NNHS Alumni Results - 2/27-2/28

Some of the usual suspects were in action this weekend as the indoor season heads into its final weeks.

Boston University hosted the New England College Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday, with several NNHS alumni competing. Wheaton's Cailean Robinson continued his outstanding indoor season, running 6.44 to place 5th in the 55 dash. In the mile, David Polgar ran 4:16.18, which is -- if I'm not mistaken -- his lifetime best.

In the 5000 it was another battle between Doug Brecher and Brookline alum Mike Burnstein. Doug ran 15:15.57, which is not bad, but Mike ran a personal best 14:53, which is tremendous!

I didn't see Seb Putzeys' name in any individual results, but his name does appear as the third leg (800m) on Northeastern's distance medley team, which ran 10:30.93.

Dan Chebot pulled off an impressive double at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships , hosted Friday and Saturday at Rochester Institute of Technology. Dan finished second overall in the 5000m with a time of 15:17.24, and fifth in the 3000m, running 8:50.12. Dan has qualified for the ECAC championships in both events.

Records Fall at 2009 All-State Meet

There were all sorts of official and unofficial records set at the 2009 All-State meet last night at Reggie Lewis. Official records included four individual meet records in the Boys 55 dash (Chris McConnell, 6.34), Boys 600 (Nick Wade, 1:20.89), Boys HJ (Corey Thomas, 6-11), and Girls 2-Mile (Emily Jones, 10:29.57 breaking her own state record), and a relay record in the girls 4x800 (Lincoln-Sudbury, 9:15.17).

Unofficial records included most insane girls 1000m, longest streak of dominance in a single event (Bridget Dahlberg in the girls mile), greatest combined distance in the boys and girls shot puts (102 feet, 3.75 inches by Dan Galvin and Nalis Mbianda -- I don't actually know if that's a record, but it's darn good), and biggest upset I've ever seen in the boys mile (John Bleday over Omar Abdi).

Well, having to pick and choose, here are events where Newton North runners figured prominently. It's just a coincidence that these were also some of the most exciting events (or is it?)

Murphy Wins Girls 1000

Two years ago, Molly Binder won the 1000m at the All-State meet with a time of 3:01.39. Incredibly, last night that time would have placed only 11th, as Framingham's Camille Murphy (2:51.99) won what surely was the deepest girls 1000m ever contested in Massachusetts, with four runners under 2:54 and six under 3:00.

The two fastest 1000m runners in Newton North history -- Margo Gillis and Carolyn Ranti -- finished 3rd and 5th in the historic race, with Gillis running a school record 2:52.91, a personal best by three seconds. Another sophomore, Newton South's Kathy O'Keefe, also ran a spectacular race with a four-second personal best to take 4th in 2:53.94. Ranti ran a season's best 2:57.17 in 5th.

Lincoln-Sudbury Sets Meet Record in Girls 4x800

L-S had no individual winners last night, but their 4x800 relay team of Claire Arthur, Jess Griffin, Ellie Hylton, and Andrea Keklak won the eagerly anticipated girls 4x800, setting a meet record 9:15.17, four seconds ahead of Newton South, which also went under the record they had set in 2008. Newton North was third, running a season's best 9:28.81.

Keeping with the theme of the night in the middle distances, the race was the deepest ever with nine teams at 9:40 or better, and an unreal twenty teams under 9:55. It seems that 9:40 is the new 10:00.

Girls 55 Hurdles

Mansfield's Meghan Ferreira reached the finish of the 55 hurdles 2/1000ths before Westford Academy's Cassandra Ryding (8.357 to 8.359), and the two points Ferreira gained by winning the event, helped keep Mansfield's chances for a team title alive. Later, it would come down to the 4x400 relay and Ferreira and Mansfield would win there and earn a tie with Newton South, making the two schools co-champions.

But back to the hurdles. You might be wondering how close 2/1000th of a second is... Well, assuming both runners were moving at their average speed for the race, it's about 1.3 centimeters, or half an inch. Keep working on your finish line lean, folks.

Newton North's Michelle Kaufman qualified for the finals with an 8.67, and then improved on that in the finals, running 8.64 to finish 7th overall.

Kaufman competed in the long jump, leaping 16-05.75 to finish 10th overall. She also ran on Newton North's 4x200m relay team, which finished 15th in 1:49.46.


2009 All-State Meet Results on Cool Running

Matt Carpenter Profiled in NY Times

Mountain Running is one of those exotic corners of the running universe that has a special hold on the imagination. Running up hills is hard enough; running up mountains is the something else again.

One of the most accomplished mountain runners in the world is Matt Carpenter. He is the record holder for the Pike's Peak Ascent (13 miles up) and the Pike's Peak Marathon (up and down). He holds the record for the infamous Leadville 100 trail race. About his decision to run that race for the first time in his late thirties, Carpenter says,

"Somebody told me you don’t know who you are until you do a 100-miler...I said, 'Damned if I’m going to die and not know who I am.'"

