During a dominant indoor season last year, one that was highlighted with an individual title in the 55-meter dash at the Meet of Champions, not much stood in the way of Lauren Quarm.
Looks like we might be seeing something similar this time around, too..
In just her second meet of the year, Quarm came strides away from breaking seven seconds in the short dash at Saturday’s MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge, held at the TRACK at new balance. The Rangers gifted sprinter broke the tape in a winning time of 7.08. She held off strong efforts from Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien (second, 7.27) and Mansfield’s Chloe Guthrie (third, 7.29).
Several hours later, Quarm came back and added the 200m crown to her day’s work, edging Guthrie by four hundredths of a second with a time of 25.96.
For the 55m dash, Quarm matched her third fastest performance from last season where she clocked a PR of 6.95 at the MOC, a time that ranks No. 3 all-time in the history of the state. Among other goals, she’s eyeing the current state record of 6.87 by former Norton great Brooke-Lynn Williams in 2017.
The Red Hawks’ Edozien improved on her state-leader in the 55m hurdles by taking that event in 7.20, an effort that ties her at No. 8 all-time in the state.
In what turned into an intense battle in the boys’ shot, Hopedale’s Ari Levine earned the top prize with a distance of 52 feet, 7 inches. Levine was one of four shot-putters to exceed 50 feet. He was followed by Amherst-Pelham’s Logan Alfandari (second, 52-6). Peabody’s Areno Saint Victor (50-4) and Shrewsbury’s Darius Gibbons (fourth, 50-2). Just missing the 50-foot mark was fifth-place finisher Joshua Costello of Shrewsbury with a heave of 49-11.25. Levine was just a day removed from winning the shot at the MSTCA Distance Classic with a school record of 54-9.
For the girls’ shot, Haverhill’s Madeline Goncalves improved her No. 1 ranking by nearly two feet with a toss of 43-0.
Identical twins Kylie and Caitlyn Donahue of Billerica claimed the top two spots in the Freshman Mile where a few strides separated the sibling duo, clocking times of 5:23.28 and 5:23.98, respectively.
“We just wanted to go out strong,” Caitlyn said. “We just wanted to go out and compete and try and push each other.”
With a strong kick the final 100m, Billerica’s Gianna McGowan won the varsity mile in 5:11.86 Whitinsville Christian’s Emily Flagg was third at 5:16.24.
McGowan and eventual second-place finisher Alyssa Parenteau of La Salle Academy (RI), broke from a tight pack with about 500m remaining. Trailing by just a stride with about 200m to go, Parenteau (second, 5:13.07) moved to the front on the backstretch, only to be passed by McGowan on the last turn.
“I was sick so I was just trying to run as fast as I could without feeling the best,” said McGowan, who owns a PR of 5:04.06from her third-place finish at last year’s Meet of Champions. “it was a good effort.”
For the boys, Dennis Yarmouth’s Walter Mayo, who is tied with Brockton’s Lucas Andrade for the No. 1 spot in the high jump, won that event with a height of 6-5. Andrade copped the 55m hurdles (7.46) and was a runner-up to Weston’s Noah Lago in the 55m dash. Logo edge his rival by a hundredth of a second with a time of 6.56.
Snowden International’s Rick Barros was the quickest in the 200m, taking that title in 22.12.
Walpole’s Brady Thomas continued his hot season by capturing the 400m in a huge PR of 49.43. Thomas, a winner in the 300m at last weekend’s Sprint Classic, earned his victory out of the unseeded heat. Finishing second and third, respectively, were Acton-Boxborough’s Eliott Raymondeau (50.04) and Lowell’s Ethan Thevenin (50.21).
Running negative splits the second half of the race, Weston’s Ben Tavares came a stride from breaking two minutes in the 800m with a triumphant 2:00.05. Taveres put the race away by blazing his final 200m in 28.76.
In a race that came down to the last few meters of the race, Brookline’s Theo Butty won the varsity mile. Butty was just ahead of Newton North’s Know Wallask with a time of 4:24.41.Wallask was timed in 4:24.76.
Natick’s John Bianchi ran an indoor best of 4:18.56 to finish fifth in the featured New Balance Championship Mile. The race was won by Soheib Dissa of Newtown in a nation-leading 4:06.64.
Ayer Shirley’s Cole New moved to No. 1 in the state rankings with an impressive victory in the 600m. New broke the tape in a PR of 1:23.17. he finished just ahead of North Reading’s Gavin Brady, who was timed in a state No. 2 of 1:24.03.
