The region’s best will occupy the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury for the 36th annual New England Indoor Track & Field Championships. Here’s some of the top events to keep an eye on this weekend.
SHOT
Three in this event have tossed the metal ball more than 60 feet and the fourth seed is on the cusp of doing the same. You certainly don’t want to miss what’s behind the cage. Thomas Matlock of East Lyme (CT) leads the talented group with his PR of 63-0.25 from the CIAC Class M Championships on Feb. 10. The host state’s Alex Jackson of Peabody comes in with a 60-6 best from his victory at the MIAA Div. 2 Championships. The third athlete of the trio is Vermont’s Winslow Sightier of Burlington, who captured the East Coast Invitational in mid January with a heave of 60-3.75. Looking to join the 60-foot club is No. 4 seed Chris Amy of Norwich Free Academy (CT), who went 59-8 at the ECC Div. 1 meet on Feb. 3.
MILE
With the level of talent on the line, we’re expecting a time in the 4:10 to 4:15 range will win this race. Maddox Jordan of Noble (ME) has the top seed with a season best of 4:17.23 from the Maine Class A Indoor State Meet this past weekend where he also struck it rich in the 800m (PR, 1:55.68) and the 2 Mile (9:45.12). Jordan has an all-time best of 4:10.35, which he did to place third at the New England’s during the outdoor season last spring. We expect his biggest threats will come from La Salle Academy (RI) sophomore Marshall Vernon and Staples (CT) senior Benjamin Lorenz, who are only other entries that have broken 4:20 this season. Lorenz captured the State Open on Feb. 17 in a PR of 4:16.44 for 1,600m. Vernon, who won the 3K and 1,500-meter run at the State Meet less than two weeks ago, clocked a PR of 4:18.02 at BU’s John Terrier Classic in February.
300m
We can almost guarantee a sub 34-second time by our winner. Actually, we will guarantee that digital clock will begin with the numbers 33 on it. The top entries are Natanael Vigo Catala of Haverhill (MA) and Maxim Copeland of Windsor (CT). Both ran identical times of 34.32 at their respective championship meets with Copeland’s effort coming on a flat track and Vigo Catala performance coming at Reggie where he won by more than a half a second and later ran a 48-second anchor leg on his team’s winning 4x400m. A week earlier at the Div. 1 Championships, the Georgetown-bound senior ran his current PR of 34.25. While the field is talented, we can’t imagine that anyone will challenge our top two seeds this weekend. Say bye-bye to the meet record of 34.17. Overall, the Bay State could certainly make a statement in this race with three of the next four seeds, including Somerset Berkeley’s Camden Rose (34.90), Medford’s JT Mastrocola (35.03) and Xaverian Brother’s Mitchell Kisgen (35.12). Taeshawn Berry of Windsor (CT) is another runner to not forget. He has a best of 35.0.
LONG JUMP
This event could get insane. The top four seeds have all gone further than 23 feet and fifth seed is just two inches from joining the quartet. Winnacunnet ((NH) senior Oliver Duffy holds the No. 1 spot among our entries with a winning leap of 23-5.5 from the NHIAA Indoor Div. 1 Championships on Feb. 11. The next two seeds call Connecticut their home with Capital Prep senior Makye Wade (23-4) and Xavier junior Oliver Guzy (23-3.75). Mansfield (MA) senior Chamberlain Guthrie is at the fourth seed with a best of 23-0.5 from the Div. 3 Championships. Guthrie may have some added motivation to excel this weekend. As the top seed at last weekend’s Meet of Champions, he finished second, nearly two feet under his PR.
55m HH
One clip of the hurdle may determine the winner in this event. We think it’s the that close. Lucas Andrade of Brockton (MA) is the top seed after capturing the title at the Meet of Champions with a PR of 7.44. Right behind Andrade is Barrington (RI) teammates Ethan Knight and Bobby Wind, who went 1-2 at the State Meet and have consistently been the RI’s best this season. Knight has a PR of 7.49 and Wind is just a hundredth of a second behind at 7.50. While this wouldn’t be said about this hurdler back in mid January, the darkhorse is Joe Nham. The Hall (CT) senior won the Yale Track Classic back on Jan. 13 with an all-time best of 7.46. Shortly after that victory, he broke his wrist and missed about of month of training. Since coming back, Nham’s best is 7.65, which he did to take runner-up honors at the State Open two weeks ago. He certainly can’t be ignored this weekend.
1,000m
Two week ago, Hanover’s Lucian Gleiser and Coe Brown’s Jamie Land engaged in a classic battle in this race at the NHIAA Indoor Championships with Gleiser coming out on top by just four hundredths of a second with his time of 2:27.62. The state rivals will be back at it again on Saturday as the 1-2 seeds. The 23-year-old meet record of 2:25.14 by former Boston English (MA) star Said Ahmed appears safe, but a time in the 2:26 range is certainly possible on the fast Reggie Lewis oval. If the NH duo shows up with their ‘A’ games again this weekend, can either be beaten by anyone else in the field? The remaining top entries include Newtown (CT) junior Scheib Dissa (2:30.36), Cambridge Rindge & Latin (MA) senior Jacob Bronstein (2:31.70) and Danbury (CT) junior Kyle Jeffers (2:31.87), who will all be looking to PR with the chance of coming close to 2:30 (or faster).
4x400m
The final race of the day couldn’t certainly electrify the crowd. Haverhill is the No. 1 seed after its memorable race at the Meet of Champions where Vigo Catala’s 48-second anchor propelled the Hillies to the win and a top time of 3:25.16. The school record for Haverhill is 3:23.99. You know that’s a time this foursome will be focusing on this weekend on their home turf. Four other teams in this event have broken 3:30 with CT’s Lyman Hall (3:26.03) and Windsor (3:26.55) and MA’s Northampton (3:28.41) and Norwell (3:28.66). We give the favorite nod to Haverhill with a heck of a battle for the other top finishes.
