd and Massachusetts Bishop Feehan (12:29.57) secured 3rd overall.