It's always a challenge to report on a meet based on posted results without having seen the races or heard the cheering of the crowd. Online results don't always tell the whole story (even assuming those results are accurate, which is not guaranteed).
But when I opened up the Bay State Meet #3 results last night, I felt pretty confident in my interpretation of the latest chapter in the Newton North vs. Brookline rivalry. On this winter afternoon, at least, the NN boys had neutralized Brookline's distance depth and then buried the Warriors in the sprints, jumps, and throws. The final score was a lopsided 78-17.
To me, the most surprising thing was that Brookline -- the 2010 State cross-country champions, hence, the best distance running team in the state -- didn't win any of the three distance events. North's big three of Ezra Lichtman, Justin Keefe, and Dan Ranti won the 1M, 1000, and 2M, respectively. I'm pretty sure Keefe's 2:37.82 in the 1000 is a PR, as well as being one of the top dozen times in the state so far this year.
Other notable performances for the NN boys:
- Freshman Nick Fofana led all high jumpers with a clearance at 6-0. He also had a nice race in the hurdles, with a time of 8.79.
- North shot putters swept the top four spots overall, with Swardiq Mayanja heaving the ball 50-6 to best all other throwers by 5 feet.
- Ryan Lucken had the fastest time of the afternoon in the 300, winning in 37.15.
The NN girls were even more dominant, which was perhaps to be expected. Brookline's Leah Gellineau won the mile, and Sarah Jabour win the shot put, but those 10 points were 2/3 of the Brookline total.
North swept five events and won the 4x400 relay by half a minute. Amy Ren became the third North high jumper to clear 5-2 this season. Devika Banerjee won a close race in the 2-mile in 12:22, an 11-second PR.
The meet also served as a tune-up for the State Relays meet, scheduled for this Sunday at Reggie. The State Relays is a big deal to the girls and they look to repeat as State Champions.
They should be very strong in the LJ and HJ relays, should be at or near the top in the shuttle hurdles and 4x50 relay, and will likely be one of the teams to beat in the SMR, as well as a contender in the 4x400.
The boys should have a good day in the SP relay, the 4x200, the SMR, DMR, and 4x400.
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5 comments:
Devika Banerjee's race was a PR by 11 seconds.
Eben?
I'm still jet-lagged, apparently, but have fixed the generational typo.
I reaize its INDOOR track, but something tells me Jim Blackburn's boys are going to be a little extra motivated on Thursday against Weymouth after they snapped the dual meet streak last spring. Am I wrong?
I have long forgotten about last spring. I seem to separate indoor and outdoor. When outdoor comes I'll remind guys what happened last year, but for now I just look at what Sollowin, Parsley, and co. might run.
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