June 07, 2008

Ranti Wins State 800m Championship

Meg Looney, the 2007 runner-up in the girls 800m, must have felt out of place in the barrel of the seeded heat. She bolted to the front at the gun, and flew through the first 200m in just under 30 seconds. Emily Mepham decided to follow, expending precious energy to bridge the gap up to Looney.

Meanwhile, Carolyn Ranti was back in 4th, 10 meters behind and running her own race.

As the pace at the front slowed, Ranti reeled in the leaders. Looney and Mepham hit 400m in 64, with Ranti a second back. Around the turn, she established contact, but found herself on the inside. No problem. As Looney drifted out from the rail to hold off Mepham, who was on her outside, Ranti saw daylight and passed on the inside. Once she had the lead, her last 200 was a thing of beauty. She won going away, running a personal best 2:13.06, which is also the fastest girls time in Mass this year.

After dropping back to fourth, Looney rallied for second, with Alex Neville in third, and Mepham in fourth.

1 comment:

seeherman said...

1) Was Carolyn the only person in the top tier to have a sensible race plan (29-30 through the 2 on a hot day for the leaders ?)

2) If she has anything left in the tank mentally, she should come to USATF New England next Sunday at Bentley to go for a big PR - it undoubtedly will be cooler than yesterday. Catherine Regan (Needham 96) ran a 2:09 yesterday will probably be running the 800 again next week. Of course, there is always HS New Englands.

3) Combined comment for the boys - good season - nothing to be down about.