Beginning on Wednesday and stretching to Saturday, we’re expecting some intense competition with the MIAA Divisional Championships. The individual and team battles with be fierce with the best of the best competing inside the confines of the Reggie Lewis Center.
Throughout the week, Bay State Running will be providing preview capsules of each division. Here we feature Division 1 boys.
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DIVISION 1 – BOYS
Time/Place: 4:30 p.m., at Reggie Lewis Center
Teams: Acton Boxborough, Andover, Attleboro, Boston College, Boston Latin, Braintree, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Central Catholic, Durfee, Framingham, Franklin, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lincoln Sudbury, Lowell, Medford,, Methuen, Natick, Needham, New Bedford, Newton North, Newton South, Revere, Saint John’s, St. John’s Prep, Shrewsbury, Taunton, Wachusett, Westford Academy, Weymouth, Xaverian Brothers
Events To Watch: The jumps should create quite a bit of excitement at Reggie. In the high jump, the state’s No. 1 leaper will be in the infield with Shrewsbury’s Derek Shimer. The talented senior soared to a PR of 6 feet, 10 inches to win the Mid-Wach Indoor Championships on Feb. 2. Shimmer will certainly be pushed in this competition. At the two and three seeds are Brockton’s Lucas Andrade and St. John’s Prep’s Andrew Bertucci with best of 6-8 and 6-6, respectively. Four more in this field have gone 6-4 this season. The long jump features a trio of 22-footers with Lowell’s Ethan Thgevenin (22-4), Central Catholic’s Suuna Kalemera (22-2.5) and Lowell’s Nana Opoku (22-0.25). A bunch more are in the mid-to-high 21-foot range. This event appears to be wide open for individual honors…Could we have a sub eight-minute performance in the 4x800m? It could happen with Lowell in the field. The Red Raiders go into this race with a state-leading 8:02.62 from the Division 1 Relays back on Jan. 17. Andover, the No. 2 seed, could be a threat to Lowell. The Golden Warriors come in with a best of 8:08.17….The 4x400m includes top-ranked Newton North, which clocked 3:24.74 at the Div. 1 Relays. Lowell (3:26.08), Attleboro (3:26.64). St. John’s Prep (3:27.87), and Acton-Boxborough (3:29.10) all have sub 3:30 squads to their credit this season…The mile promises to be a nail-biter with Boston College High’s Greg McGrath leading a strong field with a best of 4:19. 72. Three more in the field have broken 4:22 with Natick’s John Bianchi (4:20.18), Andover’s Kyle Haskell and Newton North’s Knox Wallask (4:21.87). In all, the top 11 runners in this race have broken 4:30 this winter….The 600m has four of the state’s top five on the line with Newton North’s Juan Talisayon holding the No. 1 spot with a PR of 1:21.56 from the Coaches Invitational on Jan. 26. At the No. 2 seed is the runner-up finisher to Talisayon in that race, Brookline’s Harry Flint with a best of 1:22.44. Lowell teammates Jovani Ubri (1:22.89) and Abdul Jalloh (1:22.93) are the three and four seeds followed by Xaverian Brothers’ Mitchell Kisgen (1:23.69). Kisgen, who primarily competes in the 300m, could surprise. He’s a consistent 35-second runner for the one-and-a-half lapper. He also has sub 49-second speed for the 400m…On the subject of sprints, the 300m has the Nos. 1 to 4 athletes in this event with Acton-Boxborough’s Eliot Raymondeau leading the contingent with his state best of 34.42. Among others that could contend are Newton North’s Reese Connors (34.70), Talisayon (34.85) and Lincoln Sudbury’s Nicholas Begic (34.87).
Teams Outlook: With solid depth, particularly in the jumps and sprints, Lowell appears to be the favorite for the team title. A plethora of schools could be fighting for those next few spots, including Newton North, St. John’s Prep, Brockton and BC High.
