May 31, 2009

NNHS Alumni Results - 5/30/09

At the NCAA Midwest Regional meet in Norman, Oklahoma, Chris Barnicle placed 7th in the 5000m with a time of 14:07.06, five seconds behind the winner. With his top-eight finish, Barnicle earned all-region honors for the second time in his career. He was sixth in the 5000 at the Mideast Championships as a redshirt freshman for Arkansas in 2007.

Div I Championship Results




A pair of victories and a host of personal bests were the highlights for the Newton North track & field teams at the Division I championships at Andover, Saturday.

Meanwhile, Andover (51 points) overtook BC High (46) and New Bedford (45) to win the Boys meet on the final event, while Newton South (109 points) dominated the girls meet, scoring more than runner-up Andover (49) and Newton North (41) combined.

For the NN girls, Michele Kaufman had the best individual performance of the day, running a personal best 15.14 in her qualifying heat of the 100m hurdles, and then placing second in the finals in 15.28. Emily Denn just missed making the finals, running a personal best 16.28 in the heats.

Kaufman also finished 5th in the long jump with a leap of 17-0, with Amy Ren taking 6th at 16-7.

Stephanie Brown also nabbed a second-place for the Tigers, clearing 8-6 in the pole vault behind Newton South's Cora Visnick.

As expected, one of the most competitive races of the day was the girls 800, where North's Margo Gillis (2:14.50) and Carolyn Ranti (2:15.23) placed 3rd and 4th, as five runners went under 2:16.

NN's 4x800 team placed 5th in 9:56.20, and in the final event, North's 4x400 relay team gave the team its sole victory of the day, upsetting top-seeded Lexington and host Andover, to win in a season's best 4:01.92.

On the boys side, Sam Arsenault provided a victory and 10 points for the Tigers as he won the long jump with a season's best leap of 22-5.5, a scant inch better than North Quincy's Jeff Pereira.

More surprising than Arsenault's win in the LJ was NN's outstanding showing in the mile. Jared Forman (4:25.35) ran a seven-second PB to place 3rd behind Brookline's Ryan Hardiman and Weymouth's Steve Sollowin, while Ezra Lichtman ran 4:31.71 to place 7th.

Newton picked up more points in the 2M, as Dan Hamilton (9:41.58) placed 4th in a race that went out slow. Underclassmen Mike Goldenberg (9:57.69), Jake Gleason (10:04.83), and Dan Ranti (10:14.42) also ran well.

North's final points came from Neal Fulwiler, who placed 5th in the javelin with a throw of 155-3, only one inch off his season's best.

Also deserving mention, sophomore Ryan Donovan had a three-foot PR in the shot put, hitting 48-04.75 to place 10th.

Full Results of Div I Championships


Pictures and more at Newton South Running Times

May 27, 2009

Div I Performance Lists Posted

The MIAA has posted performance lists for the Division I championships to be held this Saturday at Andover H.S.

The girls 800 looks like one of the most stacked events, with six athletes seeded at 2:17.30 or better:

1 Shannon, Colleen SR Andover 2:15.19
2 Keklak, Andrea SO Lincoln-Sudbury 2:15.98
3 Ranti, Carolyn SR Newton North 2:16.34
4 O'Keefe, Kathy SO Newton South 2:16.41
5 Neves, Courtney SO New Bedford 2:17.16
6 Connolly, Carolyn SR Weymouth 2:17.30

Interestingly, one of the fastest runners in the field is Margo Gillis, but since her seed time is 2:26.68, she won't be in the fast heat. Is this intentional?

Michele Kaufman is the top seed in the 100m hurdles, where she will have quite a battle with new Bedford's Keila DosSantos.

Emma Kornetsky is listed as the top seed in the 400 hurdles, but that's got to be a mistake, as I believe her seed time is a 400m time. It looks like she was entered into the wrong event.

