Running multiple events over the course of a meet is hard enough.
Now limit the recovery time to an hour or less against some of the state’s best athletes. That’s no easy task.
That was the tall order facing Natick’s Chloe Elder and Lexington’s Amelia Whorton at Sunday’s MIAA Division 1 Championships at The TRACK at New Balance.
Ignoring the pressure and the elite competition around them, both left the meet with two gold medals wrapped around their necks.
In a down-to-the-wire battle that came down to the final few meters, Elder held off chief rival Penny Blumenthal of Newton North by a quarter of a second in the 600-meter run, improving her state-leading mark and meet record of 1 minute, 33.47 seconds. Blumenthal clocked 1:33.71. About 45 minutes later, Elder was back on the track in the 300m dash. Already in command by the break, she came within a few strides of dipping under 40 seconds, winning in 40.02. Framingham’s Ava Lombardo was close behind in second with a PR of 40.32.
In the 600m, Elder improved her state-leader by nearly a second in a rematch of the Bay State Conference Meet of Champions with Blumenthal that was also determined by less than a second.
“I could feel her the whole way,” she said. “That was good competition. That gave me the extra push that I needed at the end for the win.”
In the mile and 1,000m, Whorton proved to be the class of the field. The gifted sophomore led a 1-3-4 finish for Lexington in the mile, holding off Cambridge Rindge & Latin’s Sophia Juanes-Seto by just one second in 5:03.3. An hour later, Whorton took control early in the 1K and fended off a fast-charging Emily Frawley of Newton South down the stretch, crossing the line in a personal-best 2:54.10, just .42 seconds ahead of Frawley. The Lexington standout wasn’t done yet. She concluded her day by running a leg on her team’s first-place 4x800m relay that was timed in 9:40.59. Along with Whorton, Cecilia Kvaal, Natalie Bielat, and Erin Ehmann were also part of the relay.
Whorton went in with the intention of sweeping her individual races.
“That was definitely the goal,” she said. “It was hard to keep pushing, especially coming back from the 1,000m. It was a quick turnaround. I had to just keep mentally strong and make sure I got a good (position) on everyone.”
Five new state-leaders were set at Sunday’s competition where Lexington and St. John’s Prep earned the respective girls’ and boys’ team titles.
The Minutemen scored 113 points for the girls’ crown, 62 more than Central Catholic and Newton North, who were tied for second. The Eagles couldn’t rest easy in their meet, narrowly beating runner-up Brookline, 68-64, to take home the hardware.
In addition to Whorton’s contributions, other highlights by Lexington were a win from Ainsley Cuthbertson in the shot (39 feet, 6 inches) and a 1-2-4-6 finish in the two mile where sophomore Jane Conrad (11:09.47) finished just ahead of fellow classmate Ella Tyson (11:10.39). In all, the Minutemen scored in 10 of the 13 events.
Not surprisingly, Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien defended her title in the 55m hurdles where she was timed in 8.07. It was her second fastest time this season, coming a month after breaking her own state record with a PR of 7.94.
“I was hoping to go under eight (seconds) today,” she said. “I pulled together at the end of then race. My start wasn’t that good. But we just changed it in practice, Hopefully on Saturday it can be better.”
Edozien was also second in the long jump at 17-6. Central Catholic’s Avery Strickler won the event at 17-7.
In the 55m dash, Methuen’s Lauren Quarm made it three straight titles, racing to a time of 7.02. She was 7.04 in her preliminary heat. Thus far this winter she has gone under 7.10 five times with a season best of 7.00 from last month’s Northeast Invitational.
“I am very proud of myself for being consistent,” she said. “Coming into this meet, I really did want to break seven seconds today. I am just happy with being consistent and making sure my times are lower, and that’s all I can be happy for.”
St. John’s Prep scored in eight events, including 24 in the middle- and long-distance events. Among the top placements were a third- and fourth-place finish by Andrew McMammon (6.57) and Dayvian Sullivan (6.58) in the 55m dash, a third from Mateo DeOrio in the 1,000m (2:35.90) and a fourth-place showing from Jack McIntosh in the two mile (9:35.79). The Eagles scored 11 points in the deuce with a 4-6-7-8 finish.
Brookline’s Harry Flint became the first in the state to break 1:20 in the 600m since 2017 with a state best and nation No. 6 of 1:19.64, a time that ranks fourth all-time in MA. Lowell’s Denzel Kisekka was second at 1:20.96.
Flint meant business from the beginning. He flew through the opening 200m at 24.8 and was 51.13 at 400m.
“I have been thinking of this race since last year,” Flint said. “Last year at D1s, I came in second to a Newton North runner. I was not satisfied at all. Going into (Meet of Champions), I got third, Even though it was my first season of indoor, I was completely unhappy. I wanted to come back and take absolutely everything. Going into the season as a captain. I just wanted to push all the people around me and especially push myself.”
In the mile, Natick senior John Bianchi led five under 4:20 with a season best of 4:13.85. Bianchi was among the lead pack from the beginning and took over his first and what would be his only lead around the1,200m mark. He secured the triumph with a sub-60 final 400m. Brookline’s Theodore Butty was second (4:14.73), while Greg McGrath of Boston College High was third in 4:17.14. Butty came back and won the two mile in 9:28.23. Brookline’s Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem was second at 9:28.67.
“I kind of went out exactly the way I wanted to,” McGrath said. “I didn’t really want to take it from the gun. I kind of wanted to speed up towards the end. It ended up being way faster that I thought. It was a good close.”
Newton North took over the state lead in the 4x200m with the quartet of Oliver Smith, George Runkin, William Balerna and Logan Smith combining for a winning time of 1:29.11.
