It’s fair to say that with the level of talent that competes at the Meet of Champions, any event is of the must-see variety. We’re going to break it down to what we consider some of the key match-ups for each day of the two-day meet, which will be held at Fitchburg State University.
Here’s what we consider the best for Thursday’s competition.
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BOYS’ 400m HH
The last two meets he broke the state record and won by comfortable margins? Can Westford Academy’s Ryan Kyle set a new state mark in his specialty again? Kyle captured last week’s race at the Division 1 Championships with a time of 52.12 seconds. After his race, Kyle talked about a goal of breaking 52 seconds. We believe he has a chance to do it on Thursday. While he had strong competition at the Div. 1 meet, it will be even stronger this time around. Enough so, that it will push him more coming down the final stretch and a possible new state mark. Among the others top contenders are Div. 4 and Div. 2 winners, Luke Lamar of Pembroke and Jayden Francois of Quincy. Lamar claimed his crown in D4 in 53.31, while Francois was timed in 53.87 in D6. There are a bunch more in that 54-second range. Kyle always rises to the occasion. He’s proven it time and time again, including last weekend where he also claimed the 110m HH title over favorite and state-record-holder Lucas Andrade of Brockton. Don’t be surprised if he makes it a three-peat in the record department as he continues to prepare for bigger and better things at the upcoming New England’s and New Balance Nationals.
JAVELIN
At last week’s divisional state meets, Chelmsford’s Gable Gray became our first javelin thrower to exceed 200 feet this season with a winning toss of 200 feet, 6 inches at the Div. 2 meet. Gray wasn’t able to compete at the Meet of Champions last year, but he’ll have that chance on Thursday to capture his first individual title, and we believe there’s a legit chance he’ll do that. But the Chelmsford junior, who has an all-time best of 206-3, will have to be at his best once again for that to happen. He faces a field that features two others that could hit the 200-foot milestone with one big throw. Walpole’s Matt St. Cyr has been agonizingly close three times. He tossed a PR of 198-7 at a Bay State Conference Tri Meet on May 7. The last two meets, the Bay State Conference Championships and the Div. 3 states he’s had respective efforts of 198-4 and 197-2. He’s ready for a 200-footer. The last of the contenders is Central Catholic’s Drew Aslup, who certainly had a confidence-booster at this past weekend’s Div. 1 meet. Aslup took the title with a 14-foot best of 195-9.
BOYS’ TWO MILE
A sub-9, perhaps? With the level of talent that will be on the starting line on Thursday, we think there is a very good chance that someone will break nine minutes or at least come really, really close. The field features several that have broken 9:10 this year, either during indoor or outdoor. When you put them all on the line for one race, good things can, and often do, happen. From the division states last weekend, Brookline’s Theodore Butty cruised to a state-leading 9:05.17, a best by 12 seconds. BC High’s Greg McGrath finished second to Butty with a season best 9:09.60. He owns a PR of 9:06.54 from his runner-up finish to Marblehead’s Nathaniel Assa at the indoor MOC this past winter. Assa, who was second in D3, has an all-time best of 9:04.60. Another runner that could be with the front-runners is Falmouth’s Silas Gartner, the D4 victor last weekend. He comes in with a best of 9:07.95 from his eighth-place finish at last year’s MOC. We can’t forget Marshfield’s Graham Heinrich, too. He’s a gritty competitor, who won the D2 title in a PR of 9:17.42 after running a 1:55 for the 800m earlier in the meet. Heinrich is a 4:10 miler, who’s certainly capable of getting his time down to the low nine-minute range with fresh legs and a focus on just one event.