North has three of the top six seeds in the long jump (Kaufman, Ren, Kornetsky). Ren is also seeded 8th in the triple jump.

Ellen Goldberg is seeded 2nd in the discus at 99-2, and Tatiana Froelich is seeded 11th at 89 feet.

Lucia Grigoli and Emily Hutchinson are seeded 7th and 10th in the high jump, respectively.

North freshman Stephanie Brown will compete in the pole vault, where she is seeded fourth, and will be North's first competitor in many a year.

The 4x800 will be a barn burner, as usual, with Newton South, Weymouth, Newton North, Lincoln-Sudbury, and Framingham in the top five seeds. Newton North also has the second seed in the 4x400 relay, and could well choose to stack that and run a less strong team in the 4x800.

On the boys side, Dan Hamilton is the 2nd seed in the 2M, although Phil Galebach (seeded 3rd) might be 20-25 seconds faster than his seed time of 9:40. Dan Ranti and Jake Gleason are also competing in th 2M. In the mile, Jared Forman and Ezra Lichtman are seeded 14th and 17th, respectively.

Sam Arsenault is seeded 4th and Ben Kiley 7th in the long jump at 21-10 and 21-1, respectively. Arsenault is also entered in the 400m, and Kiley in the 200m.

Conor Ebbs is seeded 5th in the discus, and along with Ryan Donovan will compete in the shot put. Neal Fulwiler is seeded 13th in the javelin.

May 25, 2009

Franca Godenzi Runs 1:39:30 Half-Marathon!

I hope Franca Godenzi receives an "A" for effort.

For her senior project, the Newton North grad-to-be chose to study marathon training, using herself as a subject. Her final test was to run half of the Vermont City Marathon (she purposefully chose to run half the marathon not the full distance based on the near unanimous recommendations from her sources). Not only did she run, she cruised, passing 10 miles in 76:44 and finishing in 1:39:30, a 7:35 pace.

That's more than four straight 5Ks at 23:31 pace!

Congratulations, Franca!

UPDATE:

The illustrious Gleason family (some subset, but I'm not sure which) finished the two-person relay in 3:06:57.

NN Alumni at NB High Performance Meet

Jon Wofsy said he really wanted to run a 200, but instead of a half lap, he ran two full laps, winning the second heat of the men's 800m in 1:58.41 at the New Balance Twilight Meet #1 on Saturday evening in Waltham.

Not far back, Josh Seeherman ran despite a nagging injury and posted a fine time in his first outdoor 800m of the season, running 2:02.45. And in his first race in many years, Dan Robb looked smooth running 2:06.08.

With all the action in the 800m, we can't forget Dave Cahill who won his heat of the 400m in 51.86.

May 24, 2009

NN Girls in Full Force at South Shore

In a final tune-up before the D1 Championships next Saturday, Newton North's girls track & field team won the South Shore Principal's meet in Norwell yesterday, amassing 144 points -- over 100 points more than runner-up East Bridgewater.

Along the way, the Tigers won six individual events and two relays. Emma Kornetsky was a part of three of those victories as she led a 1-2-3 sweep for NN in the long jump and ran on the winning 4x400 (4:04.69) and 4x800 (10.38.88) teams. Margo Gills (2:16.68) and Sam Gluck (2:26.28) went 1-3 in the 800, Carolyn Ranti (5:21.59) and Maggie Heffernan (5:27.80) took the two top spots in the mile, Michele (one "l" this time...) Kaufman won the hurdles in 15.41, as North took three of the top five places, emily Hutchinson won the high jump (5-0), and Amy Ren won the triple jump (35-1.75).

Arie Sanchez had a nice race to finish 2nd in the 200 (27.35), and Ellen Goldberg placed 2nd in the discus with a personal best throw of 99-02.

South Shore Principals Meet - Girls Results

For the boys, Charles Ebbs was the lone competitor, but he managed to score 14 points, winning the discus (141-1) and placing fourth in the shot put (43-7.75).

