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 our final preview. the boys and girls in Division 6.
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Division 6 State Championships (Boys)
LOCATION: Tufts University
DAYS : Friday and Sunday
TEAMS: Abby Kelley Foster Regional, Amesbury, Athol, Atlantis Charter, Ayer Shirley, Barlett, Baystate Academy Charter, Blackstone Millville Regional, Boston Collegiate Charter, Boston Prep, Bourne, Brighton, Bromfield, Brooke Charter Mattapan, Burke, Carver, Charlestown, Clinton, Codman Academy, Cohasset, Collegiate Charter School of Law, Community Charter of Cambridge, David Prouty, Dearborn STEM Academy, Douglas, Easthampton, Edward M. Kennedy, Excel, Excel Academy Charter, Franklin County Tech, Frontier Regional, Gardner, Green Academy, Greenfield, Hamilton-Wenham, Hampden Charter School, Hampden Charter West, Hampshire Regional, High School of Commerce, Holbrook, Hoosac Valley, Hopedale, Hull, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Innovation Academy, Ipswich, John J Duggan, Joseph Case, Keefe Tech, KIPP Academy, Leicester, Lenox Memorial, Libertas Academy Charter, Littleton, Lunenburg, Mahar Regional, Mashpee, Match, Maynard, Millbury, Millis, Mohawk Trail, Monomoy Regional, Monson, Monument, Mount Everett Regional, Mount Greylock, Murdock, Mystic Valley Regional, Nantucket, Narragansett Regional, Neighborhood House Charter, New Heights Charter, New Mission, Northbridge, Oxford, Palmer, Parker Charter, Pioneer Charter School, Pioneer Valley Regional, Prospect Hill Academy, Quaboag Regional, Randolph, Rockland, Roxbury Prep, Salem Academy Charter, Snowden International, South Hadley, South Shore Charter, Southbridge, Southwick Regional, Springfield International, Sturgis Charter West, Sutton, Tahanto Regional, Tech Boston Academy, Turners Falls, Tyngsborough, University Parks Campus, Uxbridge, Wahconah Regional, Wareham, West Bridgewater,
EVENTS TO WATCH: We don’t expect the 800-meter run to be a close race. In fact, it could turn solo by the time our leader hits the 400m mark. Who will be that leader at Friday’s race? The odds on favorite to snare the title is Ayer Shirley’s Cole New. Up until Thursday night’s Division 1 meet, New held the No. 1 spot in the state rankings among MIAA/MSTCA schools with his winning time and PR of 1:53.62 from the MSTCA Coaches Metro Invitational. He moved down to No. 2 after Brookline’s Altamo Aschkenasy cruised to a more than two-second best of 1:52.76 at D1 out of the unseeded heat. No doubt New will want that top spot again, and like Aschkensay, if he were to do it, it will be all by his lonesome. The Ayer Shirley standout has the top seed in his race by more than six seconds over his closest rival, Jackson Deady of Case (2:00.09). Two days later, New will be back on the track for the 400m, another race where he is the fastest among his peers. He twice ran his current PR of 49.27. New will be pushed in this one. Excel’s Mohamed Mehaya (49.76) and Southwick’s Adam Rokicki (49.85) are also members of the sub-50 club…Dearborn STEM Academy’s Rick Barros leads a talented crew of speedsters in the 200m dash. Barros holds the top spot with his seed of 22.03. Nine more in this field have also broken 23 seconds. The two and three seeds are Leicester’s Jeremiah Kinsumba (22.30) and Cohasset’s Will McLoughlin (22.34)…You can never ignore a race that features Delmace Joseph Mayo. The inspiring Brighton senior, who appears to break records every time her races, is entered in the para two mile. Mayo boast a best of 9:27.50…We’re expecting to see a heated battle in the shot. Lunenburg’s Ray Breadmore is the No. 1 seed with a distance of 59 feet, 3 inches from his win at the Outdoor Mercury Games on April 25. Since that performance, he’s generally been in the mid 50-foot range. That’s where No. 2 seed, Hopedale’s Ari Levine, sits right now with his season best of 55-2 from the Joe Tranchita Last Chance To Qualify Meet this past weekend…The discus features a pair of 166-footers with Uxbridge’s Julian Rosenburg (166-8) and Athol’s Nicholas Leblanc (166-1) At the three seed is Cohasset’s Nicholas Askjaer at 165-2. Things could get interesting here.
