Imagine My Surprise

After running in the NE 12K Championship yesterday morning in Bedford NH, I hopped into my car and drove approximately 60 miles to Natick High School, arriving at around 11:30, only to find a deserted track where there should have been a league meet going on. Oops. I guess I didn't get the memo that the meet had been canceled.

I was a little surprised, to say the least, that the meet wasn't taking place. The race in New Hampshire had gone off without a hitch, and no one complained about the weather -- actually most runners I talked to admitted that the conditions were perfect for a road race. It was warmer than it seemed at first, and other than a few periods of heavier rain, it was mostly just mist. At Natick, with nothing better to do, I walked around the "all-weather" track and didn't see any sign of puddles.

Well, I could understand that the field events might be more of a challenge, and potentially dangerous, so perhaps it made sense to cancel the meet. It was a shame, though, because I knew that the deadline for obtaining qualifying marks for the Class Meets was this weekend, and I knew there would be some kids who wouldn't get a chance to get those marks. Anyway, what could I do? So I drove home and spent the afternoon doing chores around the house instead of cheering on runners.

Imagine my surprise when checking results last night to see that the Newton North girls, at least, participated in a full slate of events (including jumping and throwing events) at the South Shore Principals Meet in Norwell. The Tigers dominated the meet and won the team title easily, scoring more than twice as many points as the runner-up team. So was the weather any worse in Natick than in Norwell? Why was the Bay State league meet canceled when other meets (including the MVC league meet) went off without a hitch? Having a) run a race myself in the morning when the rain was heaviest, and b) visited the very track where the meet was to have taken place, I'm confused. Not only that, the Red Sox managed to play two games yesterday! I think if the weather is good enough for baseball, it's good enough for track and field.

Among the many strong performances yesterday, a few stand out. The Tigers won all of the distance events as Emma Kornetsky (2:22.96), Carolyn Ranti (5:18.48), and Jess Barton (11:56.52) swept the 800, 1M, and 2M, respectively. In the 1M, North had four of the top eight finishers, as Adina Hemley-Bronstein (5:34.48) and Camilla Jackson (5:45.64) ran PRs.

Michelle Kaufman ran an outstanding time of 16.30 in the high hurdles, leading North to four of the top seven spots.

North went 1-2-4 in the long jump, as Laryssa Manigat (15-10.5) won the event, with Kaufman (15-9.75) second and Ari Sanchez (15-08.50) fourth.

Sarah Berkland won the high jump at 4-11.

The Tigers also won the 4x100 and 4x800 relays, finished second in the 4x400, and took a host of other places. See the link below for complete results.

Results of South Shore Principals Meet