From start to finish, expect each event to create some excitement at Saturday’s MIAA Meet of Champions. With the state’s best taking center stage, would you expect anything different? Throughout the week, we’ll preview all the individual events. Here we feature the girls’ sprinting and hurdling events, which includes the 55-meter dash, 55m hurdles, 300m and the 6oom.
Yes, we know — the 600m isn’t exactly a sprint. Treat it like one and you’ll pay the price. But we had to put it somewhere, and this was the closest fit.
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55-METER DASH
Not sure we’ve ever had a field quite like this in the short dash. This one could be epic. It could be historic.
While it might seem unrealistic to most, it doesn’t to us. There is a real possibility we could see two (perhaps more) under seven seconds this weekend.
How is this possible? Take a look at the top sprinters scheduled to answer the gun.
Leading the charge is defending champion Nina Kyei-Aboagye of Sharon, who captured the Division 2 title last Wednesday with a PR and state-leading 6.98.
The No. 2 seed is Methuen’s Lauren Quarm, the recent Division 1 titlist. Quarm, who has two sub-7 performances to her credit, owns a season best of 7.00.
Tantasqua Regional’s Keoni Savoie, who opened eyes this past Thursday with a triumphant 7.04 at the Div. 3 Championships, sits at the No. 3 seed.
Holding the fourth spot is sensational freshman Khadijah Diagne of Malden, runner-up to Kyei-Aboagye at the Division 1 meet. She clocked 7.08 at the Greater Boston League meet on Jan. 30.
Buckle up! This one could rewrite the record books.
300-METER DASH
The high-charged energy in the 55m dash, could be similar in this race, too. The top seed in this race is Diagne, who clearly made a statement at the Div. 3 meet last week where she clocked a meet record of 38.25, a time that ranks No. 5 nationally among all ninth-graders. The state record in this event is 37.88, set 40 years ago by former Boston Tech great Tasha Downing. We believe that 1986 mark has the possibility of getting eclipsed this weekend, or at least witness a sub-38. Why do we think it’s possible? We’ve seen her talent. She has plenty of it. The difference-maker is the competition. At the divisionals, she won by more than three seconds. That’s a gap that will be much closer on Saturday. Diagne will be matched up against two others that have broken the 40-second barrier this season – Natick’s Chloe Elder (39.01) and Kyei-Aboagye (39.50).
Just like she did last weekend, Elder is scheduled in the 600m, too. In a double-winning performance this past Sunday at the Div.1 meet, the Warriors’ senior proved she can still run a fast time with a 40.01 clocking after running a very-competitive and sub 1:34 in 600m, just an hour earlier. Elder is a steadfast competitor that never backs down from her rivals. One thing is certain. She’ll give it her best effort to try and upset Diagne.
Kyei-Aboagye, a runner-up in this event last year, is another sprinter that can’t be ignored and always shows up with her ‘A’ game in meets like this weekend. In the 55m and 300m, the Sharon speedster has lost just once this season.
Beyond these three, six other athletes in the field have broken 41 seconds, ensuring that speed will be a defining factor. This race promises a thrilling showdown with tight finishes and possibly record-breaking times.
600-METER RUN
For the third straight meet, the state’s top two runners in this event will toe the line together – Natick’s Chloe Elder and Newton North’s Penny Blumenthal.
Each time, it has been Elder who emerged victorious, including at the Div. 1 Championships, where her meet-record 1:33.47 was just 0.24 seconds ahead of her rival. Will the fourth time be the charm for the Natick senior, or will Blumenthal finally flip the script? With each race, the Tigers senior has inched closer in the three-lapper. Could Saturday be the breakthrough?
Keep your eye on the clock. A time in the 1:31–1:32 range is possible if these two push each other from the gun.
How about the rest of the field? That could get intense, too. Seven in this race have seed times ranging from 1:35.57 to 1:37.08 with Bedford’s Zadie Buckley, Sutton’s Vivien Bregman, Duxbury’s Riley Earle, Algonquin’s Tanvi Mehte and the freshmen trio of Billerica’s Evelyn Wesling, Holliston’s Lucy Downin and Wachusett’s Annika Kindorf.
55-METER HURDLES
Could we see another state record? When Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien steps to the line, it’s always a possibility.
The defending champion is the clear-cut favorite to make it two straight this weekend. Including the 100m HH during the spring and the 55m HH last winter, Edozien has lost just once to her state rivals. She enters Saturday in peak form and primed for another fast performance.
In her last three meets, she has clocked times under 8.10, highlighted by a state record of 7.94 at the Nor’Easter at the Track on Jan. 10, shaving two hundredths of a second off last year’s mark. Most recently, she captured the Div. 1 title in 8.07.
The biggest threat to challenge her is Central Catholic’s Arianna DiPietro, who was runner-up to Edozien this past weekend with a PR of 8.26. That loss was her only defeat of the season.
Other contenders include Wayland’s Sazie Wrentmore (8.41), Dedham’s Amariah Montaque (8.43), and Milton’s Annaliese Aguilar (8.43).
