DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – GIRLS
Day/Time: Thursday, 4 p.m.
Teams: Agawam, Ashland, Bedford, Boston Latin Academy, Burlington, Burncoat, Canton, Chelsea, Chicopee Comp, Dartmouth, Doherty, Duxbury, Grafton, Greater Lowell Tech, Greater New Bedford Tech, Hingham, Hudson, Longmeadow, Lynn Classical, Mansfield, Marblehead, Masconomet, Melrose, Milford, Milton, Minnechaug, North Attleboro, Northampton, Norwood, Notre Dame (Hingham), Oliver Ames, Plymouth South, Putnam Tech, Reading, Shepherd Hill, Silver Lake, Somerset Berkley, Somerville, Southeastern Tech, Springfield Sci & Tech, Stoughton, Tantasqua, Walpole, West Springfield, Westfield, Westwood, Whitman-Hanson, Worcester Tech
Top Events To Watch: 600m: The three lap race features two of the state’s best in Bedford’s Zadie Buckley (1:35.57) and Duxbury’s Riley Earle (1:36.09). 10 Points here for Earle would be huge for Duxbury’s team effort. 55m: It’s a similar story in the short sprint, with Tantasqua Regional’s Keoni Savoie and Walpole’s Emily Dunn. Both sprinters are seniors and broke 7.20 for the first time at their conference meet this past week. Can they elevate their performance one more time? Long Jump: Masconomet Regional’s Mara Siewko is the #1 Long Jumper in the state this season. By quite a bit, as the only jumper to crack 19′ this year. All eye’s could be on here this week and next as she vies for a state title. 1000m: Ella Yorkey of Melrose enters as the #1 seed at 3:03.92 over Grace Danielson of Milton at 3:05.80. Both Melrose and Milton will be looking for crucial points here as they battle for the team title. All the Relays: Division 3 has the potential to be the best of a great week of racing as on paper, all three relay’s could have big implication’s in the overall team battle. Duxbury is the #1 seed in both the 4X400m and 4x200m. It’s the latter that could be the race of the day. Duxbury and Milton have the #2 and #4 times in the state, at 1:45.53 and 1:45.63. This race will come down to execution as well as speed. Melrose hold’s the top spot in the 4x800m by a large margin at 9:44.40. But Milton will be in the hunt for points as they are the #3 seed at 10:08.84.
Team Outlook: Melrose took the title at the Division 3 State Relay Meet in a full display of their depth, over Duxbury in second and Milton in third. However, you need more than depth at this meet. Duxbury will have little margin for error as they need to win their best events. Milton may have the right combo of depth and top scorers to take the title. We’ll find out Thursday.
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DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – BOYS
Day/Time: Thursday, 4 p.m.
Teams: Agawam, Ashland, Bedford, Boston Latin Academy, Burlington, Burncoat, Canton, Chelsea, Chicopee Comp, Dartmouth, Doherty, Duxbury, Grafton, Greater Lowell Tech, Greater New Bedford Tech, Hingham, Hudson, Longmeadow, Lynn Classical, Mansfield, Marblehead, Masconomet, Melrose, Milford, Milton, Minnechaug, North Attleboro, Northampton, Norwood, Notre Dame (Hingham), Oliver Ames, Plymouth South, Putnam Tech, Reading, Shepherd Hill, Silver Lake, Somerset Berkley, Somerville, Southeastern Tech, Springfield Sci & Tech, Stoughton, Tantasqua, Walpole, West Springfield, Westfield, Westwood, Whitman-Hanson, Worcester Tech
Top Events To Watch: Ryan Pulpi: Yes, that’s not an event, but the Reading senior has the chance to star in every event he’s entered. Pulpi is one of the state’s best at 55m and 300m and is the #1 seed in both Thursday. He is well within reach of the state 300m record of 33.94 and will be a huge leg on whatever relay he is in. Keep an eye on that as scratches are made. If he could run four events, he would. 2 Mile: The longest race of the day features Cross Country Champion Landon Sarney of Oliver Ames. He’s run 9:24.14 this season, but if you ask his competition, Sarney typically saves his best for the end of the season. And the end of the race, with one of the most lethal kicks in recent memory. Shot Put: The shot features state #1 Mitchell Callendar of Oliver Ames. Callendar has thrown over 60 feet five times this season, and 62 twice. Thursday could serve as a warm up for the Meet of Champs. HJ and LJ: Gershom Opuku of Worcester Technical reached new heights this past weekend at the CMAC Large school Champs, jumping 6’6″. The High Jump still appears to be wide open state wide. Thursday will also feature state #3 Long Jumper Giovani Ribeiro of Southeastern Regional. Ribeiro is one of five to clear 23 feet this season. 4x400m: The top six are all between 3:32.70 and 3:30.21, with top team contender Reading the top seed. Will we see someone crack 3:30?
Team Outlook: Reading looks to be the favorite here. They were runner up to Walpole at State Relays, but we think Reading’s star power will overshadow Walpole’s Depth. Oliver Ames is a dark horse here, with likely points coming from Sarney and Callendar. After that, many teams are in the running for third. Burlington, Milton, Greater Lowell Tech, could all walk away with a lot of points.