Carpenter is also a three-time winner of the Mt. Washington Road race, and one of only two runners to twice run under one hour there. In 2005 at age 40, he set the masters record at that race, running an ungodly 1:02.12 and finishing 4th overall.

Henry called my attention to a profile of Carpenter in yesterday's NY Times:

At 44, A Running Career Again in Ascent

Be sure to watch the video.

NNHS Alumni Results - 2/21-22/09

America East Championships (at BU)

David Polgar ran a season's best (and close to a personal best) 4:17.48 in the mile at the America East Championships on Saturday, finishing 6th. David also led off the distance medley relay, which also finished 6th in 10:04.86.



NE Div III Championships (at MIT)

Doug Brecher placed 8th in the 3000m at the NE DIII Championships on Saturday, running 8:50.55, just a couple of seconds behind Brookline alum Mike Burnstein.

USATF-NE New England Championships (at Harvard)

Post-collegiate alumni Dave Cahill and Josh Seeherman competed at the New England Championships on Sunday. Dave ran 51.38 to place 3rd in the 400m. Josh ran 2:02.90 to place 16th in the 800.

For Bay State League fans, Framingham alumnus Jordan Maddocks (now attending Brown), won the high jump with a leap of 2.04 (6-8.25).

Div I's: Gillis 3rd, Ranti 5th in "Dream" 1000

Girls 1000

Facing one of the deepest fields ever to line up for a Div I 1000, Margo Gillis showed no hesitation in going right to the front. In any other race, her first lap of 33.6 would have given her some kind of lead, but against Camille Murphy, Ellie Hylton, her teammate Carolyn Ranti, and Newton South's Kathy O'Keefe, all it did was put her at the front of a very fast train. Eventually, Murphy would go by to win with the second-fastest time in the country this year, and Hylton would also inch ahead on the final lap, but Gillis' third-place finish in 2:55.98 was a personal best and 10th fastest in the country so far this year. Ranti also went under 3:00, running 2:59.95 to take fifth.


(Photo: Henry Finch -- thanks Henry!)

Girls Long Jump, Girls 55 Hurdles

Newton North also had two podium finishers in the long jump. Michelle Kaufman jumped 16-2.75 to take 4th, and Emma Kornetsky was an inch back at 16-1.75 for 5th.

In the hurdles, Kaufman ran 8.67 in the heats and 8.76 in the finals to take 5th. Kaufman was one of four NN hurdles to qualify for the championships; Amy Ren (9.35), Jenn Liu (9.50), and Emily Denn (9.81) finished 14th, 17th, and 21st in the heats.

Girls Relays

The 4x800 was a barn-burner, with Lincoln-Sudbury and Newton South staging one of those when-we're-together-no-one-else-really-matters battles. Runners on both teams averaged sub 2:20 for their 800m legs, and both teams went way under the old meet record of 9:29, with L-S pulling out the win 9:16.43 to 9:18.42.

Left in their wake were three very good Bay State league teams. Newton North (Kornetsky, Sam Gluck, Ranti, and Gillis) edged Weymouth for third, running 9:31. 55, with Ranti and Gillis splitting 2:20's on the last two legs. Fifth was Framingham in 9:44.28.

There was a time (say, pre-2006) when 9:44 might win the 4x800 by half a straightaway. Now it gets you a distant fifth. Yikes.


(After handing off to Sam Gluck, Emma Kornetsky looks up in surprise to see L-S and N-S disappearing into the sunset. Phot: Henry Finch)

In the girls 4x200, the quartet of Ari Sanchez, Kaufman, Meghan Pursley, and Stephanie Brown placed 9th with a time of 1:49.71, a season's best by 0.05.

Boys 2-Mile

Seeded 9th in the 2-Mile, Dan Hamilton had his work cut out for him to make the top six. He did even better, running a personal best 9:52.10 to take 5th after a crazy final 300 meters in which several runners were in and then out and then in the medals.

Boys 1000

Ezra Lichtman took control of the first heat of the boys 1000 and produced a wire-to-wire win, running 2:41.91. By all rights, I should have a picture of Dan in the 2-mile, but he was always in the middle of a pack so Henry couldn't get any clear shots of him. So Ezra gets his picture here instead. That's the way it goes.



Div I Championships - Complete Results and Team Scores

Barnicle 5th in Armagh (No. Ireland) 5K

Less than a week after running a PB 13:53 for 5000m at the U. of Washington, a jet-lagged Chris Barnicle placed 5th in the Armagh International 5K road race, held annually in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Against an international field that included Mark Carroll (the Irish national record-holder for 5000m at 13:03), Chris took the lead in the middle of the race and was in contention to win until the final 600 meters.

