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 3.
***
Division 3 State Championships (Boys)
LOCATION: Westfield State University
DAYS/TIME: Friday and Sunday
TEAMS: Agawam, Bay Path, Billerica, Blackstone Valley Regional, Bristol Plymouth, Chicopee Comprehensive, Dartmouth, Doherty Memorial, Duxbury, Fitchburg, Greater Lowell Tech, Greater New Bedford, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Lynn Classical, Malden Catholic, Mansfield, Marblehead, Masconomet Regional, Milford, Milton, Minnechaug Regional, Montachusett Regional, North Attleboro, Norwood, Notre Dame Academy, O’Bryant, Oliver Ames, Plymouth South, Putnam Voc/Tech, Reading Memorial, Sharon, Shawsheen Valley Tech, Shepherd Hill, Silver Lake Regional, Somerset Berkley, Somerville, South High, Southeastern Regional, Stoughton, TEC Connections Academy, Walpole, West Springfield, Westborough, Westfield, Westwood, Whitman-Hanson Regional, Worcester
EVENTS TO WATCH: Trust us, the 400-meter run is going to get intense. Seven in this field have broken 50 seconds with the difference between them 1.08 seconds. Sharon’s Josy Brown-Wright is the No. 1 seed with his best of 48.89 seconds from his victory at the Weston Twilight Invitational. Billerica’s Dhaethmy Duval comes in with a PR of 49.23 from his recent win at the MVC League Championships. The remaining sub-50 club includes Reading’s Ryan Pulpi (49.24), Shepherd Hill’s Anthony Graves (49.32), Milton’s Miles Fergus (49.63), Longmeadow’s Shane O’Connor (49.84) and Masconomet Regional’s Timothy Lull (49.97)…Marblehead’s Nathaniel Assa leads the contingent in the two mile and mile. Right away you know these two races are going to be fast and honest. That’s the only way the Magicians’ talented senior knows how to compete. Assa has a top seed and outdoor PR of 9:13.36 for the 2M. It’s championship time. Don’t be surprised to see the Marblehead senior clock a low nine minutes for the deuce. While this event has some strong runners, including No. 2 seed Landon Slaney of Oliver Ames (9:25.80), we believe by the second half of the race, Assa will be all by his lonesome to the finish. His all-time best is 9:04.60 from his victory at the New England Championships this past winter. He could be close to that time in Friday’s race. It should be a closer affair in the mile where Assa is the top seed with a PR of 4:15.21 from the BSR Elite Scholastic Mile. Will his two-day rest from the two mile be enough to fend off his competition in the mile? In this race, Assa will be lined up against three others that have broken 4:20 with Billerica’s Shane Leslie (4:18.92), Marblehead’s Will Cerrutti (4:19.03) and Billerica freshman Mason Niles (4:19.87) answering the gun…The 800m could be exciting with 1:55 guys, Jacob Szalewicz (1:55.60) and Westfield’s Sean Johnson (1:55.88), leading the entries, which feature 10 more than have broken two minutes…There’s a chance we could have two javelin thrower heaving the metal spear more than 200 feet this season. In this event on Sunday, we have one them with defending Div. 1 and Meet of Champions winner Matthew St. Cyr occupying the No. 1 seed. St. Cyr unleashed a state-leading 198 feet, 7 inches to win a Bay State Conference tri-meet on May 7. That effort was one of three the gifted senior has done that have exceeded 190 feet and seven-plus feet ahead of Chelmsford’s Gable Gray, who ranks No. 2 in the state. In this meet, St. Cyr’s top rival is Reading’s Luke Rogerson at 179-2…The state already has two hurdlers that have already broken 14 seconds for the 110m HH. It could be three after Sunday’s meet. Southeastern Regional’s Joseph Cook nearly went under the milestone a few weeks ago when he won the MSTCA Coaches Shore Invitational with a time of 14-seconds flat. He’s only loss this season was to Brockton’s Lucas Andrade, who broke the state mark with an astonishing 13.69. We don’t expect Cook to lose this weekend, but he will be tested. The two seed is Milford’s Aloiye Okhipo, who captured individual honors at the Hockomock Spring Track Championships with a best of 14.26…We could see a 60-footer in the shot. The No. 1 seed is Kenneth Kalvinek of Blackstone Valley Voke, who unleashed a best of 59-7.25 to take the title at the Colonial Athletic League Championships…The meet-ending 4x400m should generate some electricity with Milford (3:22.82), Masconomet Regional (3:22.95), Longmeadow (3:23.86) and Reading (3:24.49) leading the entries
TEAM OUTLOOK: Several teams could be vying for the team title on the second and final day of competition will Milton, Longmeadow and Billerica among the top squads.
