Massachusetts’ athletes have certainly gotten off to a great start so far with the final national competitions of the outdoor track & field season taking place throughout the week.
It all began on Wednesday night in Seattle where Westford Academy’s Paul Bergeron and Northbridge’s Marcus Reilly placed high in their respective events at the ultra-competitive Brooks PR Invitational. For Bergeron, he improved on his two-week-old state record in the two mile by placing fourth overall in a superlative 8 minutes, 39.37 seconds, an effort that ranks No. 5 in the nation. Reilly took runner-up honors in the mile where he ran a near best of 4:03.85. Both are not finished yet this weekend, and have made the cross-country trek back to the east coast to compete at the New Balance Nationals, held at the University of Pennsylvania’s historic Franklin Field this weekend.
Speaking of the New Balance Nationals, Boston College High continued the momentum started by Bergeron and Reilly by capturing gold in the 4xMile during Day 1 action on Thursday. The Eagles’ foursome of Shamus Larnard, John Wilson Greg McGrath and Chris Larnard fulfilled their goal of breaking the state record with a time of 17:15.79. That performance smashed the decade-old mark of 17:34.34, set by Medfield at the MSTCA Division 1 Relays in 2014. Chris Larnard anchored the squad with a 4:10.16 leg to hold off New Jersey’s Christian Brothers Academy (second, 17:16.62). Wellesley was 23rd among the 51 schools with a time of 18:02.91.
In the Championship girls’ 4xMile, Cambridge Rindge & Latin also earned All-American honors by finishing third overall in 20:42.76. The current mark in that event is 20:28.14 by Newton South from the New Balance Nationals in 2009. Comprising the squad for CB&L were Eliza Dickie, Juanes Seto, Fiona Litman and Aoife Shovlin.
Later in the night, Nashoba Regional’s Adam Balewicz placed ninth in the 5,000m where he was timed in a PR of 14:53.56.
On Friday, Franklin’s Sarah Dumas capped off a successful two days in the Heptathlon by placing third overall with 4,825 points. Dumas scored the most points by winning the 100m hurdles with a PR of 14.37. She was third or better in three other events – the high jump (second, 1.63 meters), 200m (second, 25.37) and the shot (10.6m).
Lunenburg’s Ray Beardmore unleased an all-time best of 51 feet, 9.25 inches to finish second in the Freshmen Shot. Billerica’s Gianna McGovern (second, 11:02.76) and Whitinsville Christian’s Emily Flagg (ninth, 11:16.64) were among the top 10 in the Freshmen 2 Mile.
Lauren Quarm of Methuen, a third-place finisher in the 100m at the Meet of Champions, blazed to a time of 12.06 in the prelims of her specialty.
The Framingham quartet of Catelyn Last., Ava Lombardo, Abby Desmarais and Sasha Lamakina improved on their state leader in the Sprint Medley Relay by finishing tenth overall in 4:03.17.
In the 400m hurdles, Meet Of Champions victor Giuliana Ligor of North Reading was 11th with a time of 1:01.29. Woburn’s Nicole Gangi was 25th at 1:02.96. Mitchell Kisgen of Xaverian Brothers was timed in 55.23 in the boys’ race, good for 34th overall.
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The Nike Outdoor Nationals at the University of Oregon’s famed Hayward Field, kicked off on Wednesday. Day 1 featured two strong performances in the Freshmen Mile races. Newton South’s Isabella Monaghan was seventh in the girls’ competition with a PR of 5:13.44. For the boys, Belmont Hill’s William Trautz was eighth in 4:26.17.
In the girls’ Championship Sprint Medley Relay on Thursday, Newton South and Austin Prep were 11th and 15th, respectively. The Lions’ Paige Taylor, Natalie Sayers, Molly Johnson and Emily Frawley combined for a time of 4:16.52. Austin Prep’s squad of Ava Sherry, Maggie Little, Isabella Tomic and Cailin Fennessey were timed in 4:18.70.
East Longmeadow was fifth in the boys’ SMR with the quartet of Domenic Gameli, Nolan Moore, Vincent Lu and Charles Klatka combining for a time of 3:36.79.
Austin Prep (3:44.28) and Whitinsville Christian (3:45.27) were seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Mixed 4x400m.
On Friday, Frawley improved on her state No. 2 in the 800m by finishing 30th overall in an absolutely-loaded race with a best of 2:12.15. About five hours later, the talented tenth-grader anchored the Lions to a sixth-place finish and overall time of 9:27.17 in the 4x800m.