His final time was 14:00, six seconds behind first-place David Nightingale and two seconds behind Carroll.

Results of the 2009 Armagh Senior Men's 5K

Video of the race on flotrack.com:



You can also see Chris' post-race interview, below. He says he'll be running a cross-country race on Sunday (which he expects to be a "mud-bath") and talks about his remaining college eligibility.



(Thanks to Jonathan Wyner for calling my attention to this race!)

2009 Indoor Div I Boys Preview

The boys Div I meet looks like the most unpredictable team competition in years, with no team standing out as the favorite, and many teams with a shot at the title.

Div I Boys and Girls Performance Lists

Based on seeds only, projected team scores for the top ten teams look like this:

Andover 35
St John's Prep 33
BC High 30
Xaverian 28
Lowell 26
New Bedford 26
Lawrence 24
Methuen 20
Newton South 19
Cambridge 19

How reliable are these points? Where is there upside?

Well, to begin with, BC High has to like their chances, since 20 of their projected points come from the state's best male athlete, Corey Thomas, in the high jump and hurdles. They also have Ibi Wilcox, who has run 7.91 in the hurdles, two OTHER high jumpers who have cleared 6-1, and two shot putters who have thrown over 51 feet. So it's not unreasonable to think BC High could have 35 points from three events.

Andover also has fairly reliable points. They have the state's best sprinter in Chris Mcconnell, who should win the 55, and lead them to victory in the 4x200. They also have the state's second-ranked 4x400 team, 6-2 high jumper Andrew Osborne, and Rob Martin, who has run 1:24.75 in the 600. I think they will be very close to their projected 35 points, although the high jump is always a crap shoot.

But the team I think could win is St. John's Prep. The prep has projected scorers in only four events, but that includes Jared Kadich, the top seed in the 300 (35.82), Mike Massee, the top seed in the 1000, and the top team in the 4x400 relay. They also should have a good 4x800 team, which could score points, and a chance in the high jump and 600. My instinct here is that SJP always seems to over-perform at these big meets, and a score in the mid-30s might be enough to win this year.

Two dark horse teams are Lawrence and Newton South. Lawrence has upside in the 55 and 300, but not enough scorers overall to get above the mid-20s even if everything goes their way. Newton South has upside in the 1000, the mile, and 4x800 relay, and I think they might get an individual victory from Ross McDonald in the long jump.

And what of Sam Arsenault and Ben Kiley? Arsenault has sat out the last few meets with a foot injury, but is entered in the hurdles and long jump. Will he be able to compete at his usual high-level? Ben Kiley has been getting better and better as the season has gone on. He is entered in the 55 (seeded 8th) and the long jump (seeded 11th), and with a good day, could conceivably score in either or both. North also has the fifth seed in the 4x400 relay.

Other than watching Corey Thomas go after 7-feet in the high jump, other events of special interest include the 1000, where Weymouth's Steve Sallowin has a real chance to become the first sophomore to win the 1000 in a long, long time.

In the 2M, Phil Galebach looks like the favorite... haven't heard much from him since he went to Footlocker Nationals in XC. Newton North's Dan Hamilton is seeded 9th and will likely need to run a PR to be in the top six.

The oldest Div I meet record on the books is Ray Auger's 61-3.75 in the shot put, which dates back to 1972. Falmouth junior Sam Bombough has thrown 57-2.75, so not completely out of reach -- if not this year then perhaps next.

2009 Indoor Div I Girls Preview

The Div I meet (Class A's) is this Saturday, starting at 2:30 PM at Reggie. Performance lists have been posted here:

Div I Performance Lists (Girls and Boys)

Projecting scores based solely on seeds (obviously not always accurate), here are the projected team scores for the top teams:

Newton South 61
Haverhill 50
Newton North 36
Lincoln-Sudbury 34
Andover 26

And then there are half dozen teams projected around 18 points. among them, Weymouth has significant upside in the hurdles and 600.

Looking beyond the seeds, Newton South still looks like the odds-on favorite to win the team title, with reliable scorers in at least seven events, including the 1M, 2M, and shot put, where Bridget Dahlberg, Kelsey Karys, and Nalis Mbianda are strong favorites.

Haverhill and Lincoln-Sudbury will put up a good fight, though. If everything breaks Haverhill's way, including strong performances in the 4x8 and 4x4 relays, they could certainly win. And i think Lincoln-Sudbury will score more than their projected 34 points, since Andrea Keklak should finish no worse than 2nd in the mile.

Newton North would be in a stronger position, but with Carolyn Ranti and Margo Gillis both entered in an insanely competitive 1000m, they will need some kind of good fortune to be in the top two teams. First of all, they'll need great performances from Michelle Kaufman in the hurdles and long jump, some difficult points in the high jump, and most importantly - Ranti and Gillis have to go no worse than 2-4 in the 1000, which will be very tough.

