You couldn’t have asked for a better opening act for Boston Marathon weekend on Saturday!
The BAA 5K began the three-day festivities leading uo to Monday’s marathon with nearly 9,000 runners answering the gun for the five-kilometer race.. In the men’s competition just five seconds separated the top 11 runners in a mad dash to the finish. Morgan Beadlescomb of the Michigan-based Very Nice Track Club, took home the $7,000 winners’s check with a time of 13 minutes, 25 seconds. In the women’s race, a mere second separated the top two finishers with Ethiopian Mekides Abebe edging Kenya’s Anges Ngetich with a time of 15:01.
Newton South’s Amelia Everett was a gun-to-wire victor in the high school girls’ race of the BAA Invitational Mile with a triumphant 5:10.85. The recent 800-meter bronze medalist from the New Balance Nationals was comfortably ahead of runner-up Ciara Evans of Newton North, who was timed in 5:15.30. Evans came on strong in the late stages, clocking her fastest 400m split of 75 seconds. Taking third was Sasha Lamakina of Framingham in 5:24.35.
“I was excited to see how it felt,” said Everett, who owns a PR of 4:49 for the mile. “A road mile is fun and the atmosphere is really fun. I was just excited to go with no expectations and see what happened.”
“I could see (Amelia) but I wasn’t going to catch her,” admitted Evans. “I was just trying to push to the finish.”
Brimmer & May’s Brian Gamble took control early and was never challenged in the boys’ HS race where he broke the tape in 4:27.83. Placing second was Declan Mulligan of Brookline in 4:38.83. Alex Hrycyszyn of Newton North was third at 4:39.39.
The middle school 1K races proved to be exciting. Newton’s Adelle Dupere claimed the girls’ title by just four hundredths of a second over Framingham’s Daria Lamakina, crossing the line in 3:22.04. Luca Dmoestico of Ashland was the boys’ winner at 3:00.53. Taking runner-up honors was Braden Spiess of Boston with a time of 3:02.63.
Belmont’s Ellie Shea competed in the women’s professional race of the BAA Invitational Mile and was tenth overall at 4:51.39. The race was won by Krissy Gear of HOKA Naz Elite with a time of 4:39.98.