Division 3 State Championships (Girls)
LOCATION: Westfield State University
DAYS: Friday and Sunday
TEAMS: Agawam, Bay Path, Billerica, Blackstone Valley Regional, Bristol Plymouth, Chicopee Comprehensive, Dartmouth, Doherty Memorial, Duxbury, Fitchburg, Greater Lowell Tech, Greater New Bedford, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Lynn Classical, Malden Catholic, Mansfield, Marblehead, Masconomet Regional, Milford, Milton, Minnechaug Regional, Montachusett Regional, North Attleboro, Norwood, Notre Dame Academy, O’Bryant, Oliver Ames, Plymouth South, Putnam Voc/Tech, Reading Memorial, Sharon, Shawsheen Valley Tech, Shepherd Hill, Silver Lake Regional, Somerset Berkley, Somerville, South High, Southeastern Regional, Stoughton, TEC Connections Academy, Walpole, West Springfield, Westborough, Westfield, Westwood, Whitman-Hanson Regional, Worcester
EVENTS TO WATCH: We can almost guarantee that Nine Kyei-Aboagye will own the sprint events at this weekend’s two-day meet. The Sharon junior is the defending titlists in both the 100m and 200m and has state bests of 11.54 and 23.83, respectively. Mansfield’s Chloe Guthrie (12.04) and Oliver Ames sophomore Lavender Kozaka (12.09) are on the brink of going sub-12 and could make the 100m a little interesting. A trio of talented freshmen, Sharon’s Linda Jenner (25.35), Plymouth South’s Alexa Lasnicki (25.54) and Blackstone Valley Regional’s Abigail Bilodeau (25.83), should be among the contenders for that coveted runner-up spot in the 200m…In the triple jump, there’s a good chance we could have our second 40-footer of the season. Billerica’s Nyrah Joseph is less than a foot from the milestone with her best of 39-5, which she did at the start of the season…We’re expecting a competitive race in the mile with Westwood’s Tea Pagnotti (5:02.39) and Billerica freshman Kylie Donahue (5:02.85) the top two seeds. Three other runners have gone under 5:10 with Westfield’s Megan Moran (5:05.50), Norwood’s Natalie Martin (5:08.64) and Billerica’s Gianna McGowan (5:09.26) also toeing the line… You don’t see too many races like the 800m in this meet. The top seven runners all have seeds in the 2:22 range – Westwood’s Hailey Cashman (2:22.12), O’Bryant’s Sara Chama Blanco (2;22.25), Masconomet Regional’s Savannah Stevens (2:22.29), Notre Dame-Hingham freshman Ella Banning (2:22.30. Westwood teammates Susannah Rockers (2:22.86) and Maeve Gavin (2:22.89) and Walpole’s Bridget Tierney (2:22.91). We could have a large pack in this race still in contention will limited real estate remaining on the final stretch…One of two teams that have broken four minutes for the 4x400m this season will be on the line in this race. Duxbury’s quartet of Lilah MacQuarrie, Riley Earle, Madeline MacKinnon and Liv Coperine ran a state No. 2 of 3:59.73 at the MSTCA Division 3 Relays in mid May. Two seed Masconomet Regional is certainly a legit contender with a top time of 4:01.51.
TEAM OUTLOOK: With a good portion of their points coming in the distance and relay events, Billerica and Westwood are the leading contenders for team honors this weekend, Sharon, Milton, Oliver Ames, and Mansfield are among several others that should be in the mix for the other top podium spots.