May 23, 2009

Wofsy vs. Robb at NB Twilight Meet #1

Three legends of Newton North track will face off this evening in the 800m at the first New Balance Twilight meet of the season.

Harvard senior Jon Wofsy, Providence grad Dan Robb, and Penn grad and NN historian Josh Seeherman are all entered in the same heat of the 800m. Wofsy has been running the best times of his career in the 400m, while Robb hasn't competed for several years but is rumored to be in half-decent shape. As for Josh, he never gets out of shape.

The meets, which feature fast open and collegiate runners with national aspirations as well as local runners just trying to get a good time, are held at Bentley College in Waltham. According to the meet's web site, running events begin at 6:00 p.m.

Newton Summer Running Camp

Last year NN alumni Tom Davis and Jess Barton held a one-week running camp for Newton kids. Tom and Jess have expanded the camp this summer and will be offering three one-week sessions from the camp's new home at the Hyde Recreation Center in Newton Highlands.

Here's info from their web site:

Newton Summer Running Camp - a camp for Boys and Girls, ages 8 to 14.

Camp will run Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm. The cost is $225/week.*

Week 1 is July 27th to July 31st
Week 2 is August 3rd to August 7th
Week 3 is August 10th to August 14th

Be sure to sign-up quickly as camp is limited to 30 campers/week, with registration filling quickly in 2008!

The Newton Summer Running Camp is in its second year. Last year's camp was a great success with our campers learning a great deal about the sport while having a lot of fun. The main goal of camp is to have the campers gain knowledge about how it is fun to be active while introducing the campers to the sport of track and field. All different skill levels are encouraged to attend, from beginner to elite! It does not matter if your child has never run in a race or participated on a track team, everyone is welcome and everyone will have fun while developing overall athletic skills. Likewise, if your child does have experience in the sport, this is great and we will work with him or her to advance their knowledge and ability.

*If you sign-up for more than one week, the cost is $200/week. If you have financial hardship, please don't hesitate to contact us directly as we will work something out.

Web site: http://newtonsummerrunningcamp.weebly.com/

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=86404046796

May 20, 2009

Bay State Championship Meet Results

By all accounts the 2009 BSL league meet was a big success. Hosted by Weymouth, the meet produced state-level performances in a number events, featured intense competition in the field events and relays.

Newton North won four individual titles and one relay at the meet.

For the boys, Sam Arsenault won the long jump (21-9.75, with Ben Kiley taking 3rd at 21-0) and Jared Forman won the mile (4:34.76), while the NN 4x800 team (Ezra Lichtman, Doug Cohen, Justin Keefe, and Foreman) won in 8:39.97. It gives me tremendous pleasure to see Doug Cohen earn an all-star plaque. Cohen, a four-year member of track and cross-country, broke 5:00 for the first time in his last meet of the season against Framingham. He is a great example of how much a person can improve through steady work and commitment to the sport.

For the girls, Emma Kornetsky won the long jump in 16.9.5 (an inch ahead of teammate Amy Ren), and Carolyn Ranti won the 800m in a season-best 2:16.61.

North also has a slew of fine non-winning performances.

Dan Hamilton ran 9:38 to finish 2nd to Weymouth's outstanding sophomore Steve Sallowin in the 2-mile, and North's Jake Gleason, Dan Ranti, and Mike Goldenberg took 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Gleason's time of 10:08.64 is a personal best and qualifies him for the State Div I championships.

Connor Ebbs had a big day in the throws, putting the shot 46' and very nearly winning the discus with a 10-foot PR of 144-7 on his last throw to take the lead in the competition. However, Walpole's Nick Rockwell responded like a champion and won on HIS final throw of 145-9.

Michele Kaufman finished 2nd in the hurdles in 15.93, despite a stumble at the start of the race, and Emily Hutchinson finished 2nd in the high jump with a leap of 5-2, while Lucia Grigoli jumped 5-0. North's 4x400 team (Kornetsky, Ranti, Ariana Tabatabaie and Ari Sanchez) also finished 2nd, running a season's best 4:09.17.

