It was a big day on the track for MA athletes at the New England Championships
But you could say the biggest noise for the Bay State at Saturday’s meet was heard beyond the oval of the Reggie Lewis oval. It was there that the shot-putters stole the show from inside the circle. Bishop Stang’s Jacob Cookinham continued his excellence this season with his first regional crown in the boys’ competition. For the girls, Lowell’s Ronnie Jones led a 1-2-3-5-6 finish by the host state.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1632120687035916289&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fbaystaterunning.com%2Farticle%2Fnew-england-championships-shot-putters-steal-the-show-at-reggie-lewis&sessionId=971bec6e58a6ef4575d5131e7cd52f3c5e438589&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px
Cookinham, the nation’s No. 1 thrower by three feet, won with a near best of 67 feet, 3 inches. The Kansas-bound senior was at his most consistent all season with the New Balance Nationals just a week away. In all six of his attempts, Cookinham exceeded 60 feet with his final throw of 61-8.5 the lowest. Lexington’s Allan Jiang was third overall with a PR of 54-7.25.
Jones earned her gold with a heave of 40-11. She was just ahead of Ludlow’s Elena Chaplin, who secured second at 40-8.25. Last week’s Meet of Champions winner Brooke Serak of Bishop Feehan placed third overall with a toss of 39-10.5 Dedham’s Catherine Sargent (fifth, 39-0.5) and Peabody’s Aaliyah Callahan (sixth, 37-3.5) also made the podium.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1632136027363069955&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fbaystaterunning.com%2Farticle%2Fnew-england-championships-shot-putters-steal-the-show-at-reggie-lewis&sessionId=971bec6e58a6ef4575d5131e7cd52f3c5e438589&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px
Newton South’s Amelia Everett took runner-up honors in the 1,000-meter run where she was timed in a PR of 2 minutes, 49.56 seconds. Everett finished behind the nation’s top middle-distance star Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown, who established a new meet record of 2:46.45.
“We found out (Gorriaran) was going to race earlier in the week. That just made us more excited to race,” Everett said. “It’s an opportunity to run fast when we’re in good shape before nationals. It was a fun race.”
The race had an impressive 11 runners under three minutes, including Wachusett’s Ashlyn Witt (eighth, 2:58.06) and Holliston’s Carmen Luisi (tenth, 2:58.47). With her effort, Everett becomes the third runner from Newton South to break 2:50 with former standouts Clare Martin (2:47.61, 2016) and Lucy Jenks (2:48.97, 2020) also accomplishing the feat.
Everett is looking forward to next weekend’s New Balance Nationals where she’ll be competing in the Sprint Medley Relay and the 800m with a possibility of the mile, too.
Brookline had a pair of second-place finishes in the 4x800m relay. In the girls’ race, the Warriors clocked a season best of 9:15.25. Oliver Ames was fifth (9:34.75) and North Quincy was sixth (9:36.74). For the boys, Brookline led three MA schools under eight minutes. The Warriors were just ahead of Boston Latin with a time of 7:54.38 to the Dragons’ 7:54.60 effort, Westford Academy was fifth at 7:57.41.
Wachusett took the silver in the girls’ 4x200m where they were timed in 1:45.10. Pentucket (third, 1:45.20) and Reading (fifth, 1:45.82) also made the podium. In the 4x400m, Weston (second, 4:00.74) and Framingham (third, 4:01.99) earned medals in the girls’ race and Amesbury (fourth, 3:27.50) and Lunenburg (sixth, 3:28.77) did the same in the boys’ race.
BSR will add to this story
