The Bay State got off to a fine start at this week’s New Balance Nationals. Here we recap what’s happened so far during competition on Thursday and Friday at the TRACK at New Balance.
On Day 1, the highlight of the day was turned in by Marblehead’s Nathaniel Assa in the 5,000-meter run. Continuing the momentum from his victories at the Meet of Champions and New England’s, Assa earned All-American status by placing sixth overall in Thursday’s race with a time of 14 minutes, 32.50 seconds. His effort was the fourth fastest by a MA athlete in the history of the event. Boston College High’s Greg McGrath was 13th overall in 15:09.18.
In the girls’ 4x800m relay, Lexington clocked the fastest time in the state this season to place 13th overall. The quartet of Callie Glenn, Mackenzie Callahan, Cecelia Kvaal and freshman Amelia Whorton combined for a time of 9:20.66. The Minutemen were followed by MA squads Newton South (29th, 9:38.51), Bishop Feehan (32nd, 9:40.03), Braintree (41st, 9:45.68) and Norton (45th, 9:49.82).
Whorton, who anchored Lexington with a 2:15.61 800m leg, was also third in the Freshmen Mile. The talented underclassmen was one of three runners under the meet record, securing the bronze with a PR of 4:57.25. Wellesley’s Madeline Tuxbury was 21st at 5:12.97. Haverhill’s Kyla Breslin, who competes for New England Elite, was 30th at 5:15.91. Milton’s Grace Danielson (35th, 5:18.71), Falmouth’s Leah DePiper (56th, 5:27.21) and Peabody’s Ella Braz (62nd, 5:35.16) also ran strong.
For the boys, Longmeadow’s Jacob Abebe was MA’s top ninth-grader, taking 31st overall in 4:36.03. Lucas Allen of Newton North was 61st (4:44.82). Placing 64th was Wayland’s Schaff Cynaque in 4:45.86.
In the 4x800m, Lowell (15th, 7:52,32), Brookline (20th, 7:54.53) and Lexington (21st,7:54..63) all broke eight minutes with their placements. Lowell’s squad of Jovanni Ubn, Raymond Dale, Abdul Jalloh and Alex Rodgers improved on their seed by nearly four seconds.
Marco Petrino of Xaverian Brothers led the way for the locals in the Frosh Mile. Petrino blazed to a time of 52.78. Also turning in impressive times were Plymouth South’s Nixen McNeil (50th, 53.60), Scott Feeney of Zaverian Brothers (54th, 53.76) and Longmeadow’s Aidan Kretschmar (69th, 54.12).
Day 2 on Friday featured two All Americans and nearly a third.
Moving up a placement by one spot, North Reading’s Giuliana Ligor made the podium for the second straight year in the Pentathlon by racking up a PR of 3,568 points. She had her two highest point totals in the 800m (2:24.61, 762 pts.) and the 55m hurdles (8.76, 961 pts.). North Reading’s Callie MacLellan was 13th in the field with 779 points).
Peabody shot-putter Alex Jackson was third in his specialty with a heave of 65-3.5.
Marshfield came less than a half second from All American in the Distance Medley Relay, p[acing seventh overall in a school indoor record of 10:09.82. The Rams time ranks No. 3 all-time in the history of the state behind Gloucester (9:59.94) and Concord Carlsle (10:07.26). The foursome and their splits for Marshfield were Matt McCabe (1,200m, 3:07.12), Nathan Looney (400m, 49.86), Tucker McNamee (800m, 2:00.98) and Graham Heinrich (1,600m, 4:11.84).
Whorton continued her successful week at New Balance by placing fourth in the 800m with a time of 2:15.67. Teammate Makenzie Callahan was 27th at 2:23.18, while Wellesley’s Tuxbury was 42nd in 2:25.64. Whorton also ran a 2:17 800m anchor to help spur Lexington to 21st in the DMR. The Minutemen combined for a time of 12:18.18. Winchester was 29th at 12:31.08.
Lincoln Sudbury’s Ethan Sholk raced to a huge PR of 9:09.48 in the two mile, an effort that placed him 35th overall. Boston College High’s John Wilson was 82nd (9:19.13). Belmont’s Dana Lehr (45th, 10:43.33) and Westford Academy’s Emily Wedlake (45th, 10:48.24) were the top MA finishers in the girls’ 2M.
Other top performances included Brockton’s Lucas Andrade in the high jump (13th, 6-6), Peabody’s Evan Bedard in the long jump (16th, 22-3.75), and Newton North (12th, 3:30.76), Weston (14th, 3:31.82) and Milton (15th, 3:31.99) in the sprint medley relay.
(Above photos by Sterling Vernon @rhodeandtrack)
