When it comes to top talent, you never quite know who will show up at the New England Championships. While the regional meet typically attracts many of the area’s best, several elite competitors, particularly in the distance events, sometimes opt to skip it in order to prepare for national meets two weeks later.
The 38th annual championship, set for Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center, will be minus some of the region’s biggest stars. But plenty of elite talent will still make the trip to Boston, using the meet as a final tune-up before taking on the nation’s best.
Here’s some of the events where our Bay Staters have a good chance at winning or placing high on the podium.
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55-Meter Hurdles
Throughout the season in Massachusetts, there was no one better in this event than Emmanuella Edozien.
After a stellar junior campaign, the Natick senior elevated her game even further this winter, breaking her own state record twice, including this past Saturday at the Meet of Champions where she blasted across the line in 7.92 seconds. That performance ranks No. 10 nationally.
With her sights set on dipping under 7.90, Edozien has a legit shot at earning All American at the New Balance Nationals in two weeks with a top-six finish. As she often is in meets like this weekend, expect the Natick standout to be focused and ready to excel on Saturday.
Edozien enters as the No. 1 seed in this event. But while she is the clear-cut favorite, she won’t lack competition. A trio of Connecticut hurdlers are close behind and could give her the added push she’ll need to reach her intended goal. Those hurdlers include Brien McMahon’s Gabriella Rivera (8.06), and Bloomfield teammates D’Asia Duncan (8.16) and Vanessa Agyemang (8.21). Central Catholic’s Arianna DiPetro, a runner-up to Edozien at the Meet of Champions, is seeded fifth at 8.28.
300-Meter Dash
Here’s another event where the Bay State has a strong chance to strike gold, and it features yet another Natick standout.
Redhawks senior Chloe Elder is the No. 1 seed. At the Meet of Champions, Elder scratched from the 600m to focus solely on the 300m. While she came up just short of victory, finishing 0.34 seconds behind Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye, the Natick speedster still delivered an all-time best of 38.67.
No one else in the field has broken the 40-second barrier. Eady Samiya of Manchester (CT) came closest with a PR of 40.06 in her victory at the CIAC Open last weekend. Several others are hovering on the cusp, and 11 entrants have dipped under 41 seconds.
It’s a deep field, but we’re predicting a win from the always-competitive Elder in her final race at Reggie Lewis before turning her attention to the 400m at New Balance Nationals.
600-Meter Run
The meet record in this event is 1:30.79, set 14 years ago by Precious Holmes of Hillhouse (CT).
While we don’t think that mark will be broken this weekend, don’t be surprised if our winner comes close with a time in the 1:31-1:32 range. This could turn into one of the most exciting races of the day.
The field features three recent state champions, who each ran in the 1:33 range – Newton North’s Penny Blumenthal (1:33.51), CT’s Lauren Kropo of Naugatuck (1:33.58) and RI’s Skyler Maxwell of Moses Brown (1:33.69).
Kropo faced the tightest battle at states, finishing just 1.5 seconds and a half ahead of Hall’s Alexandra Golder, while Blumenthal and Maxwell cruised to victories by three seconds and more than six seconds, respectively.
Trust us, the winner in this race will not be all alone. We expect this to be competitive until the final few meters with a lean at the finish possibly determining our champion.
4×400-Meter Relay
At the Meet of Champions this past weekend, Central Catholic was mere strides from breaking four minutes. That should all change on Saturday.
The Raiders enter as a top seed after clocking a state-leading 4:00.11 at the MOC. The competition will be swift for the foursome of Kyle Breslin, Emma Finch, Leighton Hickey and Avery Strickler. The field includes 11 squads that went under 4:10 at their respective state competitions, including CT’s Greenwich (4:02.45) and Joel Barlow (4:03.42), NH’s Nashua South (4:06.10), and Amherst-Pelham (4:06.54) and Franklin (4:06.93), who were third and fourth, respectively, at the MOC.
Shot
The favorite here is Tayla Schneider of North Kingstown (RI). The Skippers’ junior dominated her state meet with a toss of 42-25. This season she has produced six throws over 40 feet, including a PR of 43-3.5 from her win at the Class A Championships on Jan. 31. She’ll be tough to beat.
But in an event where one big throw can change everything, a few Bay Staters could challenge for a top spot, perhaps even a victory. Recent Meet of Champions winner Emeline Boyer of Melrose is the No. 3 seed with her PR of 40-5.5 from last weekend, marking her second straight 40-footer after a previous indoor best of 37-4 at the Coaches Invitational on Jan. 24. Boyer looks like she may have found the consistency to contend at a higher level.
Other notable challengers include Isabel Zukowski of Auburn, who placed second to Boyer at the MOC with a throw of 39-4.75 but boasts a best of 41-4 from a league meet last month, and Ainsley Cuthbertson of Lexington, who was third this past weekend and is also a 40-plus thrower. The nation’s top weight thrower has a state best with the metal ball of 42-8.75 from the Division 1 Relays.
