Mansfield Shocks Andover

I figured there was no way Andover wouldn't win the state meet, no way.

Mansfield found a way. The Hockomock and DII champs won the meet on the final event by running the fastest 4x400 in the state this year, but more importantly, a few tenths of a second better than Andover's second-best time in the state this year. That victory pushed Mansfield over the top, and gave them the team victory by two-thirds of a point.

Of course, those final 10 points came on top of 25 other points. Some of them came in surprising ways. Only the 9th seed in the 300, Mansfield senior Kyle Kilduff finished 3rd in 36:02. Brendan Boyle nabbed 6th in the mile for an all-important point. Curiously, Andover chose not to run their best miler Simon Voorhees, who was seeded 4th. Patrick McGowan ran a great race in the 1000 to finish 2nd to Westborough's Byron Jones.

And then there were the relays. Last week in DI, Andover owned them. This week, they finished 3rd in the 4x800 (Mansfield 4th), first in the 4x200 (Mansfield 3rd), and 2nd in the 4x400 (Mansfield 1st). Total relay points -- Andover 24, Mansfield 20.

Andover still got a win in the 55 from Chris McConnell, but didn't score any points in the long jump, and only a third of a point in the high jump. Voorhees might have scored in the mile, but Andover probably didn't think they needed him there.

The only thing I was right about with this meet is that the 2-Mile was a fantastic race. After leading the pack through a 4:44 first mile, Antony Taylor did everything he could to open a gap on the kickers in the race. He almost succeeded, but 2009 outdoor champion Coby Horowitz brought the noise with a sub-30s final 200, catching Taylor 10 meters from the line. Shrewsbury's John Murray looked like he might have a chance, as he was matching strides with Horowitz, but a slight bump on the final turn threw him off-stride, and he came in third.

For the Newton North boys, it was a quiet end to the season. Jake Gleason ran 10:10 in the 2-Mile, and Conor Ebbs had three fouls in the shot put. North's other entry, Isaiah Penn didn't compete in the 600.