Andover could score big points in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays, but it doesn't look they have enough individual scorers to make a run at Newton South and Haverhill. We'll see.

In addition to the 1000, the 4x800 relay will be very strong, and the 55 hurdles is up for grabs with the top 6 runners seeded from 8.60 to 8.73.

Good luck to all competitors!

Using Blood to Heal Injuries

My colleague at work, Don, has been battling Achilles pain for many years, and I know from him how frustrating it is to be deal with an injury that never seems to heal.

One of the problems is that tendons and other white tissue are poorly supplied by blood, and so an injury, once sustained, repairs itself very slowly. And once weakened, the tendon is prone to being re-injured. In other words, even with the proper diagnosis and treatment (and that's a big assumption), the problem can become chronic.

Today's New York Times has an article about a novel treatment for tendon injuries that involves using the athlete's own blood plasma to speed the healing process. the article cautions that the treatment has not been scientifically proven, but preliminary studies have been encouraging and the pace of research is accelerating.

A Promising Treatment for Athletes, in Blood

The article describes the treatment this way:

"Platelet-rich plasma is derived by placing a small amount of the patient’s blood in a filtration system or centrifuge that rotates at high speed, separating red blood cells from the platelets that release proteins and other particles involved in the body’s self-healing process, doctors said. A teaspoon or two of the remaining substance is then injected into the damaged area. The high concentration of platelets — from 3 to 10 times that of normal blood — often catalyzes the growth of new soft-tissue or bone cells. Because the substance is injected where blood would rarely go otherwise, it can deliver the healing instincts of platelets without triggering the clotting response for which platelets are typically known."

The article goes on to say that a double-blind randomized study is currently underway on 54 patients with Achilles tendon injuries.

In the mean time, Don continues his strengthening exercises, his careful warm-ups, his modest runs every other day, and hopes for the best.

Jampol/Seeherman on Flotrack

Our favorite track play-by-play man is back, as Noah Jampol announces Heat 3 of the 5000m at the BU Valentine's Meet. Jampol is ably assisted by camerman and commentator Josh Seeherman.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

NNHS Alumni Results - 2/14/09

It was quite a day for NN alumni in meets on the East and West coast.

Robinson, Chebot PR at BU Valentine Meet

The 3rd heat of the men's 5000m at the BU Valentine's meet was a reunion of Bay State rivals Dan Chebot, Mike Burnstein, and Doug Brecher, and the race didn't disappoint. In the early laps, it was Brecher out the quickest, running in 6th or 7th place through the 1K -- passed in just under 3:00. As the pack spread out, Chebot and Burnstein began moving up, and by 3K had dropped Brecher. The final few laps turned into a mano-a-mano duel, with Chebot passing Burnstein and then holding him off through a blistering final 400 run in about 67 seconds. Both finished with huge PRs -- 15:03.22 for Dan and 15:03.79 for Mike -- with Doug back a few places in 15:15.25.

Not only was the race great to watch, I had the privilege of listening to NN alumni Josh Seeherman and Noah Jampol announce the race for Flotrack.com. Once the link to the video is up, I'll post it,

Earlier in the meet Noah had run a season's best 4:29.88 in the mile, and Josh had run 2:00.60 in the 800, despite getting an errant elbow to the face in the first few meters of the race from an over-zealous Bentley runner. In the 400m, Dave Cahill ran 51.70 for the 400m.

But perhaps the best performance came in the 200, where Cailean Robinson ran an indoor personal best of 22.00 to finish 10th overall out of 175 competitors.

BU Valentine Invitational - Complete Men's Results

Barnicle PRs at Husky Classic

I thought the BU Valentine meet was deep, but the Husky Classic at the University of Washington was simply unreal. 20 runners uner 4:06 for the mile; 21 runners under 14:00 for 5K. On the women's side, 21 runners under 4:50 for the mile. German Fernandez winning the 3k in 7:47, Matt Centrowitz winning the mile in 3:57, Jenny Barringer running a meet and facility record to win the 5K in 15:01... All very impressive.

But the result that made me most excited was this line from the seeded heat of the men's 5000m:

10 852 Barnicle, Chris Unattached 13:53.63P

That's a PR for Chris, whose previous best was 13:56.43 from the 2008 SEC (outdoor) Championships. That was when he was still running for Arkansas. Now he's at New Mexico for graduate school, with a year of eligibility left and it's great to see him healthy and running fast!

Husky Classic Complete Results

Other Alumni Results

Hard as it is to imagine, there were two other meets going on within jogging distance of BU yesterday.

