It was deja vu for the Billerica girls at Saturday’s MIAA Division 3 State Championships. For the second straight year, the Indians went home with the team hardware, courtesy of their 59-46 victory over second-place Marblehead. On the boys’ side, Walpole was the last team standing, winning the crown by nine points over runner-up Chelmsford with a 48-39 decision inside the Reggie Lewis Center.
Billerica did most of its damage in the middle and long-distance events, collecting a combined 32 points in the two mile, mile and 1,000-meter run.
Senior Brianna Phelan was the lone victor for the Indians, capturing the 1,000m with a PR of 3:01.28. Freshman Gianna McGowan scored 14 points for Billerica by placing third in the mile (5:04.06) and second in the two mile (11:14.14). Fellow classmate Hartlie Siegal was fourth in the 2M at 11:36.06. Winning the two longest races was Westfield’s Megan Moran in the deuce (11:13.66) and Nashoba’s Caroline Collins in the mile (5:01.80).
Mansfield came close to its all-time best in the 4x200m with a winning time of 1:45.51. The Rams currently rank No. 2 in the state with a time of 1:45.45.
Middleboro’s Isabel Wheeler won a close race in the 55m hurdles with top-seed Camryn Travis of Plymouth South, edging her rival with a state No. 4 of 8.41. Travis was timed in 8.41, just .02 from her state-leading 8.39.
Burlington’s Hope Hanafin defended her title in the 600m with a PR of 1:38.28. She also ran a leg on her’s team’s eighth-place 4x400m (4:19.71), an event won by Marblehead (4:06.73).
Walpole’s depth played a key role in its victory. The Timberwolves were shutout from the victory stand but scored in eight of the 12 events for the day.
Walpole placed second in the 4x200m (1:31.94) and 4x800m (8:18.48) and also had a runner-up finish from Sean Kerin in the 1,000m (2:32.43). Dartmouth’s Tyler Medeiros clocked the state’s No. 2 time in the 1K with a PR of 2:31.63.
In the relays, it was Worcester Tech in the 4x200m (1:31.21), Northampton in the 4x400m (3:29.07) and Amherst Pelham in the 4x800m (8:16.71).
Nashoba’s Connor Acierno captured the 600m in a race where the top three were separated by just four tenths of a second. Acierno finished with a PR and state No. 10 of 1:23.54. Burlington’s Colin Irwin (second, 1:23.70) and Amherst-Pelham’s Nicolas Lisle (third, 1:23.94) took the next two spots.
Billerica’s Ryan Leslie was a winner in the mile where he broke the tape in 4:24.73. Marblehead’s Isaac Gross was the two-mile champion at 9:30.64.
