Thoughts on the State Meet

Some miscellaneous thoughts after Friday's MA All-State meet.

David Smith might have been the least physically imposing of all the shot putters at the state meet, but he absolutely dominated the competition and added the indoor title to last year's outdoor state title. According to a story in the News Tribune, Smith was disappointed not to be closer to 60 feet. He's going to be fun to watch outdoors.

I was very happy for Brookline's Robert Gibson, who won the boys mile in a PR 4:17.59. This is Gibson's first state championship, and marks his arrival at the top of the state distance running world. He has competed in the shadow of others for a long time, but he has stepped out of that shadow now.

Interesting that a junior has won the All-State Boys 1M four of the last five years (Gras-JR, Banks-SR, Polgar-JR, Amirault-JR, Gibson-JR). It might easily have been five for five, but Mike Banks just did outkick Chris Barnicle by 0.4 in 2004. There was some speculation as to why Amirault chose to run the 1000m this year, instead of the mile. His presence in the 1000m certainly made for a tremendous race, as Jeff Moriarty showed perfect patience and tactics and nipped Amirault in the last 20m.

Back to the 1M, Bridget Dahlberg's dismantling of foot locker XC finalist Emily Jones in the girls 1M was simply astounding. A week ago, Jess Barton put so much pressure on Dahlberg early in the race, that the Newton South sophomore was taken out of her rhythm and her race and faded badly. But last Friday, Dahlberg looked completely comfortable running 5:00 pace, and then unleashes a 68s final 400 that was shocking in its ease and efficiency. Her talent is immense.

The Newton North girls 4x800 team finished second, with Barton running the anchor leg despite a stomach virus that left her drained and weak. Carolyn Ranti and Kat Chiong ran PR legs, and Emma Kornetsky did her part, as well. Barton's anchor was heroic under the circumstances; she was outrun by Lincoln-Sudbury's Molly Binder, but held off Dahlberg to claim second.