The boys 4x100 team (Isaiah Penn, Ben Kiley, Hao-Kai Wu and Arsenault) was also very impressive, running 44.52 to finish 0.04 behind Milton with the third-best time in the state this year.


(Ben Kiley hands off to Hao-Kai Wu in the 4 x 100 relay)

Emily Hutchinson (high jump, PR 5-2), Michele Kaufman (100-meter hurdles, 15.93 seconds) and the 4x400 of Kornetsky, Ranti, Ariana Tabatabaie and Ari Sanchez (PR 4:09.17) all finished second.

Much praise goes to Weymouth for hosting a great meet!

Results on Cool Running

May 18, 2009

NNHS Alumni Results - 5/14-17/09

Cailean Robinson had a terrific meet at the ECAC Div III Championships, hosted by Springfield College May 14-15. He finished fourth in the 100m, running 11.00, and blazed a personal best 21.71 (zero wind) in the finals to finish second ad help Wheaton finish 7th in the team competition. Also running at the ECAC meet, Dan Chebot also placed, finishing 6th in the 10,000m in 32:48.92.

Harvard senior Jon Wofsy ran 48.21 for 400m at the IC4A championships, hosted by Princeton. Wofsy, whose PR stood at 49.01 only two weeks ago, ran his third consecutive race at 48.25 or better.

Chris Barnicle finished 2nd to New Mexico teammate Jacob Kirwa in the 5000m at the Mount West Conference outdoor championships. While his time of 14:49.21 doesn't look impressive, the meet was held at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, which is 7163 above sea level. The NCAA considers the qualifying standard for the 5000 to be about 42 seconds slower than at sea level, and Chris met that standard.

May 14, 2009

Newton High School at the 1936 State Relays

More historical gold from NNHS Track historian Josh Seeherman...

"Back in 1936, there were only 4 relays, and Newton won 3 of them. In the mile relay, Newton took 2nd in 3:36 [out of] the slow heat which they won by 9 seconds. 1st (3:34) and 3rd (3:38) came from the fast heat. The truly sizzling time was in the 4x220, where they set a meet record [1:32]. All of this was on cinder - and I think the 440 relay time may be slow because the fly zone had not been invented yet (although even today the fly zone is infrequently used in HS).

440 Relay: Paul Forte, Jeremiah Allen, Ray Huling, Frank Hines, 45.0 (1st place)

880 Relay: Paul Forte, Robert Muther, Frank Hines, Warren Wittens, 1:32.0 (1st place)

Mile Relay: Robert Muther, Jeremiah Allen, Elmer Ross, Warren Wittens, 3:36.0 (2nd place from slow heat)

2 Mile Relay: Cottell, Kelly, Wiggin, Wass, 8:33.2 (1st place)

May 13, 2009

It's a Wrap: North Boys, Girls Sweep Framingham, Win League Titles

The Newton North girls are a relentless bunch. They don't have weak events; they don't give up points easily; they have enough state-caliber athletes to disrupt other teams' strengths; and they improve week-to-week, season-to-season, and year-to-year.

In a meet that was expected to be close, North vanquished a strong Framingham team by a lopsided score of 92-44. They did it by winning 13 of 16 events, including a paper-thin victory in the triple jump for Amy Ren over Alissa Howell (the two had identical best jumps of 35-3, and the victory went to Ren based on her second-best jump of 34-10.5 -- a half inch better than Howell's 34-10).

It was the last dual meet for seniors Michele Kaufman and Carolyn Ranti, but it's hard not to see sophomores Ren and Margo Gillis as a new generation that has the potential to equal or surpass their predecessors. It raises an interesting question: in two years will we be reporting that Amy Ren has passed Michele Kaufman as the all-time point leader for the North girls?

