The competitive portion of the outdoor track & field season is underway and already some athletes have put up some championship-like times and distances in their respective events.
Lincoln Sudbury’s Gabrielle Pierre, who last year broke a long-standing record in the triple jump with a 43-foot effort, won her specialty at Saturday’s Pepsi Florida Relays. Pierre leaped a nation No. 2 of 41-1.5. It was her second 40-plus effort in eight days. On March 28, she was at the Nike Track & Field Center in New York City. It was there that Pierre captured the triple jump at the NYS Indoor Showcase with a distance of 40-1.5.
Cambridge Rindge & Latin’s Aoife Shovlin became our first runner to break 11 minutes for the two mile this spring. Shovlin ran 10 minutes, 59.53 seconds in a league meet against Acton-Boxborough on April 1.
In her final two meets of the outdoor season last spring, Billerica’s Nayah Joseph broke 15 seconds for the 100-meter hurdles. Joseph came just strides away from doing it again on Saturday in a meet against Chelmsford. Joseph won her specialty by more than two seconds with a winning time of 15.01.
On the boys’ side, Cole New nearly broke 50 seconds for the 400m. The Ayer Shirley senior, who was a runner-up in the 600m at the Meet of Champions this past winter, was timed on 50.08 for the one-lapper in a dual meet with Tyngsborough last Thursday.
Greater Lawrence’s Elizardo Melenciano raced to a PR and state-leading 14.62 in the 110m hurdles in a meet against Shawsheen Tech on April 3. He became our first hurdler under 15 seconds.
Away from the track, there were several more impressive performances from the boys.
In a meet against Taunton last Monday, junior Noah Williams heaved the shot a distance of 55-4. He also won the discus with a toss of 162-6.
Catholic Memorial’s Amar Skeete soared to a PR of 46-feet even in the triple jump. That effort puts him in a tie for 29th in the country right now.
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On Saturday, a few of our Bay Staters headed across the border to compete at the 57th annual Knights of Columbus Relays.
Making its yearly trip to the RI meet, Parker Charter broke its school record in the boys’ 4xMile relay. The foursome of Danny Garrison, Nathaniel Henshaw, Cy Lance, Henry Jacobsen combined for a time of 18:55.10 in the meet’s signature race. The Panthers took runner-up honors to the host state’s Barrington (18:47.0).
In the hammer, Lexington’s Franz Schroeder finished tenth among 60 throwers with a PR of 170-1. The Minutemen’s Ainsley Cuthbertson was 11th against 45 entries in the girls’ competition with a heave of 144-0
