NN Girls Win State Relays; Boys 3rd, With U.S. #1 SMR

The Newton North Girls won three races and finished second in the two jump relays, earning enough points to overcome a DQ in their strongest event and go on to win the 2011 Div I State Relays Championship. The NN boys were also in the hunt for a trophy but settled for third behind New Bedford and Acton-Boxborough.

Girls: North Holds Off Andover

The girls meet was expected to be a battle between Newton North and Andover, and that's how it played out, with Weymouth making a strong run for third. The NN girls got off to a great start with an unexpected point in the 4x800, and a come-from-behind victory in the sprint medley (on the strength of a 60-flat anchor leg from sophomore Madison Nadeau).

Meanwhile, North was hoping for big things from the high jump, which was taking all morning. Unfortunately, all three of North's jumpers had mear-misses in their final attempts -- Amy Ren going out at 4-9, Maeve Larkin at 4-11, and Emily Hutchinson at 5-1. When 2010 state champ Moira Cronin cleared 5-3, she clinched the victory for Andover by a mere 2 centimeters over NN in second. That was a 4-point swing. Would it come back to haunt the Tigers?

North won again in the 4x50 shuttle hurdle relay, with Kayla Wong, Steph Brown, Amy Ren, and Kayla Prior running 29.88. Shortly thereafter, the team of Carla Forbes, Brown, Wong, and Bridget McLaughlin appeared to have won the 4x50m shuttle relay, with the scoreboard showing 24.49 -- a time that would have been 0.22 faster than the all-class record. Instead, the Tigers were disqualified. I don't know what the infraction was, but from the stands it appeared that North's third runner flinched -- started and stopped -- before the incoming second runner had arrived. If that was the reason for the DQ, it's too bad because it did not appear to give North any advantage. In any case, the DQ deprived the Tigers of 10 points and promoted Andover from 5th to 4th -- a 12-point swing.

But the Tigers had two more events in which to make up ground. In the final race on the track, North dominated the 4x400 relay, winning by six seconds with the quartet of Margo Gillis, Meghan Bellerose, Nadeau, and Suzy Bennett. In the long jump relay, the Tigers placed second behind Weymouth. Those 8 points pushed North's total to 47, five better than Andover and securing the title.

The Tigers don't get to rest on their laurels very long. On tap this week is the much-anticipated dual meet showdown with Weymouth.

Boys: NN Runs U.S. #1 Time in SMR; Mayanja Puts Shot 53-9!!

Another sprint medley, another come-from-behind win for the Tigers. The NN boys got splits of 1:59, 22.8, and 23.6 from Ezra Lichtman, Terrell Doyle, and Ryan Lucken on the 800, 200, and 200 legs. Then Isiaih Penn took the baton and took over the race, rocketing into first with a 23.4 first 200, and holding on to split 49.9 and carry the North boys to the fastest HS time in the U.S. this year (3:35.27).

North also got a second-place finish in the 4x200 with Lucken, Doyle, and Penn (plus Ben Clark), running 1:32.38.

In the DMR, North placed 6th and picked up another point.

In the field event relays, North did well but might have hoped for even a little bit better. North's shot put relay team had to be content with 2nd place, as their combined distance was only 3 cm behind Methuen. The exciting news for Tiger fans? Swardiq Mayanja had the best throw of the day and a big personal breakthrough with a toss of 53-9.75.

I should also mention that North's "B" shot put team finished 9th, with all three throwers (Nick Fofana, Nate Menninger, and Carl Witham) over 40'. I don't think I've ever seen a shot put B team before, let alone one that could compete for points against the best in the state.

North's high jump relay finished tied for 7th.

Full results (boys and girls) at the following link:


DI State Relays - Results