Harvard hosted a tri-meet with Yale and Princeton, and David Smith competed in the shot put (13.47m / 44-02.50) and weight throw (14.37m / 47-01.75).

Meanwhile, Wesleyan competed at the MIT Invitational, and Scott Cole ran what I believe is a personal best of 2:41.76 in the 1000m on MIT's flat and unforgiving indoor track.

2009 BU Valentine's Meet Info

Boston University is hosting the two-day Valentine's Invitational this weekend, with most women's events Friday (yesterday) and most men's events Saturday (today).

This meet has some of the deepest fields in the distance races that you'll find anywhere. Yesterday 18 women broke 5:00 for the mile, 8 women ran under 2:11 for the 800, 20 ran under 10:00 for the 3K (led by Ireland's Mary Cullen running a solo 8:43), 22 ran under 18:00 for 5K, and so on.

Today the men have a go, and the fields include quite a few Newton and Bay State alumni. Cailean Robinson is entered in the 200, Noah Jampol will be running the mile (seeded 122nd out of 210!), Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot will be running the 3k (only 192 entries there...), and there could be an epic Bay State battle in the 5K with Mike Burnstein, Dan Chebot, and Doug Brecher.

Here's the schedule:

SATURDAY TRACK EVENTS
10:45 a.m. - Women's Distance Medley - seed times 11:45-11:58
10:59 a.m. - Women's Distance Medley - seed times 11:59-12:24
11:13 a.m. - Women's Distance Medley - seed times 12:25 and up
11:30 a.m. - 55m Hurdles - fast to slow, 8 heats - top 16 times return for two-section final
11:55 a.m. - 55m - fast to slow, 18 heats - top 16 times return for two-section final
12:45 p.m. - 400m - fast to slow, 36 heats
1:40 p.m. - 500m - fast to slow, 15 heats
2:10 p.m. - Mile Run - fast to slow, 18 heats
3:40 p.m. - 200m - fast to slow, 48 heats
4:30 p.m. - 800m - fast to slow, 19 heats
5:15 p.m. - 1,000m - fast to slow, 10 heats
5:45 p.m. - 4x400m Relay - nine heats
6:20 p.m. - 3,000m - 10 heats
8 p.m. - 5,000m - eight heats


And here's a page with links to the performance lists and results:

http://goterriers.cstv.com/sports/m-track/spec-rel/082808aaa.html

Old Age 1 - Youth 0

News item of the day: stolen off letsrun.com and too good to ignore. Even at 72, retired teacher Jean Hirst (a former Notinghamshire sprint champion) chases down a 16-year handbag thief.

My favorite quote from the article:

"I didn't think of my safety, but I did pay for it a little the next day. I was covered in aches and pains and my daughter turned to me and said it was because I didn't warm up properly."

Thief Tries To Steal Handbag From 72-Yr-Old Ex-Champ Women's Sprinter

2009 Bay State League Meet Results

I won't lie, I've always thought the indoor league meet was a little weird.

As a way of selecting league all-stars, it's terribly flawed by the fact that the best athletes don't necessarily run their best events. (To paraphrase Churchill's famous description of democracy, the league meet is the worst way to select all-stars except all the other ways). As a meet, it's flawed by the inexplicable decision not to have team scoring. As a nice league get together, it's flawed by the fact that many of the athletes who have been competing all year are left out.

And don't even get me started about the 2-mile, since in some sense every league meet has an all-league 2-mile.

But thank goodness for the athletes themselves, who always seem to rescue the meet with some fantastic performances. Yesterday was no exception, and there were some terrific times and marks. And if there were a few miscarriages of justice, well, that's the way it goes sometime. On to the results!

Girls Results

The girls distance races were stellar. In one of the most competitive, NN's Margo Gillis won the mile in a PR 5:08.50 over Siobhan Flaherty (5:10.95), and Jill Corcoran (5:13.40). Will Gillis run the mile at the state meet, or the 1000 where she has run 2:59?

Framingham's Camille Murphy ran the state's fastest time to-date in the 1000, blazing 2:54.56, with Carolyn Ranti (2:58.16) going sub-3:00 for the first time this season. Will Murphy run the 1000 at the state meet, or the mile where she has run 4:57?

Natick's Rebecca White won the 2-mile by nearly a minute and a half, running 11:06.88, fifth fastest in the state this season. NN's Sarah Perlo finished fourth in a PR 12:38.89.

Michelle Kaufman confined her individual efforts to the hurdles and the long jump, winning the hurdles in 8.63, and finishing 3rd in the LJ with a leap of 16-0. In the high jump, Emily Hutchinson finished 2nd, clearing 5-2.

In the relays, North won the 4x200 in 1:49.76 with a quartet of Ari Sanchez, Michelle Kaufman, Meaghan Pursley, and Steph Brown. The 4x400 was a great battle between Weymouth and Newton, with Weymouth pulling away to win in 4:05.98 (making them the 5th fastest team in the state right now), and North taking second in 4:09.45.

