Records will be broken, there will be a plethora of PRs and there will be some celebrating, lots of it. It’ the best of the best converging at three different locales for a sure-to-be intense four days of competition. It’s this week’s MIAA Division State Championships. For track & field enthusiasts like us at Bay State Running, it doesn’t get any better than this.
Throughout the week, we’ll be previewing all six meets, girls and boys. What schools will be battling for the team titles? What are some of the events (and athletes) to keep an eye on from Thursday to Sunday? Will do our best to give glimpse of what to expect.
Let’s get started. Here were feature Division 5.
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Division 5 State Championships (Boys)
LOCATION: Westfield State University
DAYS/TIME: Thursday and Saturday
Teams: Abington, Academy of Notre Dame, Advanced Math & Science, Archbishop Williams, Arlington Catholic, Belchertown, Bellingham, Bishop Fenwick, Bishop Stang, Blue Hills Regional Tech, Calvary Chapel Academy, Cape Cod Regional, Cardinal Spellman, Cathedral, Cristo Rey, Dedham, Dennis Yarmouth Regional, Dighton-Rehoboth, Dover-Sherborn, East Boston, East Bridgewater, Fairhaven, Fontbonne Academy, Hudson, Lynnfield, Martha’s Vineyard, Medway, Nipmuc Regional, Norfolk County, North Reading, Norwell, Notre Dame Academy-Worcester, Oakmont Regional, Old Rochester Regional, Pentucket Regional, Pioneer Valley Christian Academy, Pittsfield, Pope Francis Prep, Quabbin Regional, Riverview, Saint Mary’s, Saint Paul Diocesan, Salem, Sandwich, Seekonk, South Shore Christian, South Shore Reg. Voke, Springfield HS of Science, Stoneham, Swampscott, Taconic, Triton Regional, Ursuline Academy, Weston, Whitinsville Christian, Winthrop
EVENTS TO WATCH: The 110-meter high hurdles has a chance to come down to the wire. Old Rochester’s Wesner Archelus is the top seed with his best of 14.38 seconds. Right behind with sub-15 efforts to their credit are Abington’s Aiden Calcano-Da Silva (14.45) and Old Rochester’s Calder Eaton (14.84)…The 800m features defending champion Ben Tavares, who brings a season best of 1:55.85 to the line, an effort that earned the Weston senior a gold medal at the MSTCA Warrior Invitational. Tavares’ top challenger is Arlington’s Nico Peukert, who was fifth at the Twilight Invitational with a best of 1:57.31…Weston appears primed to win the team title and could score 30 big points in the relays where the Wildcats have the top seeds in all three with a seed times of 42.89 in the 4x100m, 3:21.72 in the 4x400m and 8:01.18 for the 4x800m…The long jump features one of five athletes that have gone further than 23 feet this season with Cardinal Spellman’s Andrew Bertarelli holding the No. 1 seed. Bertarelli leaped a state No. 4 of 23-0.25 at the CCL Championship Meet over the weekend. He’ll be facing a trio of 22-footers with North Reading’s Kieran Miller (22-8.5), Cardinal Spellman’s Leo Fleming (22-5) and Norwell’s Noah Mulligan (22-4) recipients of the next three seeds…Speaking of Mulligan, he’s the No. 1 seed in 400m where he’ll be face-to-face with another sub-50 guy, Blue Hill’s Regional’s Jiai Gonzalez (49.02), along with a slew of 50-second runners.
TEAM OUTLOOK: Weston is the odds on favorite to capture the team crown with a total number of points that could be double of the second-place finisher. Among those teams vying for that spot and the other top placements are Old Rochester, Abington and Norwell, to name a few.
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Division 5 State Championships (Girls)
LOCATION: Westfield State University
DAYS/TIME: Thursday and Saturday
TEAMS: Abington, Academy of Notre Dame, Advanced Math & Science, Archbishop Williams, Arlington Catholic, Belchertown, Bellingham, Bishop Fenwick, Bishop Stang, Blue Hills Regional Tech, Calvary Chapel Academy, Cape Cod Regional, Cardinal Spellman, Cathedral, Cristo Rey, Dedham, Dennis Yarmouth Regional, Dighton-Rehoboth, Dover-Sherborn, East Boston, East Bridgewater, Fairhaven, Fontbonne Academy, Hudson, Lynnfield, Martha’s Vineyard, Medway, Nipmuc Regional, Norfolk County, North Reading, Norwell, Notre Dame Academy-Worcester, Oakmont Regional, Old Rochester Regional, Pentucket Regional, Pioneer Valley Christian Academy, Pittsfield, Pope Francis Prep, Quabbin Regional, Riverview, Saint Mary’s, Saint Paul Diocesan, Salem, Sandwich, Seekonk, South Shore Christian, South Shore Reg. Voke, Springfield HS of Science, Stoneham, Swampscott, Taconic, Triton Regional, Ursuline Academy, Weston, Whitinsville Christian, Winthrop
EVENTS TO WATCH: It’s a given that the hurdle events will be dominated by North Reading’s Giuliana Ligor, the top seed in the 100m hurdles (14.38) and the 400m hurdles (1:01.23). In both events, she holds a distinct advantage over the next seed. Last year at the Meet of Champions, Ligor smashed the state record in the 400m IH with a best of 58.97. No doubt, she’ll be looking to go sub-60 on Thursday. Weston’s Solana Varela is the No. 2 seed at 1:03.07 and NR teammate Callie MacLellan is at No. 3 with a time of 1:03.12. Varela and Maclellan should have just enough speed at the beginning to push Ligor the first half of the race. But we’re predicting it will be lights out from there with the Hornets senior all alone coming down the final straightaway. It’s a scenario that we have often seen by Ligor and one we’ll see again. In the 100m hurdles, an event the North Reading standout ranks No. 4 in the state with a time of 14.38, Ligor should be untouchable again. Her top competition in this event is once again Varela, who has a best of 15.11…Look for Breanna Braham to snag the 2-for-1 deal, too. The Dennis Yarmouth senior blazed to a state best of 54.89 to win the 400m at the Weston Twilight Invitational. The state record is 53.0 by Brookline alum Maxie Underwood at the Pan Am Games in 1982. That 43-year-old mark does appear to be out of reach. But a time under 54.51, a time run by Hingham’s Sierra Irvin at the 2014 All State Meet, would put Braham at No. 2 all-time. That’s a time that is certainly possible at Saturday’s race. In a warmup two days earlier, the D-Y standout should dominate the 200m. She owns a state No. 2 of 23.95 there. In both events, Braham’s top rival is freshman teammate Kerri Clark, who has PRs of 58.23 and 23.95 for the 400m and 200m, respectively….The high jump features indoor state champion Zoe santos of Norton. Santos has a season best of 5-6 from her win at the George Steele Relays. That effort matches what she did at the states this past winter and an inch below her all-time best of 5-7 from her runner-up finish at the New England Championships. The next four athletes in this event have seeds of 5-2.
TEAM OUTLOOK: This could be a close one with North Reading holding an edge over Dennis Yarmouth. Cardinal Spellman and Weston are a few other squads that will be looking for strong placements this weekend.
