“I just heard the bell and I was just like, ‘Oh shoot, I gotta go.’ I just tried to sprint my hardest in this and push through.”
Those were the words of Natick’s John Bianchi in the mile run at Saturday’s Freshmen-Sophomore Large School Invitational. As it turned out, Bianchi’s all-out effort for the final 200m proved successful as the RedHawks sophomore clocked a winning 4 minutes, 26.67 seconds, an indoor PR and nearly six seconds ahead of runner-up Tim Connolly of Billerica, who was timed in 4:32.03.
Bianchi improved on his season best by five seconds in a race he took control from the start. The Natick standout and Connolly broke from the pack by the midway point. With just over a lap remaining, Bianchi simply took off.
“The plan was just to take it out and kind of get a good split going through the 800 and just see what I could do from there,” he said.
In the girls’ mile, Westford Academy tenth-grader Emily Wedlake led three under 5:30 with a time of 5:21.32. Chelmsford’s Kate Leonard was second at 5:24.65. She was followed by Maggie Abely of Newton North in 5:27.89.
Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien edged King Philip’s Alex D’Amadio by just a hundredth of a second to take the girls’ 55m dash in a fast 7.37 effort, a time that ranks No. 5 in the state. D’Amadio is at No. 6 with her time of 7.47. Reading’s Kamryn Encarnacao finished third in the race at 7.40 (tied for No. 7).
After a successful outdoor campaign as a freshman, Edozian is competing in her first season on the indoor surface.
“I was doing gymnastics, like club gymnastics and for my high school team,” she said. “I decided to walk away from gymnastics and I’m just focusing on track right now.”
Edozian, who clocked a best of 13.14 for the 100m during outdoor, admits gymnastics has helped her as a sprinter.
“I think gymnastics and track share a lot of the same muscles like quads, calves and all of that,” she said. “I think it’s easy to just switch over from gymnastics to track.”
Lincoln Sudbury’s Nico Begic had the lone meet record of the night. The speedy sophomore dominated the 300m dash with a time of 35.88, a mere .22 under the previous record. Everett’s Kayshaun Eveillard was second in 36.92.
Begic has a few goals this season.
“I want to get as close to sub 35 (seconds) as I can get and enjoy track as a sophomore,” he said.
North Quincy sophomore Maddy McGillicuddy dipped under the 1:40 mark in the 600m for the first time, capturing her speciality with a time of 1:39.99. She finished two seconds ahead of Woburn’s Leah Finn, who was timed in 1:41.99.
McGillicuddy utilized a patient approach, positioning herself behind Finn until the final lap where she was able to break away from her rival.
Arjun Raha, a promising freshman from Lexington, won the boys’ 600m with a PR of 1:27.88. Raha beat a flurry of runners at the finish, including 2-3-4 finishers – Weymouth’s Colin Geagan (second, 1:28.28), Brockton’s Robert Moyes (third, 1:28.91) and Brookline’s Santi Sierra (fourth, 1:28.94).
Curtis Mowatt. one of the state’s top 10 leapers so far this season, captured the horizontal leap with a distance of 20-8.25. Wellesley’s James Hoffman (second, 20-6.25) and Catholic Memorial’s Jameson Booker (third, 20-1) also exceeded 20 feet.
