Friday will be the calm before the storm of this weekend’s MSTCA Northeast Invitational with only a limited amount of events – seven, to be exact – taking place inside the Reggie Lewis Center.
Here’s what we consider among the best to watch on Day 1.
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GIRLS’ MILE
Say good-bye to the meet record. The three-year-old mark of 5 minutes, 5.75 seconds by Littleton’s Shae Regan should be eclipsed this weekend. The field includes three runners with seed times under Regan’s record, including defending champion MacKenzie Cook of Oyster River (NH). In 2024, Cook was mere strides from the mark with a indoor PR of 5:06.08. During the outdoor season, Cook ran her all-time best of 4:57.06 to place fifth at the BSR Elite Scholastic Mile. Plymouth North’s Macey Shriner (5:02.35) and New York’s Joanna Kenny of North Shore (5:02.68) have also run low five-minute efforts and should help create a competitive lead pack that will make Friday night’s race a fast and record-setting one.
GIRLS’ DMR
An automatic qualifier for the DMR in this event is 12:38. That’s a time that our top two teams are very close to achieving based on their current seeds. Put them together in the same race, the chances are certainly increased that it will happen. The foursomes in question are Exeter (NH) and Arlington, who come in with times of 12:42.66 and 12:43.42, respectively. Chelmsford is the No. 3 seed with a time of 13:19.06.
BOYS’ SMR
Sticking with the theme of NBN qualifiers, this race features seven teams that have seeds faster than the standard of 3:40.5. North Reading holds the No. 1 spot with a time of 3:35.00. Weston (3:38.19), Snowden International (3:38.50), Burlington (3:38.61) and Natick (3:38.80) are the next four seeds. The meet record is 3:36.15, set back in 2023 by Cambridge Rindge & Latin. That could be erased this weekend.
GIRLS’ SMR
The target time here for NBN is 4:21, a time three of our teams have listed seeds faster than, and the fourth squad is on the bubble. Woburn (4:15.0), Newburyport (4:16.0) and North Reading (4:20.0) are the 1-2-3 seeds. Rhode Island entry Mount St. Charles is the No. 4 seed with a time of 4:21.35. Keep an eye on North Reading with 400m anchor Giuliana Ligor. The Hornets’ senior was our outdoor 400m IH and 400m titlist at the Meet of Champions this past spring. She has 55-second speed for the 400m without hurdles.
GIRLS’ HIGH JUMP
This event features our state’s No. 1 leaper with Diman Regional’s Grace Flattery holding the top seed. Flattery won the high jump at the Boston Holiday Challenge on Dec. 28 with her current best of 5 feet, 6 inches.
BOYS’ WEIGHT
Only six athletes in the country have thrown further than 70 feet in this event. One of them will be competing at Reggie this Friday. Peabody’s Alex Jackson is the odds on favorite with his PR and nation No. 6 of 70-4 from the NEC Winter Invitational on Dec. 14. While he is the favorite, Jackson will have a quality athlete to contend with in his quest for the title. Amherst-Pelham’s Logan Alfandari is the two seed with a best of 64-3.25. One big throw could make a difference.
BOYS’ MILE
It could all about Will-Power with our top two seeds – Marblehead’s Will Cerrutti and Danvers’ William Conklin, Cerruti ran an all-time best of 4:19.65 to capture the Div. 3 crown this past spring. Conklin comes in with a best of 4:21.92 from outdoor. A total of eight have seeds under 4:30. Among them is Tyngsborough native Matthew Giardina of Bishop Guertin (NH), who recently finished seventh at the Foot Locker Nationals. Giardina has a PR of 4:27 from indoor last year. With a 9:04.12 best for 3,200m from the Glenn B. Loucks Games in May, we believe he’s capable of a low 4:20 effort this weekend in his second race of the season. On Jan. 4, he won the two mile in 9:16.86 at the USM New Year’s Invitational. This race also features one of the country’s best para-athletes with Delmace Joseph Mayo on the line. The Brighton native has a seed of 4:23.78.