Yesterday, Gillis won the two-mile in 11:22. Emily Hutchinson threw 94' in the javelin to qualify for the state meet. Kaufman won the 100m in a PR 12.8. North also swept the 100-meter hurdles, and went 1-2 in the high jump, long jump, 400 meters, 400-meter hurdles, 800 meters, javelin, and discus.

Next up for the girls: the State Relays at Andover on Saturday.

North Boys Win

If it's any consolation to the other schools in the Bay State league -- the Framinghams, Needhams, and Dedhams, as well as the perennial rivals like Brookline and Weymouth -- Newton North never, ever, takes "easy" meets for granted. That's not Jim Blackburn's approach.

I can't remember a single meet where the team "took it easy" and, as a result, there have been remarkably few let-downs or lackadaisical efforts in the course of the Tigers' unbeaten streak.

Yesterday, the North boys showed no let up, and wrapped up their 7-0 season with an 86-49 victory, clinching their 12th straight undefeated campaign and conference title.

Ben Kiley won the 100 (11.5), long-jump (20-0), and high jump (5-3). Neil Fulwiler won the 400-meter hurdles (school record 62.5) and javelin (152-6), and placed second in the triple jump (37-4). Sam Arsenault won the 400 meters in 52.1, tied with teammate Kiley in the high jump, and placed second in the long jump (19-8).
Conor Ebbs (132-9) won the discus and Ryan Donovan (41-1.5) won the shot put.

Junior Jake Gleason (4:48.4) got his first varsity win in the mile, with Dan Ranti second. Jared Foreman ran 2:03.7 to lead North to a sweep of the 800 meters. Dan Hamilton won the 2-mile in 10:17, and North also won the 4x400 relay.

May 11, 2009

Heps Day 2 - Wofsy 4th in 400m, Splits 47.5 in Relay

From Day 2 of the Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonals Championship:

In the finals of the 400m on Sunday, Jon Wofsy ran 48.25 to finish 4th, just ahead of Yale's Remi ray. On Saturday, Wofsy's ran 47.79 in the qualifying heats, a time that made him 8th on Harvard's all-time list and the only Harvard runner in the 21st century to go under 48 seconds.

You can watch Wofsy's race here:

Heps Day 1: Mens 400m Heat 1

Having run the two fastest 400s of his life, Wofsy then came back and blazed a 47.5 split for Harvard in the 4x400 relay, helping the Crimson to a 3:13.06 3rd-place finish.

In the shot put, Yale sophomore David Smith threw 14.18m (46-6.25) to place 11th. Smith also competed in the discus, throwing 44.25m (145-2), to earn a matching 11th place.

May 10, 2009

2009 State Coaches Results

Results from Saturdays State Coaches Meets. Boys were at Durfee, girls at Somerville.

Boys Results:

1 Mile:

8. Jared Forman 4:35.17
31. Jake Gleason 4:46.66

2 Mile:

4. Dan Hamilton 9:38.00
14. Mike Goldenberg 10:03.67
20. Dan Ranti 10:13.30

Discus:

10. Charles Ebbs 133-02



4x100:
19. Newton North 'A' 45.63

4x400:
8. Newton North 'A' 3:35.12

4x800:
8. Newton North 'A' 8:37.17


Girls Results

Great results from Amy Ren in the horizontal jumps, Michelle Kaufman and Emily Denn in the hurdles, and Carolyn Ranti in the 800m. Also, nice to see that North has a pole vaulter!


