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
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6 comments:
i'm pretty sure Chris Barnicle in 2005 indoors, when I was a freshman, was the most dominating i've ever seen in a event, as I still remember him lapping 2nd and 3rd place 2 or 3 times in the 2 mile.
Hi Bonny,
Yes - Chris was very dominant in 2005 (he lapped the entire field once), but only in that one year. In fact, that was his only indoor individual championship.
Dahlberg finished 2nd in the mile as a freshman, and then won a state championship the next three years. Four years - one 2nd, three 1sts. That's what I meant by dominance.
I thought the girls 1,000 was unreal... when they were announcing the top six and got to Kathy O'Keefe, they said her time was the 9th fastest in the country this year! How you run the 9th fastest time in the country and "only" manage to place 4th in your state championships is beyond me. Equally impressive is the fact that the top five finishers are from either BSC or DCL. Congrats to Camille, Ellie, Margo, Kathy and Carolyn on fantastic races!
I think that the slower times in the past with the 1000 have also come from it not being raced correctly...this year they really raced it as opposed to running relaxed and kicking it in. Binder had run 2:57 at class A's in a sit-and-kick race and just ran for the win in 3:01 because she and no one else wanted to take it out. In the 800 that outdoor season meg looney took it out fast and led Binder to a 2:11 (looney finished in 212 and kasper 212 as well i think). Last outdoor, looney took it out fast again but the field didn't go with her. It was nice to see a real RACE for 5 laps. I hope that middle distance group continues to push the paces in the 800 and we could see them go under 2:10 at the state meet
Although it was at the class meet level, Tanya Jones from Newton North never lost a track race she entered.
1989-1992 Indoor 300y Champion
1989 Outdoor 200m champion
1990, 1991 Outdoor 400m champion
(1992 she did not compete in the 400m and only long jumped - which she won)
Admittedly, some years weren't fast, but she did run 56 low in the 400.
(I meant at the class meet, not necessarily dual meets)
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