Bay State Meet Results - Jan. 10, 2008

I may have been slow to post results, but there was nothing else slow about Thursday's Bay State meet. Impressive times and performances -- some from veterans in new events, and some from fresh faces.

Newton North teams fared well, winning both meets, and there was no post-meet confusion about the results this time. The boys handled Framingham without difficulty, while the girls won by about twenty points.

With Seb Putzeys doing some over-distance work in the deuce, there were some nice performances in the mile, with Kyle Higgins running the fastest time of the day (4:34.01), eking it out over Elliot Lehane (4:34.09). Sam Miller ran 4:36 (I think that's an indoor PR for Sam), and now we know what Dan Hamilton can run for 1 mile when it isn't immediately followed by another one (4:48.59).

Robert Gibson stretched his very fast legs in the 1000, running 2:34.42, with Michael Burnstein 9 seconds back. Brookline also took 1-2 in the 600, with Ian Sandler beating Chris Mercurio to the line in 1:28.28. (Newton's Adam Bao and Jared Plotkin both ran 1:31). In the 300, Dedham's Phil Weltman went under 37 for the first time this season (36.85), while Milton's Paul Connor continued to impress, running 37.28. Newton's Ivan Kostadinov ran 37.52, just barely ahead of Brookline's Michael Bennett (37.60) and Hymlaire Lamisere (37.69) in what is sure to be a key race next week when the Warriors try to put an end to Newton's streak of dual meet wins.

I mentioned that Seb was in the 2-mile. He showed his range by winning in 9:38, a time that would put him in contention for one of the top six spots in the state, if he chose to run that event. Equally impressive, freshman Ezra Lichtmann ran 10:18 and is close to qualifying for the state meet.

In the sprints, Sam Arsenault won the hurdles (8.13), and Tony Chen seems to be getting better every week, as he clocked 8.69. Natick's Mike Searcy won the 55 dash in 6.82, with Lamisere tied for 2nd in 6.86. Troy Peterson also dipped under 7.00 (I believe for the first time), running 6.99. In the HJ, Arsenault jumped 6'0" but took second (on jumps) to Brookline's Alex Lippincott. Ben Kiley and Adrian Dimitrov both cleared 5-8, a fine team total of 17-4, if you're thinking ahead to the State relays.

Steve Long had a big throw in the shot put -- I mean a BIG throw, as he cracked 50 feet for the first time, recording a best mark of 50-5. With two other Newton throwers over 41 feet, the shot put relay looks pretty strong for the Tigers. In the (NON-SCORING) long jump, Kostadinov jumped 21-0.5 to win by over a foot. He looks like a threat to score points at the state level.

Finally, the NN boys won the 4x400 relay in 3:34.77, leading Brookline by 5 seconds. I can't wait to see these teams clash next Thursday!

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In the girls meet, there was also some shuffling of runners into new events. Not so much for Newton North, whose distance runners stayed put in their events and ran very well. Carolyn Ranti took the mile in a league-leading time of 5:13.08, nine seconds ahead of Framingham's Camille Murphy. Nora Barnicle had the best time of the day in the 1000 and her best time of the season, running 3:12.47. Weymouth's Jill Corcoran looks very, very good as she ran 3:15.96 for the third best time of the day (edging out senior teammate Kristin Mahoney). Sam Bennett ran 1:41.45 for the best time in the 600, and Newton's Emma Kornetsky was right behind with a season's best 1:41.65.

Wellesley's Najauna Muschetta took the 300 (44.05), with Michelle Kaufman moving up in distance to win her heat in 44.82. Natick's Kim Perry won the hurdles in 9.40, and Milton's Kelly Madigan won the dash in 7.72.

In the two mile, Needham's Emily Lipmann won by half a minute with an excellent time of 11:42.33, but the most exciting performance was turned in by Framingham freshman Sarah Bowhill, who improved her PR by 35 seconds and won a close battle with Newton's Franca Godenzi, 12:12.89 to 12:15.10. Remember the name, folks.

In the field events, Wellesley's Hannah Muir was close to state-meet-champion territory, as she cleared 5-6 to win by half a foot. Newton freshman Amy Ren was second, clearing 5 feet. In the shot put, Bonny Guang rebounded from an off-day last week to throw 32-3.5 for third overall. In the (NON-SCORING) long jump, two sophomores from Walpole, Jeannette Thulin and Erica Hawley were both over 15 feet and went 1-2.

Finally, Wellesley had the best time in the 4x400 relay in 4:23 (Newton North winning their heat in 4:28).