400 hurdles:

34 579 Goldberg, Ellen SO Newton North 1:11.56 4

400m:

17 584 Kornetsky, Emma SR Newton North 1:01.95 6
29 588 Tabatabaie, Ariana JR Newton North 1:03.14 5

800m:

3. Carolyn Ranti 2:17.91

100m hurdles (quarter-finals):

4. Michelle Kaufman 15.71q
22. Emily Denn 16.99q

(semi-finals)

6. Michelle Kaufman 15.40q
16. Emily Denn 16.34

Pole Vault:

4. Steph Brown J9-00.00

Long jump:

8. Amy Ren 17-01.00
20. Emma Kornetsky 16-01.25

Triple jump:

8. Amy Ren 35-02.50
14. Michelle Kaufman 34-05.25

NNHS Alumni Results - 5/09-10/09

At the 2009 Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, Harvard senior Jon Wofsy ran a personal best time of 47.79 (previous best 49.01!) in the qualifying heats of the mens 400m to qualify for Sunday's finals.

In addition to Wofsy, Yale sophomore David Smith will be competing in the shot put and discus on Sunday.

A few Newton North alumni competed at the NEICAAA New England Championships held at UMass Amherst on Saturday.

Wesleyan senior Scott Cole writes:

"I had finished my season with a disappointing NESCAC's championship, but luckily had kept training towards a couple Boston Performance Meets, when a member of our 4X800 team got hurt... so I was called up to run, which was a real treat. My coach had me at a 1:58.6 anchor leg on our 7:48.37 run (2nd fastest all-time at Wesleyan)..."

Congrats, Scott, on your team's performance and on a sub-2:00 relay leg!

At the same meet, Cailean Robinson ran the 200, finishing 12th in 22.14.

Jess Barton competed in the 3K steeplechase but is listed as DNF in the results. We hope she's ok!

May 07, 2009

Michelle Kaufman Sets all-Time Scoring Record as North Sweeps Needham

According to a story in this morning's Daily News Tribune, the sixteen points that Michelle Kaufman scored in yesterday's rout of Needham makes the Newton North senior the all-time points leader among Newton North girls, breaking the record set by Azuree Catledge (NNHS '05).

Kaufman won the high hurdles and the 100m, and finished second to teammate Amy Ren in the long jump and triple jump, as the Tigers routed the host Rockets 101-26.

Since she was a freshman, Michelle has been one of the most dependable members of North's track and field machine, as well as one of the most hard-working and humble. Congratulations, Michelle!

The NN girls will go for an undefeated season and another Bay State Carey championship when they compete against Framingham next Tuesday.

- - -

The Newton North boys also easily defeated the Rockets, winning 90-33.

Sam Arsenault won the 400 and the long jump (21-10); Ben Kiley won the 100, and finished second in the long jump. Hao-Kai Wu's won the 200 meters (23.4), Ezra Lichtman set a PR in the mile (4:39.9), North swept the 2-mile, with Jake Gleason (10:20 in third) edging towards a state qualifying time.

North also swept the shot put (Ryan Donovan, 43-11), took the top two places in the discus (Conor Ebbs, 123-4) and the triple jump (Isaiah Penn, 38-3; Niel Fulwiler, 38-2), and probably won the javelin and high jump, too, but those results aren't up on athletic.net yet.

May 04, 2009

2009 Weston Invite: Kaufman Wins HH; Hamilton Runs 9:35 Deuce!


Michelle Kaufman ran a nearly flawless race in the finals of the 100m hurdles Saturday night at the Weston Invitational, getting out of the blocks quickly and running in third place through the first set of hurdles, then patiently making up ground and finally edging ahead in at the very end to win in a personal best 15.63.

(Photo: Henry Finch. For many more photos, see Newton South Running Times blog)

Kaufman also finished 3rd in the triple jump (34-10.5), and ran a leg on the Tigers' 4x100 relay.

Amy Ren had a good jumping day, leaping 16-4.25 in the long jump, and 34-7.75 in the triple. Jen Liu jumped 15-3 in the long jump, as North looks particularly strong in the horizontal jumps heading towards the state relays, May 16.

