The youngest of our track & field athletes had a chance to share the spotlight on Friday at the annual MSTCA William Kane Freshmen-Sophomore Meet, held at the Lou Conte Track in Agawam.
Here’s some of the highlights…
Amherst-Pelham’s Nico LIsle, a ninth-grader, was a dominant winner in the 800-meter run, Lisle nearly broke the two-minute barrier, capturing the race by more than six seconds in an impressive 2:00.74. Surprisingly, Lisle’s effort is the second fastest freshmen time posted in the state this season. Just a day earlier, Danny Garrison of Parker Charter ran 1:59.50 to finish sixth at the Warrior Invite. Both were well under the qualifying standard of 2:02.0 for the New Balance Nationals in mid June. Lisle also ran a leg on Amherst-Pelham’s 4x400m relay squad. The foursome of Lisle, Peter Nadeau, Calvin Miller and Owen Platt combined for a time of 3:46.08.
Vinicius Silva of Framingham swept the hurdle events. The Flyers’ sophomore won the 110m HH in 16.67 and the 400m IH in 1:03.94.
Longmeadow’s Shane O’Connor and Durfee’s Curtis Mowatt swapped placements in the 200m dash and long jump. O’Connor won the 200m (23.78) and Mowatt was second (24.21). In the long jump, Mowatt proved victorious (20 feet, 40.5 inches) and O’Connor was the runner-up (20-1).
For the girls’ Ella Hoogendyk of Northbridge was a double-winner. The Rams’ sophomore captured the triple jump with a leap of 34-7.5 and won the long jump at 16-4.
Holyoke’s Yasani Thompson, a tenth-grader, blazed to a time of 1:01.67 to break the tape in the 400m. She was slightly ahead of Northampton’s Maddalena Figueroa-Starr, who was timed in 1:02.39 for the silver.
Amherst-Pelham frosh Ololara Baptiste was the fastest among all the competitors. She earned the top podium spot in both sprint events with triumphs in the 100m (13.06) and the 200m (27.19).
