A long day of track & field produced several outstanding performances at Sunday’s Marathon Sports Winter Warrior High School Invitational. More than 2,000 athletes competed at the third annual event, which was followed by the Marathon Winter Classic—an open competition for athletes of all ages.
For track fans, the TRACK at New Balance, home to both competitions, offered a full day of nonstop action.
In just her second race of the season, multiple all-stater Nina Kyei Aboagye captured two gold medals in the sprint events. The defending 55-meter champion won that event in 7.26 seconds. She came back later to claim the 300m title, edging Hope (RI) senior Zariyah Brown, 41.45 to 41.83.
With limited training over the past week, the Warrior senior said she was pleased with her performances.
“The 55, definitely—coming off not practicing, I’m not disappointed with my time,” Kyei-Aboagye said. “That’s pretty good this early in the season. The 300 was definitely a harder race coming off not practicing, but I’m glad I was able to pull through with the win.”
The Sharon standout, who followed her indoor campaign with victories in the 100 and 200 meters at the Meet of Champions, said she will place a greater emphasis on the 55m this season, with the goal of not only defending her title but reaching a milestone as well.
“Definitely, I have a big goal of going sub-seven seconds in the 55 this season,” she said. “I’m hoping with new coaching and better training that I’ll be able to get there.”
Coming off a cross-country season that included a third-place finish at the Meet of Champions, Holliston freshman Lucy Downin captured the mile in a nation-leading time for ninth-graders, clocking 5:06.23—a huge 14-second best. Downin trailed eventual runner-up Alyssa Parenteau of La Salle Academy for much of the race before surging down the stretch, overtaking her rival with less than 50 meters remaining to secure the victory.
Hopedale’s Ari Levine continued his consistent indoor season in the shot put, winning the event with a throw of 57 feet, 7.5 inches. Levine was just one day removed from capturing his specialty at the Boston Holiday Challenge with a mark of 57-10. After opening the season with a solid 56-8½ at the Mercury Games, the talented senior has topped 57 feet multiple times this winter, including an indoor best of 58-9¼ at last weekend’s Beantown Winter Classic.
Emeline Boyer of Melrose captured the girls’ shot put. The Meet of Champions runner-up last spring claimed gold with a throw of 36-10¾.
Westborough edged La Salle in a down-to-the-wire finish in the girls’ 4×200 relay. The quartet of Al Regnier, Abigail Watson, Joshikaa Nandgin and Melrose Boazman combined for a winning time of 1:50.87, just five hundredths of a second ahead of the Rams.