The 4x800 looks like it was actually a really good race, with four teams within six seconds of each other. North finished 2nd to Natick by less than a second, running 10:49.87.

2009 League Meet - Girls Results

Boys Results

Newton North had two individual champions, and they won their titles in the shortest and longest events. Ben Kiley ran 6.80 in the heats, and then 6.75 in the finals to just outlean Weymouth's David Bean, who was given the same time. Meanwhile, Dan Hamilton ran his ten millionth 2-mile on the Reggie Lewis track, and won the league title in 10:10.41, besting Robert Keegan who was second in 10:15.68.

It looked like old times for Brookline in the 1M, as they took the top four places. Ryan Hardiman (4:30.28... nice!) and Brendan Grove (4:32.82) went 1-2. Newton North's top finisher was Jake Gleason in 4:57.83 (first time under 5:00?)

Weymouth's Steve Sollowin dominated the 1000, winning by 8 seconds in 2:34.75, and North's Ezra Lichtman (one "n") won a close race for 2nd in a personal best time of 2:42.15.

In the 55 hurdles, Tony Chen ran a PR 8.00 in the heats, and then 8.08 in the finals to take 3rd behind Brookline's Joel Parent (7.88) and natick's Tommy Brandt (7.99).

In the shot put, Ryan Doherty uncorked a personal best throw of 43-9 to take fifth. Swardic Mayanja also did well, throwing 41-10 for sixth.

In the relays, Newton's 4x800 team of Ezra Lichtman, Greg Cohan, Dan Ranti, and Dan Hamilton won a close race against Brookline, finishing in 8:50.82, and their 4x200 team placed of Tony Chen, Faisal Mayanja, Ethan Goldman, and Ben Kiley finished 2nd to Framingham, running 1:36.54.

2009 League Meet - Boys Results

NN Girls Win 4x800, 4x50 hurdles at McIntyre Relays

The Bob McIntyre "Elite" Relays are not a team-scored event, but Newton North's girls gave an impressive team performance on Sunday, winning the the 4x800m and 4x50 hurdles relays, and placing in the high jump and long jump relays.

In the 4x800, the Tiger quartet of Sam Gluck, Emma Kornetsky, Carolyn Ranti, and Margo Gillis ran 9:29.83, the fastest time in the state this season. The Daily News Tribune reports that Gillis closed in 2:16, to open up a gap of more than a straightaway on Hopkinton and Framingham.

In the 4x50 hurdle relay, Amy Ren, Emily Denn, Jen Liu, and Michelle Kaufman ran 29.93 in the heats, and then set a school record 29.78 in the finals to win by a half second over Attleboro.

The high jump relay (Emily Hutchinson, Amy Ren, Lucia Grigoli) finished 2nd with a combined height of 4.45m (14-7.25), and the long jump relay (Ren, Koretsky, and Kaufman) finished fourth with a combined distance of 13.74m (45-1).

MSTCA "Bob McIntyre" New England Relays - Complete Results

Thoughts About the 2009 Boston Indoor Games

Ok - let's start with a quick quiz:

Including the youth relay, there were 20 running events contested at the 2009 Boston Indoor Games; how many of those events were 1 mile races? (Answer at the the end of this post)

For the second year in a row, the best RACE of the night was the junior boys 1M.
It seems that almost everyone in the race thinks he has a shot to win. The race doesn't need rabbits because there's always someone who tries to win the race from the front -- a far more common occurrence in a high school race than a professional race. This year's race featured a fantastic final straight from the fortuitously-named Mac Fleet, who came from nowhere (well, 4th, actually) to overtake three runners in the final 40m and pull out a narrow win (4:09.06) over Andrew Springer (4:09.16), Patrick McGregor (4:09.41), and Drew Butler (4:09.62).

Here are video highlights of the race:



I also enjoyed the (open) women's mile, and seeing Lindsay Gallo surprise herself and everyone else by overtaking Mestawot Tadesse and Sarah Jamieson in the last lasp and win in 4:27.90. She described it as a breakthrough race for her and the biggest win of her life.

Sitting in the stands along the backstretch gave us a wonderful view of the pole vault. It was a real treat to watch, first, Olympic silver medalist Jenn Stuczynski vault to an American record and make three attempts at a world record. Then the men got started and we got to watch Steven Hooker clear 6.06 (19-10.5) and take three attempts at 6.16 (20-2.5), which would have eclipsed Sergei Bubka's long-standing indoor world-record.