BOYS’ 800m
This is a race that we feel will come down to the last 10 or 15 meters of the race, perhaps closer. The No. 1 seed is Brookline’s Altamo Aschkensay, who won the Division 1 title out of the unseeded heat last Thursday in a state-leading and PR of 1:52.76. Aschkenasy dominated his heat by eight seconds. There will be no solo effort here, not even close. This field includes four others that dipped under 1:55 at last weekend’s meets and eight more that clocked times in the 1:55 range. A low 1:50 effort, maybe 1:51 or faster, is possible with this kind of talent. Along with Aschkenasy, others that we feel could contend up front are Arlington’s Nico Peukert (1:53.03) and Marshfield’s Matt McCabe (1:53.54), the 1-2 finishers in D2, Ayer Shirley’s Cole New (1:53.62) and Brookline’s Harry Flint (1:54.54), the 1-2 finishers in D6, and Weston’s Ben Tavares (1:55.16), the D5 titlist.
GIRLS’ 800m
In 2018, we had two runners break the 2:10 barrier in this event with Tewksbury alum and recent indoor NCAA champion Makayla Paige and Billerica’s Nicole Anderson going 3-4 at the New Balance Nationals with times of 2:06.27 and 2:07.10, respectively. On Thursday, we could match that number and possibly have more under 2:10 for the half-lapper. The No. 1 seed and the favorite in this race is Westford Academy’s Abigail Hennessy, who won last week’s Division 1 race with a PR of 2:07.18, a two-second best and a time that ranks ninth all-time in Massachusetts. Also scheduled to answer the gun is Newton South’s Emily Frawley, who was third in D1 with a best of 2:10.68, and Plymouth North’s Macey Shriner, the D2 victor and owner of a 2:09.55 best from the Glenn B. Loucks Games a few weeks ago. This race certainly has the makings of a classic.
GIRLS’ 200m
This race features our top three finishers for the 300m dash at this past winter’s Meet of Champions – Dennis Yarmouth’s Breanna Braham, Sharon’s NIna Kyei-Aboagye and Natick’s Chloe Edler. All three won their respective titles at the divisional state meets last week with Braham taking the D5 crown, Aboagye a winner in D3 and Elder victorious in D1. Both Aboagye (23.83) and Braham (23.95) have gone sub-24 this season and Elder won her title last Thursday with a PR of 24.81. This is a race that were expecting will come right down to the wire with Aboagye and Braham possibly recreating what they did during the indoor season where Braham got the best of her rival by .67 of a second? Could the role be reversed in the rubber match? Aboagye won the 55m title this past winter, a race her rival was third overall. Don’t count out Elder, too. She always puts forth her best effort when the gun is fired.
GIRLS’ 400m IM
This just might be the race of the day. It features last week’s 1-2 finishers in this race at the Division 5 Championship, North Reading’s Giuliana Ligor and Weston’s Solana Varela. The two hurdlers were separated by less than a half a second in their last encounter with Ligor defending her title in 1:00.85 and Varela racing to a nearly two-second best of 1:00.97. Ligor holds the current state record of 58.97, set at last year’s meet. That mark could be challenged on Thursday in a race that could mirror what occurred seven days earlier…except faster.
GIRLS’ 2 MILE
The meet record in this event is 10:24.8. There’s a very good chance that mark could be broken on Thursday. The top seed and the runner we feel has the opportunity for a record-breaking day is Needham’s Greta Hammer. The talented junior won last week’s Div. 1 title with a time of 10:36.47. She has a season best of 10:28.51 in a league meet on May 7. The Needham star hasn’t raced much this season, and should be ready for a prosperous postseason with the New England’s and nationals on the horizon. This will be her last race before making that commitment and we anticipate she will be ready to run a fast time, perhaps under her all-time best of 10:21.48 from her victory at the MOC this past winter. Hammer’s top competition is the same runner she battled in D1, Lexington freshman Jane Conrad, who was second overall with a best of 10:38.62. Other top runners in this field are Westford Academy Emily Wedlake (10:41.61), Cambridge Rindge & Latin’s Sophia Juanes Seto (10:49.53), Concord Carlisle’s Maria Chopas (10:53.53) and Whitinsville Christian’s Emily Flagg (10:57.82), just to name a few.
