On a day where Mother Nature couldn’t quite make up her mind, the Bay State managed to have several of its athletes make the podium at Saturday’s 77th annual New England Outdoor T&F Championships.
Held at the University of New Hampshire’s Wildcat Stadium, the day featured periods of sunny skies, cool and moderately windy conditions and occasional downpours. Still, it didn’t affect the performances of most that made the trip to the regional meet.
For MA, the victory stand was reached thrice with each win coming in the girls’ competition and each taking place away from the track oval.
A week after finishing second to Ludlow’s Elena Chaplin at the Meet of Champions, Newton North’s Skye Petrie-Cameron attained gold in the shot with a heave of 43 feet. 4.5 inches. Chaplin was sixth with a distance of 39-11.75. Petrie-Cameron took over a lead she would not relinquish on her second throw in the prelims.
Reading Memorial’s Katie Caraco, a runner-up in the high jump at the MOC, won an exciting competition in her specialty. Caraco matched her PR by clearing 5-5 on fewer misses between two other leapers. Tri-County’s Averie Denelle and Norton’s Zoe Santos were fourth and fifth, respectively, with identical heights of 5-3. Denellee earned the higher placement in a jump off with her rival.
Caraco was also third in the triple jump with a distance of 37-7. Norwell’s Liliana MacDonald took second in the event at 38-0.75. For MacDonald, a runner-up at the MOC, it was her fourth 38-footer this season. Reading’s Isabella Lightbody was sixth overall at 36-11.5.
In the javelin, Peabody’s Alessandra Forgoine was the region’s best with a toss of 129-11. She led a 1-2 finish by MA with Stoughton’s Maya Ashu taking the silver at 122-3.
Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye, a dual champion in the 100m and 200m at last week’s championship meet, made it to the podium in both her events. She was fourth in the 100m (12.01 seconds) and second in the 200m (24.25). Methuen’s Lauren Quarm (fifth, 12.07) and Mansfield’s Chloe Guthrie (sixth, 12.21) also placed in the short sprint.
MOC and Div. 3 titlist Sophia Axelrod of Walpole was second in the discus with a top throw of 136-6. Medway’s Charity Johnson was third at 132-1 and Winchester’s Caroline Herlihy was fourth at 127-3.
Other top finishes on the girls’ side included Amherst-Pelham’s Moriah Luetjen in the 400m (fourth, 55.94), Amherst Pelham in the 4x400m (4:06.41) and Arlington’s Erin Moran (third, 11-9) and Acton-Boxborough’s Emerson Gould (fourth, 11-9) in the pole vault.
In the boys’ meet, Massachusetts collected five silver medals for the day.
The state’s top shot-putter, Alex Jackson of Peabody, had his fourth 60-footer of the season to finish second in his specialty. Jackson was 1.75 inches shy of his PR from the MOC with a toss of 61-3.25. Jackson was also fourth in the discus (166-4), an event where Marlborough’s Parker Rogers claimed runner-up honors at 172-0. Amherst-Pelham’s Logan Alfandari was sixth at 165-0.
Shrewsbury’s Derek Shimer matched his placement from the MOC by taking second in the high jump with a PR of 6-7.
Westford Academy’s Ryan Kyle, the state’s 110m HH champion and 400m IH runner-up, was one of four hurdlers under 39 seconds in the 300m IH. Competing in the event for the first time, Kyle placed second overall with a time of 38.75. Top seed Samuel Forte of Xavier (CT) won the race with a time of 38.10 to complete a sweep of the hurdles. Earlier in the meet, he captured the 110m HH with a meet record of 13.96.
Lowell’s Khai Yin was second to Forte in the 110m IH with a near best of 14.21. Brockton’s Jared Mighty, the MOC winner for the 400m IH, was sixth overall in the 300m IH at 39.82.
Lucas Andrade of Brockton, last week’s victor in the 100m, was sixth in his specialty at Saturday’s meet with a time of 10.88. MOC triple jump winner Matthew Acquah of Natick, was third overall in that event at New England’s with a distance of 48-8.25. Grafton’s Calvary Jamoko was fifth at 45-11.75.
Other MA athletes making it to the podium were Newton South’s Alex Friedman in the 1,600m (sixth, 4:17.52), Winchester’s Dan Killian in the 200m (sixth, 22.13), Nashoba’s Sawyer O’Riordan in the pole vault (fourth, 14-3), and Xaverian Brothers (fourth, 3:24.57) and Lawrence (sixth, 3:25.94) in the 4x400m.