Of course, we also got to watch the compulsory neurotic interactions between the vaulters and their coaches. I find it somewhat mystifying that only a few moments after these athletes catapult themselves so far into space, they are meekly approaching their coaches, looking like they're expecting a tongue-lashing or some small bit of encouragement and technical advice that might help them clear the next height. Watching this process repeat itself with each vaulter, I kept thinking about the athletes as marionettes, and the coaches as puppet-masters, tucking in an arm her, adjusting an angle there. I mean, these guys are amazing but I'm glad no one is micro-managing my races like that.

Was it my imagination, or were the best races the ones that didn't use rabbits? The professional distance races all used rabbits to ensure a fast pace and a shot at a record of some sort. And this approach was fairly successful. Nick Willis came within a few hundredths of a meet record in the mile, Shalane Flanagan sliced 20 seconds off the American Record in the 5K (but lost by a couple of inches after Sentayehu Ejigu happily ran in her slipstream for half the race and pulled barely ahead by 0.005s in the final straight.

Of course, I'm not so old-fashioned to say that distance races shouldn't ever use rabbits. Slow, slow races decided by ridiculous kicks have their own problems. But it was striking how much more exciting it was to watch, say, the college men's mile compared to the professional men's mile. And the men's 3k, although very fast, had the feel of a time trial from the beginning.

By the way, one of the stranger post-race quote of the night goes to Galen Rupp, who, after finishing second in the 3000m, commented:

"I was just trying to focus on my form and not falling apart," said Rupp. "Whether I was going to get him or not was kind of irrelevant."

"Irrelevant?" Not the word I would have chosen.

A final thought: it seems that the field events can work when there's only one really great athlete in the field. (It took Stuczynski one jump to win the competition; Hooker two.) The running events, however, need multiple potential winners and a cast of characters that includes:

The promising upstart
The mercurial and inconsistent talent
The legend trying to reclaim former glory
The confident Olympian
The guy with the big kick that everyone else wants to drop


And even then, the story has to play out in just the right way. It's not a guarantee; it never is. I'm always amazed that races can go completely against form for apparently no reason.

I'll say one think, meet organizers have realized that staging a LOT of good races increases the chances that at least a few of the races will be really special.


Quiz Answer: SIX of the twenty running events were 1M races: Masters, Boys and Girls juniors, Men's and Women Open, and College. Apparently, the 1M is by far the most popular race distance. BTW, there were three races at 200m, and two each at 60m (flat), 800m, and 3000.

NNHS Alumni Results - 2/7 - 2/8/09

Doug Brecher (Bates '10) won the 5000m at the State of Maine Championships in Lewiston, Saturday, running 15:31.5. The meet includes Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, and Southern Maine.

Also on Saturday, Harvard hosted the "Battle of Beantown" meet, which included Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College, and Boston University. BU junior David Polgar ran a solid 4:21.38 to finish 7th in the mile, and Northeastern freshman Seb Putzeys placed 9th in the 1000m in 2:35.86.

David Smith (Yale '11) placed 6th in the shot put with a throw of 14.68m (48-02) at the Giegengack Invitational in New Haven.

At the Syracuse Invitational, Dan Chebot (Rochester '09) placed 15th in the mile with a time of 4:30.46.

(Wed 2/4) - Tigers Sweep Inter-Divisional Meets

(Trying to catch up after a very busy week away from the blog...)

Boys Wrap Up 11th Straight Undefeated Season With 50-36 Win Against Wellesley

The Newton North boys indoor track team was without hurdler/jumper/sprinter Sam Arsenault on Wednesday as they faced undefeated Herget Division champ Wellesley in the final dual meet of the 2008-2009 season. It has been a season of challenges for the Tigers, who won close meets against Brookline and Weymouth to keep their dual meet win streak alive. And for the second meet in a row, the black and orange fell behind 1-8 in the first event.

But after that initial setback, the Tigers won every other running event, including a sweep in the 2-mile, clinching the meet in advance of the 4x400 relay, which they also won for a final margin of 50-36.

As he has been the last few weeks, Ben Kiley was a star for the Tigers, winning the 300 (37.63) and 55 dash (PR 6.81, and fastest overall time of the night), while taking third in the high jump (5-11).

Other wins came from Ezra Lichtmann (2:51.15) in the 1000 (with Justin Keefe 2nd), Niel Fulwiler (1:28.77) in the 600, Tony Chen (8.08) in the 55 hurdles, and Dan Hamilton (10:13.53) in the 2-mile. Isaiah Penn took 3rd in the 300 (38.37) and led off for the winning 4x400 team (which included Hao-Kai Wu, Ryan Kwan and Fulwiler).

Ryan Donovan (41-11) and Swardic Mayanja (40-5) took 2nd and 3rd in the shot put.

With the victory, the Tigers gave Coach Jim Blackburn his 11th straight undefeated indoor season, going back to 1998. According to historian Josh Seeherman, their lost loss came against Milton, when North's 4x400 relay team was disqualified after Aaron Schwiriam fouled Kobe Fuller in the final few meters of the race. It has been quite a run since then.

