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.
Here were feature Division 4.
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Division 4 State Championships (Boys)
LOCATION: Merrimack College
DAYS : Friday and Sunday
TEAMS: Amherst Pelham, Apponquet Regional, Ashland, Assabet Valley Regional, Auburn, Bedford, Burlington, Burncoat, Canton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Danvers, Dracut, East Longmeadow, Falmouth, Foxborough, Gloucester, Grafton, Greater Lawrence Tech, Marlborough, Medfield, Melrose, Middleboro, Nashoba Regional, Nauset Regional, Newburyport, North Middlesex, Northampton, Northeast Metro Regional, Pembroke, Saugus, Scituate, Tewksbury, Tri County Regional, Wakefield Memorial, Watertown, Wayland, Wilmington
EVENTS TO WATCH: We’re expecting some fast times in the 800-meter run where a dozen runners have seeds under two minutes. At the top of the list is Middleboro’s Atley Phinney, who clocked a more than two-second PR of 1:55.87 from the Middleboro Final Qualifier this past weekend. At the two seed is defending champion Logan Walsh of Ludlow. Walsh ran a season best of 1:56.42 to take runner-up honors at the MSTCA Coaches Metro Invitational. Last year, he twice clocked 1:54 for the two-lapper with a PR of 1:54.33 from the WMass Division 1 Championships. Other top seeds include Middleboro’s Lekan Sotonwa (1:56.44), Groton-Dunstable’s Greyson Duane (1:56.71) and Newburyport’s Jalen Wise (1:57.59, just to name a few…Will Holliston’s Connor Teague continue the momentum in the long jump this weekend. Less than two ago, Teague had a PR by nearly two feet with a leap of 23-9 at the MSTCA Division 4 Relays. He followed that effort with a victory at the TVL Showcase Meet where he soared to a distance of 22-10. Teague will have the competition to push him at Sunday’s event. Behind him, are five more athletes that have gone further than 22 feet – Melrose’s Brendan Radzik (22-5), Burlington’s Ryan Brooks (22-2.5), Canton’s JJ Faulk (22-2), Wakefield’s JaMauri Belmer (*22-1) and Nashoba’s Tristan McDermott (22-0.5)…The competition could get intense in the javelin. The top two seeds are Groton-Dunstable’s Alexander Crouse and Melrose’s Emmanuel Guzman with bests of 170-10 and 170-1, respectively. Burlington’s Ryan Brooks is right there, too, with a best of 166-3…Just like last year when he swept the mile titles at the Div. 4 indoor and outdoor meets, Ludlow’s Walsh has potential to do the same again this weekend. The Lion senior is the top seed in the mile at Sunday’s race with a season best of 4:21.83 from his third-place finish at the Weston Twilight Invitational. He owns an all-time best of 4:17.63 from last spring’s Div. 4 meet. Groton Dunstable’s Greyson Duane (4:23.29), Middleboro’s Atley Phinney (4:23.83) and Melrose Caleb Barnes (4:23.86) should also be in the mix…Medfield’s Michael O’Reilly will be looking to move up in the rankings in the javelin this weekend. O’Reilly is currently ranked No. 4 in his specialty with a heave of 176-5 from the TVL Showcase Meet…A lean at the finish, perhaps? That could be the difference in the 400m where a little more than a quarter of a second separate the top five seeds. Pembroke’s Gabe Lamar is at No. 1 with a best of 50.43. Right behind is teammate Jayden Leonard (50.47), Ludlow’s Joshua Moret (50.53), Amherst-Pelham’s Miles Jeffries (50.55) and Wilmington’s Ashvin Baker (50.72). Could we have a sub-50 at Sunday’s race? There’s certainly a good chance.
TEAM OUTLOOK: With the ability to score a considerable amount of points in the sprints and relays, Pembroke appears to have the target on its back for the team title. Amherst-Pelham, Wakefield and Danvers look strong for the other high podium spots.
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Division 4 State Championships (Girls)
LOCATION: Merrimack College
DAYS : Friday and Sunday
TEAMS: Amherst Pelham, Apponquet Regional, Ashland, Assabet Valley Regional, Auburn, Bedford, Burlington, Burncoat, Canton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Danvers, Dracut, East Longmeadow, Falmouth, Foxborough, Gloucester, Grafton, Greater Lawrence Tech, Marlborough, Medfield, Melrose, Middleboro, Nashoba Regional, Nauset Regional, Newburyport, North Middlesex, Northampton, Northeast Metro Regional, Pembroke, Saugus, Scituate, Tewksbury, Tri County Regional, Wakefield Memorial, Watertown, Wayland, Wilmington
EVENTS TO WATCH: The state’s No. 1 quartet in the 4x400m relay will be competing on the final day with Amherst Pelham on the line. The squad of Oloara Baptiste, Skylar Fox, Ruby Austin and Moriah Luetjen captured gold at the Glenn B. Loucks Games in NY early this month with a time of 3:56.26. The Hurricanes’ top rival at Sunday’s race is Newburyport with a best of 4:02.55…. Defending champion Mia Lee-Bowens will be looking to make it two straight in the 100m hurdles this weekend. It appears as though it will be a formality for the Middleboro senior, who ran a best of 14.26 to take individual honors at the South Shore League Championships in mid May. Her effort is nearly a second ahead of the next closest seed, Canton’s Chloe Dubuisson, who comes in with a 15.09 best…We could have a battle in the high jump. The top seed is Nauset’s Violet Roche with a best this season of 5-5, an effort that ranks her No. 4 in the state. Roche will have some competition in this one. Occupying the two seed is Lee-Bowens, who is tied at No. 6 in MA with nine other leapers at 5-4…The discus feature Dracut’s Zoe Clarke, who ranks third in the state with her best of 127-9 from a league meet last month. There’s no doubt that Clarke will be tested in this one with Emeline Boyer in the field. The Melrose junior has a best of 119-0 from the MSTCA Division 4 Relays…The mile could have several still in contention during the late stages of the race. The top four, and perhaps more, have a chance to win on Sunday. The No. 1 seed is Meghan McEleney with a best of 5:08.24. She’s followed by Holliston’s Maggie Kuchman (5:08.54), Wakefield’s Quin Wilcox (5:09.32) and Wayland freshman Mia Rent (5:10.30). Rent owns a PR of 4:59.63 from the indoor season, a time she ran at the New Balance Nationals in mid March….Look for a fast race in the 400m where the Hurricanes’ Luetjen has a top seed of 55.94, a time that ranks No.3 in the state right now. Five others in the field have broken a minute this spring, including two more from Amherst Pelham – Baptiste (58.27) and Austin (59.23). Holliston’s Kaitlyn Quealy (58.83), Bedford’s Zadie Buckley (58.94) and Newburyport’s Morgan Felts (59.48) are the other sub-60 runners.
TEAM OUTLOOK: With the potential to score more than half its points in the sprints and relays, Amherst-Pelham is a strong favorite to win the team title. Melrose, Dracut, Newburyport and Pembroke are just a few that could be fighting for other top spots.
