2008 D1 Indoor Championship Results

Boys: Brookline Wins; Newton North 3rd

The Brookline boys submitted an all-around championship performance to win the D1 State Meet, amassing 57 points to 51 for St John's of Shrewsbury, and 47 for Newton North. The Warriors got early points from Alex Lippincott (3rd in the HJ) and Elliot Lehane and Ryan Hardiman (2nd and 5th in the mile). But the meet really turned in their favor when Michael Bennett, only the 7th fastest qualifier for the 300 finals, ran the race of his life to win out of the "slow" heat. Those 10 points were huge, as the final scores indicate. Later, Mike Burnstein and Robert Gibson went 1-2 in the 2-Mile, and Gibson anchored the victorious 4x800 team. A couple of points from Joel Parent in the 55 hurdles and a point in the 4x400 were icing on the trophy for Brookline.

St John's was a worthy foe, as Andrew Powell took a first in the high jump and second in the 55 hurdles, and Sean Mitchell and Dennis Kott went 1-2 in the 600. SJS also got a 6th in the mile and a 4th in the 2-mile (sophomore Ben Perron - 9:42), plus 5th in the 4x800 and 2nd in the 4x400 (3:26). Basically, they got most of the points they could -- and it wasn't enough to top Brookline.

Newton North was the other team in the hunt for the team title. Seb Putzeys took second in the 1000m, Steve Long 3rd in the shot put, and the trio of Sam Arsenault, Ivan Kostadinov, and Adam Bao went 3-4-5 in the long jump. Hymlaire Lamisere picked up an unexpected point when he eked out 6th place in the 55 dash. Although he didn't score, Dan Hamilton performed above expectations running a personal best 9:56 to place 2nd in the unseeded heat and 9th overall in the 2-mile.

The Tigers saved their best for the relays. The quartet of Arsenault, Bao, Lamisere, and Kostadinov won the 4x200 going away, recording a new school record 1:32.23, nearly a second a head of Brockton. Arsenault, Bao, and Kostadinov didn't rest long, as the three of them plus Seb Putzeys came back 40 minutes later to win the 4x400 in 3:25.72.

Boys Results

Girls: L-S Prevails; Ranti, Kaufman, 4x800 are Going to States

There were moments early in the meet when it looked like Newton South might be able to overcome the Lincoln-Sudbury juggernaut. The Lions scored 15 point in the mile, a race dominated by younger runners. Junior Bridget Dahlberg won easily, ahead of freshmen Andrea Keklak (L-S), freshman Jill Corcoran (Weymouth), junior Juliet Ryan-Davis (NS), sophomore Christine McNaughton (Haverhill), and freshman Kathy O'Keefe (NS). It was the only event all day in which underclassmen took all six top spots.

Newton South then scored another 14 points in the shot put, as Mbianda Nalis threw 33-2.75 to win. Meanwhile, L-S had taken 8 points in the long jump. The long jump points were costly, though, because Dana Jamieson was injured jumping 16-9, and was out of the 600 and the 4x400 relay.

Nobody ever likes to see a meet decided by injury or illness. Unfortunately, both were at play. Injury had forced Jamieson out of the meet, but illness hampered South's Kelsey Karys in the 2-mile. Karys had run 10:48 -- 25 seconds better than anyone else in the field -- but after battling the flu all week, Karys was far from herself. She led the race through a 5:36 opening mile, and then struggled to run 89-second quarters. Although she ran bravely, in the end, she managed only seventh in 11:28. Not only did South only come away with Melanie Fineman's two points for 5th, they had to watch L-S grab 9 points, as Holly Clark took second and Rachel Potter got 6th.

L-S also got a first place from Maggie Fleming in the high jump, and a fourth from Jess Griffin in the 600, a 1-5-6 finish for Emily Mepham, Ellie Hylton, and Molly Binder in the 1000.

Carolyn Ranti was also battling flu symptoms, but after a bad night, the Newton North junior ran a perfect race in the 1000, dictating the pace for most of the race and holding on for second in a school record 2:59.40.

Remarkably, after lying on the infield for five minutes, Ranti found enough energy to run a 2:19 opening leg in the 4x800 relay, giving the Newton North girls a big lead. Emma Kornetsky then split 2:24, Nora Barnicle 2:31, and Adina Hemley-Bronstein 2:30, as the Tigers took third in 9:44 behind L-S and Newton South.

Michelle Kaufman ran the day's fastest time in the girls 55 hurdles, recording a personal best 8.60 in the prelims, and then coming back to run 8.66 in the finals, placing 2nd. Kaufman also finished 10th in the long jump. Amy Ren jumped 16-5.25 to take 5th, and Vicki Marone jumped 16-3 to take 7th. Bonny Guang made the "podium," throwing 31-11.75 to take 6th in the shot put.

Final scores of the girls meet: L-S 66 points, Newton South 48. Newton North had 25 points to place 6th.

Girls Results