No Regime Change; Newton Boys Overtake Weymouth, 49-37

After three events on the track, Newton North found itself down to Weymouth 22-5.

In the mile, Robert Keegan and Sean Galligan had been too strong for Greg Cohan and Dan Ranti, as the Weymouth pair finished together in 4:47.29 and 4:47.31, respectively, earning the first 8 points of the meet.

Then Steve Sallowin ran the fastest 1000 of the night (2:39.41), kicking well away from Ezra Lichtman (2:43.75), with Weymouth's Kody Crawford hanging on for third place.

Next, what seemed like a disaster, as Niel Fulwiler exhausted himself with mid-race surges trying to wrest the lead from Weymouth's Chris Dooley, and ended up running out of gas in the final 50m, as Zak Stuart came on to take 2nd.

It looked bad, but fortunately, Ben Kiley was about to put things right. In the last two weeks, the Newton junior (I mistakenly wrote earlier that he was a soph) has emerged as one of the key cogs in the Newton North machine, as well as a tremendous competitor.

As Sam Arsenault won the high jump with a single clearance at 5-10, Kiley secured 2nd by clearing 5-8 on his first try. He then barely brushed the bar with his arm while attempting 6-0. Moving to the 300, Kiley ran a brilliant race, seizing the lead and the inside lane in the first 300, and holding off David Bean in the straight to win in a PR 36.88 (fastest time of the night, fastest time in a league meet this year, and 9th fastest in the state this year).

Still trailing by 7, the Tigers tied the meet in the 55 hurdles, as Sam Arsenault won in 8.11, and Tony Chen came up huge to take 2nd in 8.14, ahead of Weymouth's Malcolm Gurley.

In the 55 dash, it was Kiley again, flashing across the line a personal best 6.84, just 0.04 ahead of Bean. With Tony Chen taking 3rd, the Tigers had the lead for the first time. Weymouth answered by taking 1-3 in the shot put, with Shawn Finn throwing 41-10 for the win.

Weymouth had used its best distance runners in the shorter events, and North's best distance runner, Dan Hamilton, was a lock to win the 2-Mile. The battle was for 2nd, and Newton's Mike Weinfeld won the battle, running an indoor best 10:54 to edge out Weymouth's Michael Mahoney by less than three seconds. Knowing that Michael has trained about a 1000 miles since the beginning of summer, I was really happy that it all paid off in winning those three points that tipped the meet finally and inexorably in Newton North's favor.

As in the girls' meet, the relay would not decide the outcome. Nevertheless, there was no lack of excitement. Newton North won, with Weymouth three seconds back. It was a fitting final contest in a meet full of great competitions. Weymouth came close, very close indeed, to bringing regime change to the Bay State League. But for at least one more year, the Tigers will take home the Carey crown.

Event Results - Bay State Meet #5