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PERFORMANCE LIST
It all starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. The top track & field athletes that have earned the qualifying standards, battling together inside the Reggie Lewis Center at the Meet of Champions (MOC). The best of the best all in one place. It doesn’t get any better than this, folks! Throughout the week, we’ll get you amped up for the Big Dance with full previews of all the individual events. Here we feature the boys’ middle & long distance events – the 1,000-meter run, mile and two mile.
1,000m
The scratch period is Saturday morning, so we won’t know for sure if our current top seeds will change. Regardless if it does or not, we’re in for a treat in this one. The name in question is Brookline’s Camille Jordan. The Warriors’ standout is entered in the 1,000-meter run and the mile. She owns the No. 1 seed in the 1K and is among the top runners in the mile, two events that are separated by about an hour with the mile being first. Our gut tell us that Jordan will focus her talents on the 1,000m, a race she was second last year to Wellesley grad Rory Clare. If our prediction is right, be prepared for a classic race. The UPenn-bound senior has been having a strong year that’s included times of 5:07 for the mile, 1:36 for the 600m, 2:12 for the 800m and a state best and PR of 2:53..26 in this event, which she did this past weekend at the Division 1 Championship. At the D1 states, Jordan won the race by more than five seconds over talented senior Ashlynn Witt of Wachusett (2:58.85). That leads us to believe that if she’s pushed up front, there’s a chance that time could improve significantly on Saturday. That should, or shall we say will, happen this weekend. Holding the No. 2 spot is a familiar face this time of year, Newton South’s Amelia Everett. The word is the Lions’ senior, who won the mile at the D1s, will be concentrating solely on the 1,000m at the MOC. She comes in with a best of 2:54.57 from a Dual County League meet back on Jan.11. This is a race that Everett, a 2:06 half-miler, hasn’t run too often – just twice last year and a couple of times this winter. Healthy and ready, we think she’s capable of a low 2:50, perhaps faster. With a runner like Everett in the race, we feel the same is possible for Jordan. So if this matchup does come to fruition on Saturday, a classic is in the making. Both are coming off big wins from D1, both are competitors, and both have proven that on a big stage like MOC, they’ll be ready to rock. Without Jordan in the race, Everett should win this race convincingly. With the Brookline runner on the line, we’ll get our answer with a few meters left in the race, It’s that close. If the seeds stand, the field includes four others that have broken three minutes this season and a few more on the cusp. If our two anticipated leaders run a way from the pack, we will certainly have a race for those remaining podium spots. Among some of the top runners for those positions are Witt (2:57.51), Plymouth North sophomore Macey Shriner (2:58.76), Barnstable’s Chloe Dibb (2:59.64), Oliver Ames’ Katie Sobieraj (2:59.74), to name a few.
Mile
Here’s another race that scratches could make a difference in how its transpires on Saturday, Lexington’s Ava Criniti is the top seed in this event (5:01.33) and the two mile (10:55.65). Will she run both that are separated by just about an hour or concentrate on just one? Our guess is it’s the latter. With both races wide open this weekend in terms of top contenders, she’ll save here strength for just the deuce on Saturday, a race were expecting her to go toe-to-toe with Billerica’s Anna McElhinney and a few other possible threats. We know for a fact that Everett’s intentions are to solely concentrate on the 1K. If the remaining seeds stay intact, there is the potential for our first sub five-minute effort of the season. At the very least, a winning time that will be close to a sub-5, maybe between 5:00-5:02. In addition to Criniti, if she runs, there’s Wellesley sophomore Charlotte Tuxbury (5:02.67), Plymouth North’s Shriner (5:03.45), Peabody’s Sarah Divasta (5:07.12) and Jordan (5:07.21), if she decides to answer the gun in this event. The Brookline standout has clocked 4:57.53 on the outdoor surface.
Two Mile
The question marks continue in this race, too. With D3 champion McElhinney and a fresh-legged Criniti on the line, we could have a battle on Reggie’s banked oval. But don’t just think it will be a two-person race. The field also includes Andover’s Molly Kiley (10:58.37) and Cambridge Rindge & Latin sophomore Aoife Sholvin (11:00). If you recall, Sholvin beat a talented field during the cross-country season this past fall by winning the Div. 1 title at All States. We’re sure she’ll be ready to contend with our front-runners. Other runners expected to compete for podium placements are Acton-Boxborough’s Elizabeth Latham (11:14.46), Bishop Feehan’s Lauren Augustyn (11:14.88), Hopkinton’s Elyse Srodawa (11:19.26) and Westford Academy freshman Emily Wedlake (11:20.91).