TEAM OUTLOOK: This one has a chance to be a close one, a very close one between Cohasset and Ayer-Shirley. Cohasset has the ability to score nearly half of its points in the jumps, while Ayer-Shirley is distance-heavy. Frontier appears to be a solid No. 3.
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Division 6 State Championships (Girls)
LOCATION: Tufts University
DAYS : Friday and Sunday
TEAMS: Abby Kelley Foster Regional, Amesbury, Athol, Atlantis Charter, Ayer Shirley, Barlett, Baystate Academy Charter, Blackstone Millville Regional, Boston Collegiate Charter, Boston Prep, Bourne, Brighton, Bromfield, Brooke Charter Mattapan, Burke, Carver, Charlestown, Clinton, Codman Academy, Cohasset, Collegiate Charter School of Law, Community Charter of Cambridge, David Prouty, Dearborn STEM Academy, Douglas, Easthampton, Edward M. Kennedy, Excel, Excel Academy Charter, Franklin County Tech, Frontier Regional, Gardner, Green Academy, Greenfield, Hamilton-Wenham, Hampden Charter School, Hampden Charter West, Hampshire Regional, High School of Commerce, Holbrook, Hoosac Valley, Hopedale, Hull, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Innovation Academy, Ipswich, John J Duggan, Joseph Case, Keefe Tech, KIPP Academy, Leicester, Lenox Memorial, Libertas Academy Charter, Littleton, Lunenburg, Mahar Regional, Mashpee, Match, Maynard, Millbury, Millis, Mohawk Trail, Monomoy Regional, Monson, Monument, Mount Everett Regional, Mount Greylock, Murdock, Mystic Valley Regional, Nantucket, Narragansett Regional, Neighborhood House Charter, New Heights Charter, New Mission, Northbridge, Oxford, Palmer, Parker Charter, Pioneer Charter School, Pioneer Valley Regional, Prospect Hill Academy, Quaboag Regional, Randolph, Rockland, Roxbury Prep, Salem Academy Charter, Snowden International, South Hadley, South Shore Charter, Southbridge, Southwick Regional, Springfield International, Sturgis Charter West, Sutton, Tahanto Regional, Tech Boston Academy, Turners Falls, Tyngsborough, University Parks Campus, Uxbridge, Wahconah Regional, Wareham, West Bridgewater
EVENTS TO WATCH: The 400m hurdles could turn into a battle coming down the final straightaway. South Hadley’s Maggie Crawford holds the No. 1 seed with her PR of 1:04.80 from the WMass Small School Championships this past weekend. Mount Greylock’s Katherine Goss (1:05.06) and Wahconah Regional’s Kathryn Perrone (1:05.54) are right there, too…In the pole vault, state-leader Kinsley Kline of Parker Charter is expected to compete at Sunday’s event. Kline has a best of 11-8 from the Mother’s Day Mania PV Meet on May 11. She’ll be matched up against Ipswich’s Kameya Perron, who cleared a best of 11-0 at the Henry Sheldon Triton Invitational, also on May 11…Look for a close race in the two mile where we could have at least three in contention late in the race. Monument’s Amelia Desilets holds the No. 1 seed of 11:15.52. Mount Greylock’s Brenna Lopez is at the two seed (11:18.79) and Bromfield’s Evelyn Wool is the No. 3 seed (11:27.84). Wool has an all-time best of 11:10.29 from the MSTCA Coaches Invitational on Jan. 25… Littleton’s Erin Rogan and Wool are the 1-2 seeds in the mile with a pair of 5:09 efforts to their credit this spring.
TEAM OUTLOOK: With the ability to score points in several events, Mount Greylock appears to hold a slight edge over its competition this weekend. Hamilton-Wenham and Littleton could also be in the mix.
