MIAA Division 2 Championships – Boys
Site/Time: Merrimack College, Friday, 3 p.m., Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
Schools: Algonquin Regional, Bay Path RVT, Belmont, Beverly, Billerica Memorial, Bishop Feehan, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional, Catholic Memorial, Chelmsford, Concord-Carlisle, Diman Regional Voc/Tech, Essex North Shore Agricultural & Tech Inst, Everett, Hopkinton, Leominster, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional, Lynn English, Malden, North Andover, North Quincy, Peabody Veterans Memorial, Plymouth North, Quincy, Revere, Springfield Central, Tantasqua Regional Senior, Waltham, Wellesley, Westborough, Westford Academy, Winchester, Woburn Memorial.
Top Events To Watch: The 800-meter run has all the ingredients for a thrilling finish in a rematch of last weekend’s MVC Championships. North Andover’s Aiden Siwicki enters as the top seed after a breakthrough victory at the conference meet, where he shattered his personal best by nearly three seconds with a winning time of 1:53.73. Right behind him was Billerica’s Shane Leslie, who also delivered a PR effort, clocking a best of1:54.82 to take runner-up honors. The depth in this field is impressive as well, with four more competitors seeded under 1:57. If the pace is honest from the gun, expect a tight lead group and a battle for the title that could come down to the final meters….So far this season, three teams have broken the eight-minute mark in the 4x800m. We could have a few more after Sunday’s race. The top two seeds in this event are on the brink of hitting the mark with Billerica (8:01.32) and Concord-Carlisle (8:03.87) on the line. It does appear that North Andover is the overwhelming favorite to take the team title. This race could determine who takes home that runner-up plaque…Could we have a seven-footer in the high jump? There’s an outside chance it could happen. Back on May 20 at the Dual County League Championships, top seed Matthew Logan can just a couple inches from the milestone with a PR of 6-10, a best by four inches!…Don’t ignore the sand pit! Last week at the MVC Championships, Catholic Memorial’s Amar Skeete moved up to a tie for No. 7 in the national rankings for the triple jump with a winning leap and PR of 50-4. His performance is four feet further than the No. 2 seed, Belmont’s Malcom Were, who soared to a distance of 46-3.35 during a league meet on April 16.. Skeete will be looking to become our state’s third athlete over 24 feet in the long jump this weekend. He has a season best of 23-11. Two more in the field have exceeded 23 feet with sophomores Jamahl Pasteur of BRidgewater-Raynham (23-7) and Essex North’s Leland Pegan (23-1).
Team Outlook: With the ability top score points in several different events, North Andover superior depth should prove too much for the rest of their competitors. The real battle could be for the coveted runner-up spot where Billerica, Concord-Carlisle, Bridgewater Raynham are among the leading contenders.
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MIAA Division 2 Championships – Girls
Site/Time: Merrimack College, Friday, 3 p.m., Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
Schools: Algonquin Regional, Bay Path RVT, Belmont, Beverly, Billerica Memorial, Bishop Feehan, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional, Catholic Memorial, Chelmsford, Concord-Carlisle, Diman Regional Voc/Tech, Essex North Shore Agricultural & Tech Inst, Everett, Hopkinton, Leominster, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional, Lynn English, Malden, North Andover, North Quincy, Peabody Veterans Memorial, Plymouth North, Quincy, Revere, Springfield Central, Tantasqua Regional Senior, Waltham, Wellesley, Westborough, Westford Academy, Winchester, Woburn Memorial.
Top Events To Watch: The 800m, two mile and the mile feature Westford Academy’s Abby Hennessy. Whenever the gifted senior steps onto the track there’s always the possibility of something special. These will likely be her final three races before heading to Philadelphia in a few weeks for the New Balance Nationals, where she’ll be among the favorites in the mile. The field is solid in Sunday’s mile, but don’t be surprised if this turns into a solo effort after the opening lap as Hennessy makes her final tune-up before nationals. The Washington commit owns the state record of 4:35.87 from Track Night NYC on May 1. Will she challenge that mark again? At the very least, expect another sub-4:40 performance in what will be the final in-state race of her remarkable high school career. The battle for second should be intriguing with Concord-Carlisle’s Maria Chopas (4:57.97), Billerica’s Kylie Donahue (4:59.34) and Westford Academy’s Emily Wedlake (5:00.21) among the contenders for runner-up honors. On Day 1, Hennessy is scheduled to run the 800m and two mile, which are separated by about 35-40 minutes. She owns a PR of 2:07.15 for the 800m, a time she ran to win the BSR Elite Meet two weeks ago. After that race, she admitted she was hoping to go faster. With this being the first of her two races, she might try to go for a PR or simply hold back to conserve energy for the two mile, where he hopes to score valuable points in her team’s title run. Nonetheless, we’re predicting victories in both where she has PRs of 2:07.15 and 9:16.30, respectively. In the 800m, check out Billerica freshman Evelyn Wesling, who has a seed of 2:12.50, a time that ranks No. 20 nationally among all ninth-graders. The No. 2 seed in the two mile also happens to be a freshman with Lincoln Sudbury’s Avery Gibson holding that distinction. She has a best of 10:48.20…Speaking of freshmen, Khadijah Diagne of Malden has a chance to earn three gold medals this weekend. The speedy frosh has the top times in the 100m dash (12.07), 200m (24.53) and 400m, (56.19)…Continuing with the freshmen theme, there’s also Kaitlyn Boakye-Yiadom of Westford Academy, who has been making quite a bit of noise in the long jump. The top-seeded jumper has been unbeaten this season and has twice exceeded 19 feet with an all-time best of 19-10.5, an effort that put her at No. 6 in the country among freshmen. The recent Dual County League champion also went 19-feet even to capture her specialty at the MSTCA Coaches Metro Invitational in mid May. Al Regnier of Westborough is the No. 2 seed at 18-3…The triple jump features one of the state’s premier athletes in Wellesley’s Leila Elcher. She is one of just three MA jumpers to exceed 39 feet this season and is currently tied for No. 2 in the state with David Prouty freshman Zoe Barnett at 39-3. Newton North’s Blake McNeal sits atop the rankings at 39-3.5. With the Meet of Champions just a week away, Elcher will undoubtedly be looking to gain some momentum, and perhaps even leave with the state lead, by the end of the weekend.
Team Outlook: With Hennessy leading the way, Westford Academy is the clear-cut favorite for the team title. A plethora of teams should be battling for the other top spots on the podium. Among them are North Andover, Wellesley, Westborough, Billerica and Concord-Carlisle.
