(Photo: Henry Finch)
Sunday's elite action at the MSTCA Coaches meet had electrifying performances, including fast and deep fields in the distance events, blazing times in the sprints, and the best performance ever by a trio of Newton North long jumpers.
Sam Arsenault jumped 22-1 to win the long jump, less than three inches ahead of teammate Ivan Kostadinov (21:10.25). Adam Bao also bettered 20 feet (20:00.25) to take 10th. Arsenault, who continues to improve, has his choice of competing in the high jump at the D1 state meet (which could be risky business) or the long jump. After today, the long jump looks like it might be the better choice.
Seb Putzeys ran a solid PR 4:23.05 and took a hard-fought sixth place in a race won by Charleston junior Omar Aden. Brookline's Elliot Lehane ran a PR 4:24.02 to take 7th, and Seekonk sophomore Johnny Gregorek (son of Olympian John Gregorek) ran 4:25 out of the unseeded heat to take 8th. Watch out for Gregorek! It was seven years ago that a Belmont sophomore named Victor Gras won the first of three outdoor state meet miles in 4:18. Could Gregorek do the same?
Newton North also took 4th in the 4x200 relay, running 1:32.96, just 0.01 behind Milton (3rd), and 1.4s behind the 1-2 photo finish of Charleston and Woburn.
Incidentally, Woburn looks like they have an excellent chance at a state title, with the state's best 4x400 relay, one of the state's two best 4x200 relays, a 1:20 600m runner, a 2:32 1000m runner, a 21-7 long jumper, and a 6.68 sprinter. That could be 40-50 points, and I don't see any other team amassing that kind of score at this point.
For the Newton North girls, Carolyn Ranti ran 3:01.70 to take 4th in a very competitive 1000m, which was won by Lincoln-Sudbury's Molly Binder (3:00.76). For Ranti, it was the first really competitive race she's run all year, and should serve as a good learning experience heading into the D1 State meet.
By the way, Ranti's fourth-place finish was the first of four Bay State league girls in the top 10, in what was the most competitive event on the track. Weymouth's Jill Corcoran ran a stunning 3:02.94 for 7th, Framingham's Camille Murphy ram 3:03.11 for 8th, and Weymouth's Carolyn Connolly ran 3:03.77 for 10th. 3:03 = 10th? Amazing.
I should mention two other stellar performances form Newton North athletes who competed on Saturday, but would have been right at home among Sunday's elite:
Michelle Kaufman ran three brilliant races in the hurdles, clocking 9.09 in the prelims, 8.97 in the semis, and a PR 8.85 to win the finals. Her winning time on Saturday would have placed her 8th in Sunday's final.
Bonny Guang threw 10.12m (33-2.75) to place 3rd in the shot on Saturday. That throw would have placed her 9th among Sunday's elite.
2 comments:
Ivan Kostadinov's goal all season was to break the school record(indoor) of 21'9". When he did on his last jump he was pumped. It lasted 2 minutes until Sam Arsenault broke his record on the next jump. But the record won't be posted until season's end was the promise to Ivan, who hurt his leg in the 4x200 causing us to scratch from the 4x400. Hope he'll be ok for the league meet. .....Seems head official didn't understand that a coache's decision to not run an injured runner in an upcoming relay may be made after it is too late for another team to fill the vacated lane. That's a comment I probably shouldn't throw in.
If we're talking about Bay State League competitors, here's a little shameless self-promotion... I have to include the performances of Sam Miller, 7th in the fast heat of Sunday's 2 mile in a PR 9:47.42 and Emily Lipman, 4th in her heat with a 25 second PR breaking her own school record and running 11:12.32. Congrats to both of them on fine efforts.
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