The final invitational meet of the indoor season was held on Sunday with the MSTCA State Coaches Small School Invite.
Just like a day earlier when the Large Schools occupied the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, several athletes proved their peaking at just the right time with the championship season now underway with teams battling for league titles this week.
Mansfield’s Chamberlain Guthrie came less than an inch from becoming our first 23-footer of the season in the long jump with a winning leap of 22-11.25. Stoughton’s Alex Hunyh also hit the 22-foot mark, hitting that distance exactly to take runner-up honors.
Billerica’s Ryan Leslie overtook Marblehead’s Isaac Gross in the two mile where he posted the state’s top time this season of 9 minutes, 22.87 seconds. Gross held on for second with a PR of 9:27.85.
In what’s shaping up to be a must-see race at the Meet of Champions in a few weeks, the 300m produced the fastest time in the state with Somerset Berkley’s Camden Rose becoming our third runner to crack 35 seconds with a school record of 34.90. Rose is just ahead of Haverhill’s Natanael Vigo Catala, who went 34.95 at the Northeast Invitational. Winchester’s Daniel Killian is ranked No. 3 with a 34.97 best from the Holiday Challenge last month.
It was all about the Tylers in the 1,000m. This race produced one of the most exciting races of the day with Dartmouth’s Tyler Medeiros holding off Old Rochester’s Tyler Young with a time of 2:32.52. Young was just .08 behind his rival. Both times are ranked 2-3 in the state.
Norton’s Jillian Strynar continues to prove that she’s one of the state’s best in the sprints. Strynar captured the 55m dash in 7.23 seconds. She raced to a PR of 7.15 in the prelims, an effort that ties her at No. 2 in the state with Pembroke’s Sarah Claflin.
In the 55m hurdles, Billerica’s Nyrah Joseph and Middleboro’s Isabel Wheeler ran the state’s fourth and fifth best times in a close finish. Joseph was timed in 8.57, while Wheeler clocked 8.60.
Ludlow’s Elena Chaplin came just short of becoming our third shot-putter over the 40-foot mark with a heave of 39-10.5. Se was nearly five feet further than her closest competitor.