Bay State League Inter-Divisional Meet - Complete Results

Impressive Performances Highlight Girls 51-35 Victory Over Natick

Michelle Kaufman had her usual superb evening for the Tigers, winning the 55 hurdles (8.90), 55 dash (7.69), and long jump (17-00.5) -- all of which were best performances of the night -- and taking 3rd in the shot put with a heave of 25-4. Kaufman has been so consistently good this season that her points seem almost automatic. As the indoor season reaches its final weeks, it's worth reflecting on her four years of accomplishments, and wish her well in the big meets to come.

The performance of the night for the Tigers was undoubtedly Margo Gillis 2:59.50 victory in the 1000. (Amusingly, the Daily News Tribune reported the time as 2:29.50 -- which is, for now, a little bit out of Margo's range.) Her actual time is the third best in the state this year and, after Gillis finished 2nd in the MSTCA coaches meet in the 2-mile, raises an intriguing question of where she will compete in the Div I meet. (The 2-mile is only about 40 minutes before the 4x800 relay.)

Other victories came from Carolyn Ranti in the mile (5:17.83), Emma Kornetsky in the 600 (1:43.86, with Jaya Tripathi running an excellent time of 1:46.42 to take 2nd), and Nora Barnicle in the 2-mile (12:31 for the senior who rarely runs the longer distance on the track).

The North 4x400 team also won, running a season's best 4:15.62 -- seven seconds ahead of the Raiders.

Bay State League Inter-Divisional Meet - Complete Results

NN Athletes at MSTCA Elite Meet

The Reggie Lewis Center was rocking over the weekend, with the Boston Indoor Games (Colege Division) on Friday, the MSTCA Coaches meet on Saturday, and the MSTCA Elite meet on Sunday.

The elite meet had some memorable performances, perhaps none as electrifying as Corey Thomas clearing 7 feet one half inch in the high jump on his third attempt. Thomas, who also won the 55 hurdles, was named the outstanding male performer of the meet. Charlestown’s Omar Abdi had the outstanding running performance of the meet, winning the 1000 in 2:27.80, a meet record. Seekonk junior Johnny Gregorek won the mile (4:20.57) despite losing a shoe half way through the race. The shot put also saw great competition, as Mansfield's Dan Glavin (57-4) was a little bit better than Falmouth junior Sam Bombaugh (56-10.25).

Emily Jones won the girls mile (not too surprising) in 4:54.87, and was followed closely by Framingham's Camille Murphy (much more surprising!) who broke 5:00 for the first time, running 4.57.88.

In the two mile, Newton North's Margo Gillis (11:14.22) finished second behind Newton South Bridget Dahlberg (11:02.08). Carolyn Ranti placed fourth in the 1000m in a season's best 3:00.41. North's distance drew placed 7th in the 4x800 relay in a season's best time of 9:54.24.

In the 55 hurdles, Michelle Kaufman placed 4th in a personal best time of 8.60, after running 8.75 in the heats. Kaufman also placed 12th in the long jump, leaping 16-2.25. Also competing in the hurdles, was Amy Ren (9:12).

Emily Hutchinson cleared 5-0 in the high jump, placing her 16th.

For the Newton North boys, Tony Chen competed in the hurdles, running 8.16 in the heats but failing to advance to the finals, and Dan Hamilton ran a season's best 9:54.06 to finish 12th in the 2-mile.

MSTCA Elite meet 2/1/09 - complete results

NNHS Alumni Results - 1/30/09 - 2/1/09

This weekend's NNHS alumni results includes an impressive double by Cailean Robinson, who won two events at the Wheaton College T&F Invitational Saturday. Robinson had the fastest time in the prelims of the 55 dash (and 6.50), and then won the finals with a time of 6.45. It's no surprise to see him in the 55, but not so typical to see Cailean competing in -- and winning! -- the long jump, where he got off a leap of 20-10.5. Impressive!

Seb Putzeys dropped down to a short race for him, racing the 500m at the Reebok Indoor Games - College Division. Seb ran 1:10.76, which I'm pretty sure is his best (and first) time in that event.

Also competing at the notorious BIGs, was Steve Long, who tossed off a throw of 12.67 (41-7) in the shot put.

At the Tufts Invitational #2, Scott Cole ran a PR 2:41.26 for 1000m. (in the same meet, old friend Mike Burnstein ran an excellent 8:43.91 for 3000m - and on a flat track!)

Noah Jampol placed 14th in the mile at the George Mason Patriot Games, running 4:32.27.

On Saturday, Dan Chebot competed at the Colgate Invitational in Hamilton, NY, and ran a PR 8:49.42 to take 7th place in the 3000m.