NN Girls Win D1 State Championships

There was something methodical about the way Newton North won the DI State championship on Saturday. In every event where points were available, points were earned, often a couple of points more than were expected. In the end, the Tigers had too many weapons, using them all to amass 46 points and clinch the championship with no need to worry about the results of the 4x400 relay.

A surprisingly strong Wachusett team took home the runner-up trophy by the slimmest of margins, with 38.33 points, a third of a point ahead of Boston Latin.

For Newton North, things started out well when Emily Hutchinson placed 3rd in the high jump with a 5-3 clearance. Although Andover's Moira Cronin won, as expected, second-seed Jess Salley finished in a three-way tie for 4th along with another teammate, and Andover came away with 14.67 points, instead of the hoped-for 18. Lucia Grigoli also cleared 5-1, but was 7th on total misses.

In the mile, Newton South's duo of Melanie Fineman and Kathy O'Keefe opened with a 71 first 400, opening a big gap on the field. The two would trade the lead, with Fineman surging ahead for good in the final 400 to take the win in 5:00.02.

In the 1000, what some expected to be a blazing race turned tactical as Margo Gillis first took the lead and then slowed the pace over the second and third laps. With the field bunching up, Lincoln-Sudbury's Andrea Keklak made a decisive move, surging into the lead and almost instantly opening up a 10-meter gap. Gillis gave chase, and the two pulled away from the field, but Keklak was too strong and took the win in 3:00.16 to 3:00.77. Actually, it didn't seem that close. Regardless, North had another 8 points.

Over at the long jump, Carla Forbes was dominating the field with at least two jumps over 18 feet. That was well beyond what anyone else could muster, and the freshman had won her first DI state championship, and more importantly, 10 more points for the cause.

In the hurdles, Kayla Wong ran 8.91 to qualify for the finals in the 55 hurdles, and then a PR 8.76 to take 4th in the finals, earning the Tigers another 4 points. Amy Ren was the fastest non-qualifier, running 9.14 in the prelims but failing to advance.

Forbes ran 7.42 in the prelims of the 55 dash, the third-fastest qualifier, and then nearly repeated the effort with a 7.43 in the finals to take 4th place.

With the relays left to run, North had the lead with 32 points, and needed good performances in the 4x800, where they were top seed, and the 4x200, where they were seeded fourth.

The 4x800 developed into a battle between five teams. Franklin took the early lead on the first leg, with Newton North's Meghan Bellerose running a 2:24 leg to keep Newton North in 3rd. On the next leg, Lincoln-Sudbury roared ahead into the lead, and North's Arianna Tabatabaie also passed Franklin, bringing the Tigers into second. With Lincoln-Sudbury extending their advantage, North's Jaya Tripathi maintained North's lead, as Newton South and Weymouth began closing the gap. The last leg was one of the best races of the day, and featured four of the top runners in the meet, with Keklak (1st in the 1000), Gillis (2nd in the 1000), O'Keefe (2nd in the mile), and Weymouth's Jill Corcoran (3rd in the mile). Keklak was gone, not to be caught, but Corcoran ran a brilliant leg to bring Weymouth into 3rd, and very nearly run down Gillis, who hung on to give the Tigers 2nd, and another 8 points.

As it turned out, that 8 points would be enough to win the meet, but for good measure, North's 4x200 quartet of Kayla Wong, Forbes, Stephanie Brown, and Meghan Pursley (two sophs, a freshman, and a junior) ran 1:47.15 to take 3rd, just behind Andover. Ever the perfectionist, North coach Joe Tranchita probably found flaws in the team's baton passes, but the first exchange -- Wong to Forbes -- was nearly perfect, and resulted in the Tigers being able to draft off the top two teams for the rest of the race.

So... congratulations to the Tigers, who have so far finished 2nd at the Dartmouth Relays, won the Bay State championship, won the DI State Relays, won the MSTCA Team Pentathlon, and now won the DI State Championships. On to All-States.

Ebbs, Gleason Lead Depleted Boys

Ben Kiley was MIA, and Ezra Lichtman was still suffering from illness, so the Newton North boys weren't at full strength on Saturday. Nevertheless, they produced several fine performances.

Conor Ebbs, apparently drawing motivation from a perceived but unintentional slight by yours truly, was one of only two throwers to break 50-feet in D1, and that was good enough for 2nd place and 8 points for the Tigers. Ebbs gets to go for 54 feet next week at All-States.

Isaiah Penn very nearly scored in the 600, but ran a PR 1:24.97 to take 7th, running out of the second-to-last heat.

Justin Keefe continued inching his way towards an eventual sub 2:40 clocking in the 1000, running 2:40.01 (I am not making this up) to take 11th in a deep field.

But the race of the day for North was Jake Gleason's brilliant race in the 2-Mile. Maybe I need to stop acting surprised when Jake breaks through another barrier, but I was jumping up and down, as the senior ran at the back of the lead pack through a 4:48 first mile, then sensibly maintained an even pace as the leaders surged, finally charging through the wreckage of the field to take 5th in the seeded heat (6th overall) in a PR 9:45.24. That run qualifies him for the All-State meet, and puts him in select company as far as indoor performances go. I'll write about that in a separate post...

Results of 2010 DI State Championship Meet