Throughout the week, Bay State Running will be providing quick capsules of the girls’ and boys’ meets of the MIAA Division State Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center. Here we have the Div. 3 meet, which takes place on Saturday.
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DIVISION 3 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS– GIRLS
Day/Time: Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Teams: Agawam, Amherst Pelham, Billerica, Burlington, Burncoat, Canton, Chelsea, Chicopee Comprehensive, Dartmouth, Dracut, Duxbury. Fitchburg, Greater New Bedford Voke, Holyoke, Mansfield, Marblehead, Masconomet Regional, Melrose, Middleboro, Milton, Minnechaug, Nashoba Regional, Northampton, Norwood, Notre Dame Academy – Hingham, Oliver Ames, Plymouth South, Scituate, Shepherd Hill, Silver Lake, Somerset Berkeley, Somerville, South High Community. Southeastern Regional, Stoughton, Walpole, Westfield, Westwood, Whitman-Hanson Regional, Worcester Tech
Athletes/Events To Watch: Billerica’s gifted freshman Gianna McGowan is the No. 1 seed in the mile and two mile. In the deuce, McGowan owns a state-leading 10:54.51. The No. 2 seed in this event is Walpole’s Ila Zollo with a time of 11:18.77. McGowan, who has a best of 5:08.15 in the mile, is matched up with Nashoba’s Caroline Collins. This race has potential to come down to the final stretch. Collins comes in with a season best of 5:10.01. She has an indoor PR of 5:07.76 from last year and an all-time best of 5:05.72 from the spring…Look for a competitive race in the 600m where Burlington’s Hope Hanfin has the top seed with a 1:38.72 best. Milton’s Sadie Ruth (1:39.32) and Melrose’s Cadence L’Heureux (1:39.76) could certainly contend for the title, too… The 55m hurdles features Plymouth South’s Cam Travis, who is tied with Franklin’s Sarah Dumas for the No. 1 spot in the state with a best of 8.39. Her top competition will come from Middleboro teammates Mia Lee-Bowens (8.46) and Isabel Wheeler (8.48)… With the top four sprinters in the 55m dash coming in with seeds between 7.21 and 7.30, we could have a nail-biter in this event. Mansfield’s Abigail Scott owns the No. 1 time with her 7.21 best. Mansfield’s Chloe Guthrie (7.27), Oliver Ames’ Lavender Kozaka (7.30) and Hopkinton’s Yasani Thompson (7.30) should all make this a competitive race. The next three in this field have done 7.4 or faster.
Team Outlook: Among the top schools that should be battling for the team title are Billerica, Oliver Ames and Mansfield.
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DIVISION 3 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS– BOYS
Day/Time: Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Teams: Agawam, Amherst Pelham, Billerica, Burlington, Burncoat, Canton, Chelsea, Chicopee Comprehensive, Dartmout, Dracut, Duxbury. Fitchburg, Greater New Bedford Voke, Holyoke, Mansfield, Marblehead, Masconomet Regional, Melrose, Middleboro, Milton, Minnechaug, Nashoba Regional, Northampton, Norwood, Notre Dame Academy – Hingham, Oliver Ames, Plymouth South, Scituate, Shepherd Hill, Silver Lake, Somerset Berkeley, Somerville, South High Community. Southeastern Regional, Stoughton, Walpole, Westfield, Westwood, Whitman-Hanson Regional, Worcester Tech
Athletes/Events To Watch: In the mile, Billerica’s Ryan Leslie will more than likely have sub 4:20 on his mind. The talented senior has the top seed with a season best of 4:21.72, currently No. 3 in the state. Leslie has an indoor best pf 4:20.23 and last spring clocked his all-time best of 4:18.88 to finish fourth at the Meet of Champions. Leslie’s biggest threat will come from Marblehead’s Isaac Gross, who raced to a PR of 4:28.59. Gross often sparkles when it comes championship time as he proved during the cross-country season where he was won a Div. 2 divisional crown and was a runner-up at the Meet of Champions. We’re expecting him improve on his PR this weekend. Both will be back at it again in the 2M where Leslie has a seed of 9:22.87 and Gross checks in at 9:27.85…The 1,000m should provide plenty of excitement with Dartmouth’s Tyler Medeiros matched up with Walpole’s Sean Kerin. The gifted duo are more three seconds ahead of their closest rival with times of 2:32.52 and 2:32.95, respectively… Could we have a sub 1:30 in the 4x200m? Worcester Tech will be the team looking for that milestone. The Eagles come in with a seed of 1:30.59, which ranks them No. 4 in the state. Mansfield (1:31.08) and Billerica (1:31.89) are the next two seeds…The 1-2-3 seeds in the shot have all gone further than 50 feet this season with Greater Lowell Tech’s Dennis Mowatt (53-2), Amherst-Pelham’s Logan Alfandri (53-0.25) and Walpole’s Yoan Terzyski (50-10.5)…The state’s No. 1 long jumper will be competing in this meet with Mansfield’s Chamberlain Guthrie likely focused on a 23-footer on Saturday. He’s less than an inch from that milestone with a best of 23-11.25. Alex Hersey of Marblehead (22-4) and Stoughton’s Alex Huynh (22-0) are two legit contenders in this field…The high jump could get interesting. Masconomet Regional’s Nathan Molina is the top seed with a 6-5 to his credit. Melrose’s Samuel Madden and Stoughton teammates Joshua Udeh and Alex Huynh have all done 6-4 this season.
Team Outlook: This could be a close one with Burlington and Billerica.
