Amelia Everett let loose.
After a pair of controlled efforts in the mile and 800-meter run at last week’s divisional states, the Newton South junior was given the green light to explode during Day 1 of the MIAA Meet of Champions on Thursday. Competing in the 800m, Everett turned a tightly-contested race into a convincing victory at Westfield State University where she blasted to a more than three-second PR with a nation No. 15 of 2 minutes, 7.18 seconds. Wellesley’s gutsy senior Rory Clare, an early-race leader, finished second overall with a PR of 2:10.70, while Newton South’s Lily Bulczynski was third in a best of 2:14.77.
“I felt really strong,” Everett said, “It was really rewarding for all the hard work we put in this season.”
With a sub 55-second final 400m, Lowell’s David Vandi captured the boys’ 800m with a triumphant 1:54.79. Max Gregoire of Tyngsborough poured it on late down the stretch to take runner-up honors at 1:56.25, just a few strides ahead of North Quincy’s Hatim Boukhtam, who was timed in 1:56.51 for third.
Vandi’s plan prior to the race was to hold back until the final 200 where he would utilize his fast closing speed. After a large pack of runners, including Vandi, passed through the opening 400m at just about a minute, he realized he would have to alter things a little.
“When my coach said that we were going to be slower than the first heat, I did not want that to happen,” he said. “That’s when I decided i would just have to go.”
In preparation for a possible assault on the 100m state mark on Saturday, South Hadley’s Jonas Clarke blazed to a near sub 21-second clocking to capture the 200m. Clarke sizzled to an all-time best of 21.06, a comfortable margin over Newton North’s Everton Muir, who finished in fast 21.42.
Clarke, a multiple All American and state-record holder, was a No. 3 seed prior to the race. He was looking forward to facing the talented field as the “underdog.”
“”I was excited,” said Clarke, who captured last week’s Division 6 title with a time of 21.36. “Personally, being third going into this is awesome. To me, it’s competition, I love competition. I definitely needed to step it up and I did. I am happy with how I ran, how everything ended up. To me, even if I PR’d and lost I would be happy. The prelims (21.15) and the finals were both PRs for me. I am really happy about that.”
In the girls’ 200m, Westford Academy’s Elliana Tweedie proved victorious over a competitive field with a PR of 24.78. She was followed closely by Norton’s Ali Murphy (second, 24.87) and pre-race favorite Kylee Bernard of Cambridge Rindge & Latin (third, 25.03).
Westford Academy’s Megan Frazee was a double winner. The versatile senior won the pole vault with a height of 11 feet, 6 inches. She also took gold in the pentathlon, amassing 3,133, more than 100 points more than her win at last week’s Division 1 Championship. Pembroke’s Emily Rubio scored 3,244 points for second.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1532497433158209549&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fbaystaterunning.com%2Farticle%2Fday-1-2&sessionId=ff7269ae99d66fbc0cf2ac02a5c4db286bc8e1fd&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px
Holliston’s Carmen Luisi (10:53.71) and St. John’s Prep’s Nathan Lopez (9:09.11) were the respective girls’ and boys’ two-mile champions. Luisi stuck with the lead pack through most of the eight-lap race, taking control with a lap remaining with a string finishing kick. Lopez won his second straight crown. After placing second to Framingham’s Sam Burgess at last week’s D1 meet, Lopez was able to get the best of his rival.
