A different approach resulted in a familiar result for Amy Piccolo.
The dynamic Ursuline Academy sophomore strayed from her usual strategy of leading from the gun at yesterday’s Coaches Elite Invitational, but it was a plan she was confident she could pull off.
Entered in both the 600 and 300, Piccolo wanted to run a controlled effort in the longer race so she’d have plenty of spring in her legs for the shorter, quicker event on the Reggie Lewis Center track.
Piccolo couldn’t have played it smarter. She waited until 150 meters remaining to burst past Narragansett’s Krista Webb and accelerate to the finish with a startling new personal best of 1 minute, 34.06 seconds. Less than a half hour later, Piccolo locked up in a wild finish with Shrewsbury’s Domonique Hall on the final straightaway, leaning to her second win of the day in 40.53, a hair in front of Hall’s 40.57.
“I wanted to save a little bit of energy because I had another race (300) coming up,” she said. “I wanted to do my best without using too much energy. I was trying to conserve by staying with the leaders. I felt good when I started to kick. I’ve never done this double.”
Running from behind was a whole new experience for Piccolo, but one she enjoyed and could use again if the pace is fast enough from the gun.
“It felt weird (holding back) at first but then I had that extra left to kick”.
Peabody’s Catarina Rocha and Mike O’Donnell of Methuen came away with meet records in what is historically the best meet of the high school indoor season in Massachusetts. Rocha ran against the clock and kicked hard over the final 200 to lower her mark of a year ago to 4:50.39.
Rocha, who raced to a 4:53.89 last winter, didn’t just break her mile record, she obliterated it. Still, she insisted it wasn’t her primary goal in her first big meet of the indoor season. She took the lead immediately and left the field behind, ripping through the first 800 in 2:24 en route to the new mark.
“I was just trying to break five (minutes),” Rocha said. “Anything under five would have been awesome. I wasn’t planning on breaking my record. I just wanted to run my best. Everything’s really going well. I’m starting to do some indoor workouts after a long break after the cross country season. I really just wanted to do my best, run well and qualify for states.”
For O’Donnell, having Newton North’s Gabe Montague at the front helped him immensely. He forged ahead with 200 remaining and broke the tape in a quick 2:27.22 to better the 2009 record of 2:27.80 run by Omar Abdi of Charlestown. Tim Cox of Acton-Boxboro was second in 2:30.66. “I didn’t know what the meet record was beforehand,” said O’Donnell. “I was expecting to be by myself, but having Gabe (Montague) take it out actually helped me.”
“I didn’t know what the meet record was beforehand. I was expecting to be by myself, but having Gabe (Montague) take it out actually helped me. It helps everyone run faster.”
“I felt fast going through the first 800. It’s nice having the short speed in there along with the endurance. I haven’t started tapering it yet. There’s still a long way to go.”
Bryanna Allison of Lowell let Karina Shepard of Dracut set the pace in the 1000 before switching gears and powering her way to a new personal best of 2:55.16. Shepard clocked a 2:57.37 for second and Maya Halprin-Adams of Cambridge also broke 3 minutes with a quick 2:57.54.
Allison, who never seems to have an off day, didn’t break the meet record but her time was a solid indicator that she is on course for a strong class meet effort in February.
“I was going to take it out because I wanted a fast time but the pace was fast enough that I could stay back,” said Allison. “That definitely helped. My kick felt good. That’s my strength. Someone has to really push if they want to catch me.”
Defending state champion Andre Rolim of Somerville edged out a tough Brian Sommers of Acton-Boxboro in the 600, 1:22.18 to 1:22.25 and Eric Beckwith of North Attleboro dominated the shot put field with a monster heave of 
59-1-1-1/4, a personal best by two feet.
Beckwith has been concentrating on what he believes to be his weaknesses and felt primed for a strong effort in the circle. “We’ve really just been working on the basics,” he said. “We haven’t been going above and beyond. I’m quicker with my front leg. Last year it was kind of slow. I woke up this morning and I felt really good. I thought, ‘Today’s going to be a really good day.’ My goal this season is 60 (feet). This was one step forward.”
Attleboro’s Briana Robitaille registered a win over a deep 55 dash field, edging Jessica Scott of Hopkinton (7.25) and Amanda Henson of Barnstable (7.28) with her 7.23. Robitaille is just starting to round into form after a less than stellar start to the winter campaign.
“It’s been a slow start to the season but things have really picked up lately,” she said. “We have a new technique we’ve been working on coming out of the blocks. It’s called ten strong. You come out and work the arms hard for ten strides.”
Owen Gonser of King Philip was never challenged in the mile as he pushed to a 4:20.30 win and Nolan Parsley of Weymouth ran away from Weston’s Matt Herzig to take the 2 mile in 9:23.13. Herzig was a strong second in 9:31.41. Erin Dietz of Bedford clocked a splendid 10:51.77 to easily win the 2 mile.
Connor McCarthy of Walpole outleaned Newton South’s Jung Park in the 55 hurdles for the win in 7.66. Park was clocked in 7.69 and Lincoln-Sudbury’s Ben Colello clinched third with a time of 7.72. “It was a good start,” said McCarthy. “I’ve been working on my starts and keeping my speed between the hurdles and I want to maximize what I can do.”
The girls’ high jump was one of the more riveting events of the day as Lucy Alexander of Lincoln-Sudbury battled defending state champion Amy Collins of Wachusett. Both had huge days, clearing 5-8, and it was Alexander who came away with the win based on fewer misses.
“I really felt strong in general and that everything was coming together,” said Alexander. “Sometimes my jumps feel a little choppy, but I felt very bouncy today. I’ve been working on my steps a lot and my mark has shifted a lot this year. By the spring I’d like to jump 5-10.”