Highlighted by victories in four events, Wellesley High rolled to its sixth straight team title at Friday’s MIAA Division 2 Championships. Defending champion North Andover made it back-to-back titles in the boys’ meet.
Junior Annie Comella had a big day for the Raiders inside the Reggie Lewis Center. She collected 26 points in the meet by winning the 55-meter dash and taking runner-up honors in the long jump and 300m. The state-leader in the dash, Comella won her speciality with a quick 7.19 seconds. Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye was second at 7.27. Comella finished behind Kyei-Aboagye (40.39) in the 300m with a time of 41.23 and leaped 17 feet, 9.5 in the long jump, just 2.5 inches shy of individual winner Alex D’Amato of King Phillip (18-0).
Wellesley’s Charlotte Tuxbury raced to a winning time of 5:00.44 to take gold in a competitive mile. Finishing second and third, respectively, were Belmont’s Dana Lehr (5:02.12) and North Quincy’s Aluna Coogan-Coyne (5:03.82).
The Raiders also captured the 4x400m (4:05.53) and 4x800m (9:45.41) relays. State -leader Algonquin was the fastest in the 4x200m (1:45.60).
In what should shape up to be a must-see event at the Meet of Champions this weekend, Olivia LaBelle claimed the 55m hurdles title in a PR of 8.39. That time ties LaBelle with Franklin’s Sarah Dumas and Plymouth South’s Camryn Travis for No. 1 in the state.
Plymouth North’s Macey Shriner edged Erika Wojcik in the 1,000m with both clocking times that rank No. 3 and No. 4 in MA. Shriner crossed the line in 2:54.95, while Wojcik was timed in 2:55.24.
North Andover, a winner at the State Relays last month, scored 61 points to earn the hardware in the boys’ meet. Coming just short of making it a sweep for Wellesley, the Raiders were second overall with 57.5 points.
North Andover captured just one event, but scored eight or more points in four of them to defend their title.
The lone victory came from its’ 4x400m relay squad, which was timed in 3:31.66. Finishing right behind in the 2-3-4 spots were Milford (3:32.40), Marshfield (3:32.63) and Beverly (3:32.85).
Marshfield’s Graham Heinrich moved to No. 5 in the state rankings in the 1,000m where he broke the tape in 2:32.67. North Andover’s Dylan Cote added eight points to his team’s winning total by placing second at 2:33.50.
In the shot, Peabody’s Alex Jackson broke the meet record with the first 60-footer of his career. Jackson heaved the metal ball 60-6, an effort that ranks him No. 13 in the country.