The NN boys distance crew continues to impress. At Weston, Dan Hamilton ran a huge PR (9:35.09) in the two mile to place second in a deep field. Hamilton ran a perfectly-paced effort; when the race threatened to bog down on the first lap, he immediately took the lead and brought the pack through the first 400m in 71-72 seconds. Having done his job, he then settled back into fourth place and held that position for the next 1600m. When Amherst's Atticus Brigham made a big move with two laps to go, Hamilton was able to respond and moved into second. Although Brigham powered away for the win, Dan was able to hold on for the runner-up spot. Mike Goldenberg also ran an impressive race, finishing in 9:52.69.

Earlier in the meet, Dan Ranti and Jake Gleason ran in the second heat of the mile, finishing in 4:45.88 and 4:46.68, respectively. In the seeded heat, Jared Forman ran 4:32.70 (2:12 at the 800).

Meanwhile, Ezra Lichtman ran a PR 2:02 in an over-crowded heat of the boys 800. (Sixteen runners on the line for an 800... really?)

In the field events, sophomore Ryan Donovan qualified for the state meet in the shot put with a PR 44-9. Conor Ebbs finished 3rd in the discus with a heave of 132-2, and put the shot 40-5.5. Niel Fulwiler threw the javelin 145-3.

As Pat said, event-by-event results are posted on DirectAthletics.

May 03, 2009

NNHS Alumni Results - 5/02/09

Two former NN sprinters were in action at the New England Division III Outdoor Championships at Springfield College this weekend. Cailean Robinson ran 10.73 (3.6m tailwind) in the semis of the 100m dash, and then 11.04 to take 3rd in the finals. Former teammate Hymlaire Lamisere ran 11.41 in the semis.

At the New York State Championships held at St. Lawrence University, Rochester senior Dan Chebot placed 5th in the 10,000, running a season's best time of 32:04.53.

At the Payton Jordan / Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University, Chris Barnicle set a personal best of 28:53.20, placing 10th in the second section of the 10000m.

In addition to Barnicle, who is competing for New Mexico, there were several other former Massachusetts distance stars in attendance at the Cardinal Invite:

Jonathon Riley (Brookline/Stanford/Nike) ran 13:33.47 in the seeded heat of the 5000.

Ryan Collins (Mansfield/Virginia) ran 13:55.94, and Victor Gras (Belmont/Michigan/Texas) ran 14:08.97.

Sean Quigley (Arch. Williams/LaSalle/Puma) ran, but did not finish, the 10000, and Matt Clark (Barnstable/NC State/McMillan) ran but did not finish the 5k.

Speaking of Victor Gras and Texas, amazingly, Gras has this year and another year of eligibility in outdoor track, making him only a junior in the eyes of the NCAA. He is teammates with Brookline's Rob Gibson, who was also in action this weekend, winning his first 3,000-meter steeplechase in a personal-best time of 9:40.66 at the Texas Invite.

May 02, 2009

Worth the Price of Admission

Two years ago at the Weston Twilight meet, four state champions raced each other in a spectacular girls two-mile. After a quick, but relatively calm first mile, Emily Jones started dropping the hammer, running faster with each lap. Incredibly, even though Jones ran her last mile in under 5:10 and finished in 10:34.78, she was chased all the way to the line by Newton North's Jess Barton, who ran an astonishing 10:37.11, a 20-second PR. Bridget Dahlberg ran 10:52 -- her first time under 11:00 -- and finished a distant third. Colleen Wetherbee (11:08.02) and Rebekah McKay (11:08.42) finished 4th and 5th.

It was a wonderful race, perhaps the best of the season.

Last year at Weston, Jones and Dahlberg met again, this time at the mile, and Dahlberg outkicked Jones to take a one-second victory, 4:58.07 to 4:59.15. Canton's Alysse Rocco ran 5:04 for third.

In a few short years, Weston has had a knack for bringing together some of the top female distance runners in the state for memorable races. If the weather cooperates, this year could serve up another show-stopper, as the effervescent Dahlberg takes on a field that includes 13 girls who have run under 5:20, including teammates Kathy O'Keefe (5:04) and Melanie Fineman (5:08), L-S star Andrea Keklak (5:02), and new kid on the block, Newton North's Margo Gillis, who fears nothing.

