It’s not the divisional state meets or the Meet of Champions, but at times it can feel that way.
Nearly 2,000 track & field athletes are expected to descend on Weston Saturday night for the immensely popular and ridiculously competitive Weston Twilight Invitational.
This is a meet that always brings the heat, and we’re not expecting that to change this weekend as many of the state’s top athletes prepare to compete in the nighttime extravaganza.
Want an early-season preview of some of the state’s elite performers who could make serious noise come championship time? You’ll find it here on the Wildcats’ home turf and just down the road at Regis College.
As usual, the high school’s Proctor Field will host the majority of events as the site for the sprints, hurdles, relays and field events. It’s all about the distance events at at Regis College with the Mile, Two Mile, 800-meter run and 2K steeplechase.
The 27th annual event, which is once again sponsored by Marathon Sports and New Balance, will be live streamed by Bay State Running.
Below are links to live results for both sites as well as a schedule of events.
ENTRIES/LIVE RESULTS at REGIS COLLEGE
ENTRIES/LIVE RESULTS at WESTON
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Here are some of the events that could steal the spotlight Saturday night…
It doesn’t happen often, but in the boys’ shot we have three athletes that have exceeded 60 feet with Cohasset’s Nikolas Askjaer, Oliver Ames’ Mitchell Callender and Hopedale’s Ari Levine.
Askjaer is the top seed with his PR of 65-5, an effort that earned him a second place finish this past indoor season at the New Balance Nationals. The talented junior has come close to the 60-foot mark this spring at two high-level meets, tossing the metal ball 59-1 to place sixth at the Arcadia Invitational in California on April 11 and, two weeks later, taking seventh at the Penn Relays Carnival with an outdoor best of 59-6.75. There’s no doubt he’s itching to get back into the sixties, and he’ll certainly have the competition to push him with Callender and Levine.
Callender swept the championship meets during the indoor season with wins at the Division 3 Championship, Meet of Champions and New England’s. He has a best of 62-7.25 from a league meet on Jan. 15. Thus far this season, he has two 60-footers with a season best of 60-10.75 from the recent Division 3 Relays.
Levine, the Div. 5 titlist from indoor, was second to Callender at the MOC and New England’s. He has a PR of 62-3.5 from the Coaches Invitational on Jan. 24. At the recent Div. 6 Relays, he tossed a season best of 58-6.75.
We don’t expect the girls’ 100-meter hurdles to be close, but keep an eye on the clock. It could be a record-setting day for Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien. The Red Hawk senior is the top seed by nearly a second and a half with her best and current state mark of 13.57 from her victory at the Meet of Champions last spring. Edozien rarely misses on the big stage, and Saturday should be no different. This will be her big meet of the season since earning All-American honors in the 60m hurdles at New Balance Nationals. It goes without saying that she’ll be ready to put on a show this weekend.
Look for a fast time in the girls’ 800m if the conditions are right. This event matches up indoor MOC 1K victor Emily Frawley of Newton South against 400m specialist Chloe Elder of Natick. Could we see a time under 2:10 this early in the season? There is a possibility with these two on the line. Frawley is a seasoned veteran in this event, excelling in the two-lapper since her freshman year. She has a PR of 2:10.68 from her third-place finish at the Div. 3 meet last May. For Elder, this appears may be her first open 800m since clocking a 2:18 leg on her team’s 4x800m squad at the MSTCA Coaches Metro Invitational last spring. Her seed is listed as 2:11.0. There is no doubt in our mind that this gifted senior is capable of achieving that time, and even faster. She has 53-second speed in the 400m and this past indoor season has her all-time best of 1:33.47 for the 600m, a performance that earned her gold at the Div. 1 meet.
Don’t ignore the boys’ high jump. This field includes five athletes who have cleared 6-6 or higher.
Leading the way is indoor Meet of Champions winner Brendan McGeough. The Braintree standout cleared a career-best 6-7 at the New England Championships this past indoor season. Already this spring, he has gone 6-6 twice at league meets on April 29 and this past Wednesday.
McGeough will certainly have competition pushing him. The next four seeds have all cleared at least 6-6 with Pentucket’s Holden Choma (6-6.75), Joseph Case’s Ben Deady (6-6), Concord-Carlisle’s Matthew Logan (6-6) and Stoneham’s Weston Bunnell (6-6).
We’re expecting the boys’ mile to come down to the wire. Four athletes in the field own seed times under 4:20, led by Monument Mountain’s Everett Pacheco and Boston College High’s Greg McGrath.
Pacheco, who does not compete during the indoor season, captured the Div. 3 Meet of Champions title during cross country this fall. He owns a personal best of 4:16.89.
McGrath’s specialty is the longer distances. One of the state’s top cross-country runners, he is also a sub-nine-minute two-miler. But don’t overlook the ultra-competitive senior in the mile, where he owns a personal best of 4:17.14. If the race turns tactical and tight late, McGrath is capable of something significantly faster, which is exactly what we expect Saturday night.
Other top seeds include Natick’s Freddie van der Veiden (4:17.63) and Weymouth’s Patrick Geagan (4:19.99).
The girls’ two mile is another race that could get interesting. The top seed is Needham’s Greta Hammer. The all-stater skipped the indoor season to compete for the school’s hockey team, but the skates are off and the racing flats are back on. And we know what happens when Hammer toes the line.
The multiple state titlist and defending outdoor champion owns a personal best of 10:21.48. So far this spring, she has broken five minutes twice in the mile with a season best of 4:56.36 from a league meet in mid-April and a 4:57 split on Needham’s winning DMR at last weekend’s Div. 2 Relays. She appears ready for something fast on Saturday night.
Hammer’s top challenger is Whitinsville Christian’s Emily Flagg, who went unbeaten against in-state competition in the two mile during the indoor season, culminating with a personal-best 10:36.92 to win the Meet of Champions. This will be her first major race since placing ninth in the 5K at New Balance Nationals in an impressive 16:52.20.
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WESTON TWILIGHT INVITATIONAL
Weston High Site
ORDER OF EVENTS
5 p.m. – Field Events
Pole Vault – Girls first, Boys to follow
Girls’ Long Jump (boys to follow approx. 7 p.m.) Boys’ High Jump (girls to follow approx. 7:00 PM) Boys’ Triple Jump (girls to follow approx. 7 p.m.)
Girls’ Shot Put (boys to follow approx. 7 p.m.)
Boys’ Discus (girls’ to follow approx. 6:20 p.m.)
Boys’ & Girls’ Javelin (2 throwing areas)
6 p.m. – Running Events:
Girls will run first, unless otherwise noted on this schedule
6 p.m. – 400m Hurdle – Final
6:25 p.m. – 200m Trials
6:50 p.m. – 100m Trials
7:15 p.m. – 100m Hurdle Trials (girls)
7:30 p.m. 110m Hurdle Trials (boys)
7:45 p.m. – 400m
8:15 p.m. – 200m Final
8:20 p.m. -100m Final
8:30 p.m. 110m Hurdles Final (boys)
8:35 p.m. -100m Hurdle Final (girls)
8:40 p.m. – Sprint Medley Relay
9:00 p.m. – Swedish Relay (100-200-300-400)
9:15 p.m. – 4 X 200 Meter Relay
9:30 p.m. – Mixed 4 x 400 Meter Relay
Regis College Site
5 p.m. Running Events
Girls will run first unless otherwise noted on this schedule
5 p.m. – 2,000m Steeplechase
5:50 p.m. – 800m
6:35 p.m. – Mile
7:25 p.m. – 2 Mile
8:20 p.m. – 5,000m
