In the running relays alone, 10 teams moved into the No. 1 spots in the state’s rankings and one even cracked the top 20 nationally.
Are you surprised?
It was status quo at the MSTCA Division State Relays that took place the last two days with Division 4 and 6 held on Friday and D5 and D1 on Saturday. Here’s a rundown what happened so far with still two remaining. D2 and and D3 are slated for Sunday.
Division 6 at West Bridgewater
Amesbury made it a clean sweep for the team titles. The boys rolled to a 100-53 win over runner-up Wareham, while the girls held off Ipswich, 60-53.
In the boys’ competition, the Hurricanes racked up seven victories, earning gold in the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, Distance Medley, Shot, Pole Vault and Discus relays. Amesbury also collected a pair of silvers in the 4x800m and 4×1,600m. Talk about depth.
The Lady Hurricanes were victors in the shuttle hurdle and javelin relays and earned runner-up placements in the 4x100m, 4x400m and 4×1,600m.
With the meet only its second year, several records were broken on Friday. In all, a dozen marks were erased from 2022. Amesbury came a few strides from breaking 3:30 in the boys’ 4x400m with a state No. 3 of 3:30.88.
Division 4 at Pembroke
The Burlington boys and Newburyport girls went home with the hardware in this one. The Red Devils nearly hit the century mark, scoring 96 points to second-place Tewksbury’s 63 for the boys’ crown. A single point was the difference in the girls’ meet with the Clippers holding off Holliston, 60.31 to 59.31.
Big points was the difference for Burlington, which placed third of higher in eight of the 15 events. The Red Raiders won the shuttle hurdle, distance medley, long jump and shot relays In the shot and the long jump, the Red Devils had the top individual with Elijah Wolinski leaping the furthest in the long jump with a distance of 20 feet, 8.5 inches and Julian Sacca unleashing the shot 46-feet even.
Pembroke was one of three teams this weekend to dip under 44 seconds for the 4x100m by grabbing a first-place medal with a meet record of 43.48.
For the girls, Newburyport captured the 4x400m, discus, and javelin relays. In the javelin, the Clippers set a MR of 270-10 with Devin Stroope having the top throw of the day of 110-10.
Pembroke ran the state’s No. 1 time in the 4x400m with a 48.49 clocking. Holliston was a victor in the 4x800m (9:44.28) and the 4×1,600m (21;12.53).
Division 1 at Braintree
It was St. John’s Prep and Newton North taking home the boys’ and girls’ titles in this one. The Eagles were a 79-48 winner over Lexington in the boys’ meet, while the Tigers scored 63.5 points for their win to hold off Andover and Franklin, who both tied for second with 54 points.
St. John’s Prep won the high jump, triple jump, 4x100m, and 4x1600m relays and was second in the 4x800m and shot to lead its charge. In the high jump, where SJP also collected a third, Drew McStay had the best leap of the day with a height of 6-4. Tireni Asenuga topped all athletes in the triple jump where he went 42-8. Individually, it was a big day for the Eagles’ Nathan Lopez. The talented senior clocked a 4:25 mile anchor for the team’s third-place DMR (10:47.4), a 1:56 split on the 4x800m (8:01.30) and capped off the meet with a 4:13 on the 4×1,600m (17:57.9). SJP’s 4x100m squad raced to the state’s No. 1 time of 42.73 to finished ahead of a strong Acton Boxborough squad that was timed in 43.12 for second. The Eagles time in the 4×1 was just shy of the 1991 record of 42.70 by Brockton. A-B clocked a state best of 1:28.97 in the 4x200m. Lexington was second at 1:29.05.
Brookline came mere strides from going sub-8 in the 4×800 where its winning foursome combined for a state-leading and meet record of 8:00.17. Boston College High clocked the state’s No. 2 time in the DMR with a time of 10:40.13.
In the girls’ meet, Newton North was triumphant in the discus, shot, and 4x100m relays. In the shot, junior Skye Petrie-Cameron came less than a foot from 40 feet with a heave of 39-0.5.
Despite the cold and wet conditions, Newton South recorded a fast, early-season time and state-leader of 4:08.13 in the Sprint Medley. That effort ranks No. 16 in the country. Amelia Everett anchored with a 2:10 for her 800m leg.
Brookline was impressive in the DMR with a winning time of 12:28.85, a time that would have earned them a top 10 finish in the featured Championship of America event at this past weekend’s Penn Relays Carnival. Brookline also struck gold in the 4×800 with a state-leading 9:40.01.
Division 5 at Seekonk
North Reading was a runaway victor for girls, while Weston held on to a close one for the boys in this meet.
North Reading defeated second-place Dedham, 108-43. The Hornets came out on top in eight events with wins in the discus, javelin, long jump, pole vault, triple jump, 4x100m, shuttle hurdle and 4x200m relays. North Reading established new meet records in the 4x200m (1:45.44) and the shuttle hurdle (1:08.31). The 4×2 is also a state-leader.
Norton fell just short of the MR in the Sprint Medley Relay (see lead photo) with the team of Shea Podeski (800m), Ali Mirphy (400m) Phoebe Gesner (200m) and Jillian Strynar (200m) combining for a time of 4:13.61.
Weston took the boys’ crown with a 57-49 decision over Middleboro. The Wildcats had victories in the 4x100m and 4x200m and a trio of top three finishes to spur them to the title. Those events included the 4x800m (second), 4x200m (third), and javelin (second) relays.
Norwell raced to the No. 1 time in the state in the 4x400m with a time of 3:30.07.
