Forbes, Brown Jump to DI Titles; Penn Runs 49.30!

Newton North athletes won three individual titles, and the girls won the 4x400 relay at the State DI Championships on Friday in Somerville. There were also three runner-up finishes for the Tigers, including a tremendous run in the 400 by junior Isaiah Penn.

Girls Highlights:

Sophomore Steph Brown won the pole vault by clearing 10-6 and having fewer misses than Newton South's Cora Visnick. About the pole vault, NN historian-in-chief Josh Seeherman writes:

"Pole vault appears to have been brought in as a scoring event in 1952, and the first Newton High pole vault champion in Division 1 (remember no all-state back then) was Jeff Borden in 1953. His winning vault of 10-7.25 was almost the same as Stephanie Brown's 10-6 ! She is the 9th champion (first woman), and the first winner since Bill Norwood repeated as champion in 1984 - which is still prior to Miss Brown's birth."

Carla Forbes won both the long and triple jumps. In the long jump, her leap of 18-4.5 was half a foot better than second place. In the triple jump, her mark of 40-3 was a meet record and won the event by two feet. We have become so accustomed to her high level of achievement over the indoor and outdoor season, that it's a little surprising to remember she's only a freshman. Other NN competitors in the long jump were Amy Ren (16-5), Kayla Prior (15-11.5), Jen Liu (15-8), and Steph Brown (14-7). Ren also competed in the triple jump, leaping 35-2.5 for 8th place.

In the 800, junior Margo Gillis finished 2nd to long-time rival Andrea Keklak of Lincoln Sudbury. Gillis ran 2:15.61 to Keklak's 2:14.89. If history is any guide, we can look forward to a dramatic race between the two at the state meet. Freshman Meghan Bellerose also finished 10th in 2:23.14.

In the 200. Djaidah Wynn took 6th in 26.62.

Monet Lowe finished 5th in the shot put, throwing 34-2.5, with Megan Gentile 9th at 32-1.25. Ellen Goldberg placed 6th in the discus with a mark of 94-8, as Lowe finished 10th in 89-10. (I don't know why Tatiana Froelich didn't compete). Obviously, NN had hoped for more points from this event.

Emily Hutchinson tied with three other jumpers for 6th in the high jump, clearing 4-11. Lucia Grigoli cleared the same height but had more misses and finished 10th.

In the 100 hurdles, Kayla Wong, Jen Liu, and Kayla Prior ran 17.03, 17:31, and 17.51, respectively but none advanced to the finals.

Running her last race as a member of the NN team, Susannah Gleason set a personal best 12:01.06 in the 2-mile to finish 15th, with Sarah Perlo 21st at 12:17.35.

In the 4x400 relay, Newton North won in impressive fashion, running 4:01.36 and winning by three seconds. Unfortunately, I don't know the runners, the order in which they ran, or their splits (perhaps someone else does?).

North also scored in the 4x100 relay, running 50.49 for 5th place. That had to be a little disappointing, as the team has run 49.82 this season and hoped to be in the top two.

The 4x800 team ran 10.16.29, finishing 11th.

Girls Results

Boys Highlights

It's funny, Newton North always seems to have great 400 runners and great shot putters, and both groups of athletes have the same standard of excellence: break 50!

Isaiah Penn went into Friday's meet as the 4th seed with a personal best of 50.12. In the race, he finished 2nd, running a wonderful 49.30, trailing only Jared Kadich (48.89). One shudders to think of the track workouts he endured to put himself in position to be the first NN runner in 31 years to break 49.0 in a high school meet. As Josh S. writes:

"Wes Harris has been pretty lonely since 1979 as the only Newton North runner to break 49. He may have company next year."

Conor Ebbs also broke 50. The senior weightman threw 50-4.5 to finish 4th in the shot put. Ebbs was the first of four NN athletes in the event (Swardiq Mayanja, 10th, 46-5; Young Guang, 11th, 46-3; Ryan Donovan, 13th, 46-2).

Ebbs actually had a better performance in the discus, hurling it 154-8 to finish 2nd, with Swardiq Mayanja 6th in 137-9.

In the mile, junior Ezra Lichtman ran a great race to finish 5th in 4:25.62. Sophomore Justin Keefe finished 16th in 4:34.21. In the 2-mile, Dan Ranti ran 10:09.30, while an injured Jake Gleason struggled home in 10:30.93.

North's 4x400 relay finished 12th in 3:33.34.

Boys Results