What we’re predicting will be a competitive and record-setting weekend, concludes on Sunday with Day 3 of the MSTCA Northeast Invitational. The final day features a few events that are contested at the national meets in March, like the New Balance Nationals, Nike Indoor National and the adidas Track Nationals. Among those events are the 800-meter run, 400m, 200m and mixed 4x400m. Mixed in on the final day are also the two mile, boys’ long jump and boys’ shot.
Here’s a few events we believe will be among the best.
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800m
Be prepared. Both the girls’ and the boys’ races on Sunday should created some excitement inside the Reggie Lewis. Beginning with the girls, the 2-3-4-5 finishers from the Meet of Champions last June are all entered in the four-lapper with Framingham’s Sasha Lamakina (second, 2:12.94), Newton South’s Emily Frawley (third, 2:12.98), Wellesley’s Charlotte Tuxbury (fourth, 2:13.22) and Wellesley’s Kayla Bohlin (fifth, 2:14.77) scheduled to answer the gun. Can they all match what they did at the MOC, or come close? If so, we got race that could have a bunched-up lead pack that might not break up until the final lap…or last stretch. Lamakina, who is also entered in the 1K on Saturday, appears to be the favorite in this race. She’s already produced times that seem to match up with her current PR with state-leading efforts in the 600m (1:34.9) and the 1K (2:56.55). Frawley, who has the fastest time in the field with a best of 2:12.15 from the Nike Indoor Nationals, has run 1:38.20 for the 600m and a PR and solo 3:03.53 for the 1.000m so far this winter. Will the Lions’ gifted sophomore, a soccer player during the fall, be able to match up with Lamakina at this point in the season? You never know. In her frosh campaign last year, she certainly proved she’s a competitor. Also, will Lamakina run the 1K on Saturday and scratched from this race or run both races? Either of those scenarios can change things around in a big way. Bohlin, who has run 1:40 twice this season for the 600m, and Tuxbury. are others that can’t be ignored. This will be Tuxbury’s first all-out effort. Her top performance this season is 1:45.19 for the 600m. On the boys’ side, Marblehead’s Jacob Szalewicz, a 1:54 half-miler, is the No. 1 seed. The William Hall (CT) transfer ran his best of 1:54.97 at last year’s Glenn B. Loucks Games. Last month, Szalewicz won the 600m at the NEC Winter Invitational with a best of 1:24.60, proving he’s ready for a sub-2 this weekend. Six other runners in this field have broken two minutes, including Natick’s John Bianchi, Chelmsford’s Nathan Hart, Newton North’s Nate Hill, and Melrose Adam Caldwell.
400m
For girls; keep an eye on the meet record of 57.10, set three years ago by Cambridge Rindge & Latin’s Kylee Bernard. That three-year-old mark certainly has a chance at being erased on Sunday. The top seed is North Reading senior Giuliana Ligor, who clocked an all-time best of 55.62 to win the 400m at last spring’s MOC. The talented senior, who has an indoor PR of 57.52 from her frosh season, gets the favorite nod. But she’ll certainly be tested. The field includes eight others with times under a minute, including top entries like Natick’s Chloe Elder (57.41), Boston Latin’s Leanna Lynn (58.17) and Wachusett’s Rahma Giwa (58.99). Giwa, who was second in this race last year behind Dennis Yarmouth’s Breanna Braham, could pose the biggest threat to Ligor. She clocked an all-time best of 56.87 to place second as a tenth-grader at the Div. 1 outdoor championships. In the boys’ race, five runners in the field have dipped under 51 seconds. That quintet includes BC High’s Earl McNeil (50.13), Pembroke’s Gabe Lamar (50.25), Oyster River’s Talon Ouellette of NH (50.50), Lawrence’s Cristian Reinoso (50.50) and Methuen’s Juan Polanco (50.73).
200m
As is the case with most sprint races as meets like this weekend, the girls’ and boys’ competition could both be determined in the closing meters. The girls’ race features Wellesley’s Annie Comella and Methuen’s Lauren Quarm. Comella, who has an all-time best of 24.88 from last spring, consistently runs in the 25-second range. This will be her first solo 200m of the winter. She’s run it three times on a relay this season with a top, hand-held split of 26.5. Quarm has a PR of 25.53. A few weeks ago, she won the one-lapper at the Boston Holiday Challenge with a season best of 25.96. For the boys, Lincoln Sudbury’s Nicholas Begic (21.59) and Wellesley’s Sincere Fontaine (21.88) are the top two seeds with a bunch more with seeds in the 22-second range.
