Do the Brockton runners read my blog? A couple of days after wondering where the hell all their distance runners went, they all appeared to run at the Tri-County league meet Dec. 30th. Mass. Div I XC runner-up Kevin Gill ran 4:31 in the mile, to win his section easily, and Jose DePina ran ran 10:05 in the deuce to garner another easy win. And Brockton produced another talent, Michael Honsa, who wasn't on the radar during XC, but laid down a 10:09 for second place. I guess reports of Brockton's demise were a bit premature. (They still don't have any sprinters, though; what's with that?)
Meanwhile, at the same meet, Mark Amirault was reminding us that he is the best 2-miler in the state right now. After loafing through a 4:34 mile (letting his teammate Alec Bleday win), Amirault cruised a 9:34 two-miler to beat Catholic Memorial's Matt Dewey by three seconds. Will Amirault opt for the 2-mile at the state meet to avoid a showdown with Polgar? It also looks like Xaverian has the horses for a very good 4x800 relay with Amirault, Bleday, Dan Higgins, and Andrew MacIsaac (2:45 to win the 1000 yesterday).
The other big news yesterday came from the Brown Univ. Christmas Relays, where Dennis Yarmouth junior Colleen Wetherbee ran 4:57.61, finishing a few seconds back of one Footlocker finalist (Lindsay Ferguson) and seven seconds ahead of another Footlocker finalist (Hanna Davidson). There hasn't been much news among the state's top girl middle distance runners, but that time on Brown's flat track is very impressive. Dennis Yarmouth also ran a 4x800 team that finished 6th in the championship race in 10:08.22. But another Mass. team, Bishop Feehan, ran even faster, recording 10:06.83 for 5th place.
In the same meet on the boys' side, Lexington's Willi Ballenthin (2005 MA State Indoor runner-up in the 1000) ran 4:23.36 to squeeze into second, only 0.03 behind Saratoga Springs' Greg Kelsey and just ahead of Stephen Murdock. By my count, four Mass. runners have run the 1M under 4:30 so far this season. They are:
Dave Polgar (Newton North) 4:17.83
Polgar 4:22.62
Willi Ballenthin (Lexington) 4:23.36
Sam Horn (Reading) 4:27.70
Matt Dewey (Catholic Memorial) 4:29.29
Add Amirault and Gill to that mix, and it looks like a pretty good year for milers. Of course, we don't know who is going to run what at the big meets.
In the fine print of the results, Methuen recorded an excellent time in the Distance Medley relay, clocking 10:39. That means they have some outstanding distance talent, but haven't had a chance to show it in individual events yet.
A last note: As I write this it is 12:55 p.m., and over at BU, Noah Jampol is getting ready to break 2:00 for the 800 for the first time. Good luck, Noah!!
And Happy 2006, everyone!
2 comments:
Hey Jon, 800 didn't really go great for me. I was good off the gun but then I let everyone pass me foolishly and came through at 30 high. I ran in second lane, passed people and ran 29 or so. Third lap I pulled up to Eric Ashe, and made a little surge and came through at 1:29 but ran out of gas on the 4'th lap. Alas, it's a new year. Anyhow, adding to the miler interest, Eric indicated he'll run it. He's already run 2:35 in the 1K, and he ran 4:31 by himself. He'll be dangerous.
-noah
Thanks for the report, Noah.
I have no doubt you will run under 2:00 one of these days, and I predict it will be when you stop trying to run 1:59.99 and start trying to run 1:57. I'm rooting for you!
Good call on Eric Ashe. He definitely has the talent to be in the mid or low 4:20s. Do you know whether he will run the 1M at the Coaches Invite?
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