This weekend, the MSTCA hosts two meets at the Reggie Lewis Track. Saturday Feb. 4th is the State Coaches meet, and Sunday Feb 5 is the MSTCA Elite meet. What makes the Sunday meet "elite" is that competition is limited to the top 24 individuals and relay teams in each event. So for example, in the two-mile, 88 runners met the qualifying standard of 10:40 to be in the meet, but only 24 will compete on Sunday; the rest will compete on Saturday. The Elite meet is second only to the All-State meet in the quality of the competition, and often produces the best marks of the season.
(Quiz: Who is the only Newton North athlete scheduled to compete in individual events on both Saturday and Sunday? Answer below.)
In addition to giving individuals a chance to excel against statewide competition, the Elite meet also gives coaches a chance to determine final event entries and relay alignments for the State Divisional meets in two weeks. For that reason, the relays are especially interesting at the State Coaches meet.
Here is a link to the complete performance lists for Saturday and Sunday.
Here are some intriguing stories to follow on Sunday:
Boys Mile - North's David Polgar, currently ranked second in the state in the mile is seeded first in this meet. (Xaverian's Mark Amirault is running in the Millrose Games mile at Madison Square Garden Friday night and chose not to enter the Coaches meet.) Polgar will have his hands full with Kevin Gill, who has served notice in recent weeks that he is ready to run sub 4:20, a time Polgra has only achieved once. Gill ran a 4:23 on his own at a league meet, and then followed it up on Tuesday with a 2:33 1000. Look for Gill to push the pace in the middle laps. If Polgar can hang with Gill until the end, he should have the better kick.
Girls Mile - This is a rematch of last year's State Outdoor mile championship, in which Jess Barton beat Winchester's Katharina Eidmann. Neither runner has gone all out in a mile race this year, although Barton's 5:02 1600m split in the State Relays indicates she is ready to go very fast. Other runners to watch include Haverhill's Colleen McNaughton (Barton's victim at the State Relays) and Westford's Stephanie Pancoast. Two other Bay State conference runners are also bound to be in the mix -- Weymouth's Becca Macdonald and Wellesley's Brielle Chabot.
The boys 300m marks a return to the track for North's Avery Mitchell, who will run his first race of the year on Sunday. Mitchell is in the second heat. The first heat is going to be a dandy match-up between Foxboro's Dave Lint, and 2005 outdoor 200m champion Milton's Eric Wornum.
Boys 1000m - Noah Jampol's times this year have earned him a spot in the fast heat of the 1000m. Now, how will he fare against the iron of the State? This reporter thinks Noah can finish as high as 4th or 5th, if he runs aggressively and avoids getting boxed in lane 1.
Girls 1000m - Colleen Wetherbee, last year's state outdoor 800m champion and this year's top-ranked miler and 1000m runner, opts to run the 1000 on Sunday. After running the girls mile at the Millrose Games in New York on Friday night (see Amirault, above), Wetherbee avoids a showdown with Barton in the mile on Sunday.
Girls 600m - Kat Chiong is seeded 6th in this race, but many observers feel she can run faster, and perhaps move up. Only two of the girls seeded ahead of her are from Div I, so Kat might still be in a position to score big points at the Division meet.
David Smith threw very well in early in the season in the Boys shot put, but has had a couple of "off" meets. Seeded 2nd in the State Coaches meet, can Smith rebound on Sunday?
Boys 55 - Coach Jim Blackburn seeded Cailean Robinson and Gordon Forbes at 6.70 and 6.75, respectively, times they have yet to achieve. If the two juniors can equal or better Blackburn's goal for them, they should both stand a good chance of making it to the finals.
Boys relays - Will the boys be able to tap their traditional strength in the relays at the Div. I meet? Sunday should furnish the answer, as the boys 4x200 aims to hold on to the baton and finish among the top teams, and the boys 4x800 attempts to improve on its 14th place seeding.
Girls relays - The girls 4x400 team is seeded first, but with Julie Blanchard questionable for Sunday, that position seems precarious, especially with talented Bridewater-Raynham and Acton-Boxborough teams nipping at North's heeels. There are also questions for the 4x800, which faces stiff competition but should be able to run faster than its 9:55 seed time.
(Answer to Quiz: Nick Van Niel will compete in the hurdles on Saturday, and the Elite long jump on Sunday.)
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3 comments:
Haverhill's Fullerton will run a better time than Gill will. Haha, that rhymes. Anyways, yea, that's what I think. Is he even running the mile though?? I should have checked on that before writing this. Nevertheless, Fullerton's 3:06 (high) / 3:07 (low) lead off 1200m leg at State Coaches Relays, alone, is more significant than Gill's 4:23. Also, Fullerton is a much cooler name than Gill and that is a major deciding factor in who I think will win between the two of them. As for who'll out-kick who, I doubt Gill could out-kick me, whereas Fullerton would be very close.
8 652 Jamal, Noah 12 Newton North 2:38.04
NICE!! The best would be if they printed names instead of numbers at this meet and Jampol could run with his new name.
I think I'd have to work pretty hard to get boxed if I'm gonna start in Lane 5ish. I think I'll get out pretty good and try to get myself in the top 5 once we cut in. The heat is so small and full of good people(besides Jewell?), the early pace should be fine especially from the barrel.
I'm going to have agree with Polgar on Fullerton. Fullerton is looking really good, and I think he'll take second.
-Noah
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