For the girls, the event of the evening might have been the mile, which witnessed five girls run under 5:14. I remember a few years back when even the State Coaches meet wasn't that deep. Carolyn Ranti won the race with a PR 5:08.54. Jill Corcoran, Weymouth's sensational freshman, was 2nd in 5:11.20, ahead of three girls who are at the top of the league's distance elite, Rebecca White, Emily Lipman, and Camille Murphy. Heady stuff!
Other outstanding performances included Weymouth's 1-2 finish in the 600, with Carolyn Connolly winning the league championship in 1:39.04. Wellesley's Najuana Muschetta just barely edged out Braintree's Jacky Hull in the 300, running 42.59 to Hull's 42.62. Natick's Anya Price led Weymouth's Kristin Mahoney in the 2-mile, winning in 11:29.83. Milton's Kelly Madigan won the 55 dash over a deep field, clocking 7.51. Wellesley's Hannah Muir won the high jump at 5-6, and teammate Luci Lafitte had an outstanding leap of 16-8 to take the long jump. Newton's Michelle Kaufman (PR 15-1.5) and Vicki Marone (15-4.25) took 2-3.
In the relays, Weymouth dominated the 4x400, winning by ten seconds in 4:11.34. Walpole took the 4x200 in 1:54.41 over Brookline, and Newton North won the 4x800 in 10:00.52.
Since I'm only looking at the results online, I can't tell what bad luck afflicted Newton North's hurdlers. In the girls 55 hurdles, Michelle Kaufman had the fastest qualifying time (a PR 8.81), but finished only 7th in the finals in 9.85. For the boys, Sam Arsenault also had the fastest qualifying time in the heats (7.92), but must have hit a hurdle or stumbled out of the blocks, as he finished 8th in 9.16.
Arsenault, who would be anyone's choice for league MVP based on his dual meet season, suffered bad luck in the hurdles, and equally bad luck in the long jump, where he leapt 21-2 but finished 3rd behind teammates Ivan Kostadinov (league champion with a PR 21-11.75) and Adam Bao (PR 21-5). This trio of long jumpers continues to push each each other to new records.
In the distance events, Needham's Sam Miller won a tactical mile in 4:42.30 over Brookline's Brendan Grove. Three of Brookline's top runners were entered in the 1000, but Newton Seb Putzeys ran away with the race clocking a personal best (and state best to this point?) 2:31.79, nearly a straightaway ahead of Elliot Lehane (2:37.47).
Brookline's Ian Sandler took the 600 in 1:26.85. Milton's Paul Connor ran 36.34 to just edge Brookline's Michael Bennett (36.36) in the 300. Kyle Higgins won the 2-mile 10:02.20, just ahead of Newton's Dan Hamilton who ran a PR 10:04.44.
Natick's Mike Searcy and Tommy Brandt went 1-2 in the 55. Framingham's Charles Nyamekye won the hurdles in 8.06, ahead of Brookline's Joel Parent.
Newton's Steven Long threw 50-4 to win the shot put. Milton's Craig Bennett won the high jump at 6-3.
None of the relays was close. Newton North (Bao, Kostadinov, Putzeys, Arsenault) dominated the 4x400 relay, running 3:29. Milton won the 4x200 relay by four seconds, and Brookline lapped the field in the 4x800.
All for fun: Newton North, Wellesley win (fictional) team titles
The Bay State league might not choose to score the league meet, but what the heck... Below you will find the team results of the boys and girls meets, assuming 10-8-6-4-2-1 scoring. In the girls meet, Wellesley won the team title, scoring 66 points to Weymouth's 60, with Natick a strong 3rd with 55.
1. Wellesley 66
2. Weymouth 60
3. Natick 55
4. Milton 43
5. Newton 42
6. Braintree 33
7. Walpole 26
8. Framingham 24
9. Brookline 21
10. Needham 13
11. Norwood 13
12. Dedham 7
What's clear from these scores is the remarkable parity among the girls teams.
Among the boys teams, Newton North eked out a narrow victory over Brookline, 90 to 84, on the strength of three strong relays and 24 points in the long jump. Milton was a distant 3rd with 44 points.
1. Newton 90
2. Brookline 84
3. Milton 44
4. Natick 38
5. Weymouth 30
6. Framingham 29
7. Wellesley 25
8. Needham 22
9. Braintree 16
10. Walpole 13
11. Norwood 3
12. Dedham 2
6 comments:
If you leave out the "non-conference" events in the scoring (i.e. LJ, 4 x 200 and 4 x 800), you get a slightly different picture.
Girls
1. Weymouth - 60
2. Natick - 46
3. Wellesley - 43
4. Milton - 37
5. Braintree - 32
6. Newton North - 18
7. Framingham - 16
7. Walpole - 16
9. Needham - 13
9. Norwood - 13
11. Brookline - 11
12. Dedham - 5
Boy's
1. Brookline 74
2. Newton North - 42
3. Milton - 34
3. Natick - 34
5. Weymouth - 23
6. Framingham - 21
6. Needham - 21
6. Wellesley - 21
9. Braintree - 16
10. Walpole - 12
11. Norwood - 3
Why would I want to leave out events?
Jon, we didnt compete in a 4x800, for instance, because it is ony there for qualifying purposes. There's no reason to run one other than to improve on your time. It's technically a "non-scoring" event in a "non-scoring" meet.
Well, yes.
I am aware it is a non-scoring meet, used only for qualifying purposes and assigning all-stars.
I happen to think that's pretty silly, and makes for a weird meet.
I also happen to think it's ridiculous not to score the long jump.
But in the fictional world of this blog, I'm not going to perpetuate the silliness. I scored the events that were contested.
I agree. Long jump is an offical event and should be scored. The 4x200 and 4x800 are only exhibitions though, and only a handful of teams run them (usually for a qualfying time).
By the way, on the hurdles, Michlle Kaufman led until the final hurdle, when she fell to the ground. She likely would have been the winner, although Underhill ran very well.
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