A pair of meet records and a near-record performance highlighted Day 2 of the MSTCA Speed Classic on Sunday.
Reigning Division 1 champion Chloe Elder became the first Massachusetts runner to break 40 seconds in the 300-meter dash this season. The Natick senior blazed around the Reggie Lewis Center oval in a meet-record 39.95. Elder, who finished as the runner-up in her specialty at last winter’s Meet of Champions, shattered the two-year-old meet mark of 40.94, previously held by former North Reading standout Giuliana Ligor. She won the race by nearly three seconds.
The boys’ 300m proved to be much tighter, with less than a half-second separating the top three finishers. Pentucket’s Gabriel MacLeod emerged victorious in 36.26, just shy of his personal best of 36.03 set at the Cape Ann League Championships last February. Close behind were Braintree’s Noah Noun in second at 36.63 and Lunenburg’s Jake Burns in third at 36.70.
The second meet record of the day was set by promising Bedford freshman Maia Iorgulescu in the long jump. The ninth-grader came just an inch shy of an 18-footer, winning with a leap of 17-11. Iorgulescu also captured the 55m dash, crossing the line in a swift 7.47.
Norton’s Sean Parham raced to a state No.1 in the boys’ 600m The Lancer senior earned that distinction with a personal-best time of 1:22.84. Groton-Dunstable’s Andrew Kosiba claimed silver, clocking a best of 1:24.33. Bedford’s Zadie Buckley took over the top spot in the girls’ 600m with a PR of 1:37.11. She was nearly three seconds ahead of her closest rival, Lunenburg’s Sophia Viveiros, who was timed in 1:40.85 for second.
Walpole’s Joseph Carter out-leaned Worcester Tech’s Wellington Freeman in the boys’ 55m. Carter edged Freeman by one hundredth of a second with his time of 6.68. In the long jump, Norton’s Andrew Strojny went 20-5 to take the title.
In the other events, Narragansett’s Jordan Baumann (7.95) and Dedham’s Amariah Montaque (8.68) won the respective boys’ and girls’ 55m hurdles. Revere (1:35.12) and Dedham (1:50.59) were victorious in the 4x200m. It was Walpole (3:34.08) and Lunenburg (4:20.02) in the 4x400m and Lunenburg’s Ray Beardmore (43-2) and King Philip’s Caitlin LaPlante (26-6) in the weight throw.
