There will be plenty of top performances at Sunday’s MSTCA State Coaches Small School Invitational. Here a few that caught our eye for this weekend’s meet at Reggie Lewis.
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GIRLS’ 55m DASH
The short dash appears to be an event that is going to be very competitive at next month’s Meet of Champions with a few sprinters we believe have a chance to win it. This race features one of them. The top seed is Norton’s Jillian Strynar, who has raced the 55-meter dash a number of times already this season and has been consistent each time. Her most recent performance against statewide competition was at the Northeast Invitational where she finished second to Pembroke’s Sarah Claflin, the defending MOC titlist, at the Northeast Invitational with a season best and state No. 2 of 7.19 seconds. Her PR is 7.15. Strynar will have some competition to push her this weekend with Mansfield teammates Chloe Guthrie (7.30) and Abigail Scott (7.32) among several in that 7.3 to 7.4 range.
BOYS’ 600m
This race features our state’s No. 1 runner with Greater New Bedford Voke’s Daniel Ward expected to toe the line. Ward has a PR of 1:22.41, which he did to win the Winter Festival Small School meet back on Dec. 10. He also went sub 1:23 to capture the Boston Holiday Challenge in late December, clocking 1:22.60. As always is the case in this race, he’ll have some competition to contend with on Sunday. Four others come in with seeds under 1:25 – Bromfield’s Jack Stahl (1:23.90). Nauset Regional’s Damian Bebber (1:24.68), and Amherst-Pelham teammates David (1:24.79) and Miguel (1:24.92) Pinero-Jacome.
BOYS’ 4x400m
This race could come down to the final few meters with top seeds Milton and Norwell, who both have gone under 3:30 this season. The Wildcats have a best of 3:29.83, while the Clippers check in with a time of 3:29.84. The next seed is about five seconds behind.
BOYS’ SHOT
This event features five of our top 10 athletes this season. Marborough’s Parker Rogers and Greater Lowell Tech’s Dennis Mowatt, who rank 2-3 in the state, lead the talented group. Rogers is the No.1 seed with a best of 53 feet, 11.5 inches. Mowatt’s not too far behind at 53-2. Amherst-Pelham’s Logan Alfandri (51-10.25), Hopedale’s Ari Levine (50-8.5) and Lunenburg freshman Ray Beardmore (50-5) are the other 50-footers in this field. It could get interesting inside the circle.
GIRLS’ HIGH JUMP
This event features top seed Averie Denelle of Tri County, who is tied for No. 2 in tie state with a PR of 5-6, just a quarter of an inch behind state leader Charlotte DiRocco of Concord-Carlisle. The field includes 17 athletes with seeds of five feet or higher. Among those that should pose the biggest challenge to Denelle are Martha’s Vineyard’s Camilla Brand and Norton’s Zoe Santos, who both have cleared 5-4.