On paper, it's an incredible line-up, one that might turn out to be as deep as the state finals later in the season. Moreover, with Gills in the field, it seems unlikely to be a purely tactical race. It should be worth the price of admission.

By focusing on the mile, I don't mean to demean the other events. The two-mile features Framingham's Camille Murphy, the 2009 indoor state champ in the 1000 and owner of a sub-11 2-mile this, Newton South's Kelsey Karys, who ran 10:58 indoors, and her teammate Madeleine Reed.

The men's two-mile field has 14 boys seeded faster than 10:00, including Newton North's Dan Hamilton and Mike Goldenberg.

And on and on...

Here's a link (PDF) to the meet schedule and meet records

WESTON TWILIGHT INVITATIONAL 2009, May 2, 2009
Order of Events (girls run first unless otherwise noted)

4:00 PM Pole Vault
4:30 PM Field Events

4:30 PM
Unseeded 2 Mile (heats as necessary)
Unseeded 1 Mile (heats as necessary)

6:00 PM
100 Meter Hurdle Trials (girls)
110 Meter Hurdle Trials (boys)
200 Meter Trials
100 Meter Trials

6:45 PM
1 Mile Run (seeded heat only)
400 Meter Run
800 Meter Run

7:30 PM
110 Meter Hurdle Final (boys)
100 Meter Hurdle Final (girls)
200 Meter Final
100 Meter Final
300 Meter Hurdle Final
2 Mile Run (seeded heat only)

8:30 PM
4 X 800 Meter Relay
4 X 100 Meter Relay
4 X 400 Meter Relay

May 01, 2009

Two More Wins; North Teams at 5-0

On Tuesday April 28, North's boys and girls track teams swept Braintree, and yesterday - in a make-up meet from last week -- both teams won easily at Norwood, boosting their records to 5-0. It's a busy week for the Tigers, as several athletes will compete again Saturday at the Weston Twilight Invitational.


Boys Beat Norwood 95-37

Looking at the boys results from the Norwood meet on Athletics.net, its the performance of the distance runners that stands out.

In the 800, Jared Forman and Ezra Lichtmann both ran personal bests -- 2:04.4 and 2:04.6 -- in what is turning into a great intra-team rivalry that is benefiting both runners. In the mile, Dan Hamilton ("fresh" off his 20-quarters workout) ran a big PR 4:32.4 in the mile, with Michael Goldenberg second in 4:37.3.

And in the 2-mile, where Hamilton and Goldenberg usually make their living, Dan Ranti and Jake Gleason ran 10:17 and 10:26, respectively.

Meanwhile, Ryan Donovan had a very nice 44-1 in the shot put (PR?), and Swardic Mayanja won the discus (111').

Troy Peterson (12.0) led an NN sweep in the 100, while Ben Kiley won the 200 (24.1), high jump (5-3), and long jump (18-7). Isaiah Penn won the 400 (54.0) North also took both relays, for a final score of 95 points.

North Girls Defeat Norwood 98-33

The girls used the meet as a chance to move runners around a bit, rest some for the Weston meet, and give others a chance to tune up.

Emily Hutchinson won the javelin (88-5, PR), and took the high jump at 5-1.

Nora Barnicle led an NN sweep in the 2-mile (with Devika Banerjee second and Caden Brynee 3rd). Maggie Heffernan won the mile with Elena Hemler second, and Sam Gluck, Shoshana Kruskal, and Camilla Jackson swept the 800. Emma Kornetsky and Jaya Tripathi went 1-2 in the 400.

Michele Kaufman won the triple jump and finished second in both the high hurdles and long jump. Amy Ren won the long jump, and Tatiana Froehlich won the discus

Lucia Grigoli was second in the high jump with a PR leap of 4-11.