The first big (extended) weekend of competition was certainly not without its share of highlights. Most of our Bay State athletes competed in-state at five different meets -the MSTCA William C. Kane Developmental Invitational at Holyoke (Thursday), the MSTCA Warrior Classic at Foxborough (Thursday), the 2nd annual Mercury Games at Bridgewater-Raynham (Friday), the MSTCA InVacational & Pentathlon at North Andover (Friday) and the 2nd annual Mid-Distance Classic (Friday) at St. John’s Prep. There was also the 129th annual Penn Relays Carnival in Philadephia, which attracted a few more.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the top performances.
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We have to start with the Penn Relays, and one very spectacular performance during Distance Night on Friday, the second day of competition at the three-day meet. The outdoor state record for the girls’ mile was set three years ago by Belmont’s Ellie Shea, who clocked 4 minutes, 37.2 seconds at the Battle Road Twilight Meet. We have to admit, we did think that record was one that would be untouchable for a long time. Now we think the three-year-old mark is a jeopardy. If not this year, certainly in 2026. The runner we feel is capable of erasing that record is Westford Academy’s Abigail Hennessy. At Penn, the gifted junior was involved in a classic battle with defending champion Dylan McElhinney of Hunter (NY) on the Franklin Field oval. Just a few strides determined the overall winner with McElhinney edging the Westford standout with a nation-leading 4:39.89. Hennessy crossed the line with a new PR and nation No. 2 of 4:40.01. Keep in mind, she’s coming off an indoor season where she ran limited races while still recovering from an injury suffered during cross country. Nonetheless, Hennessey showed us that we’re in for something special this spring after dominating her heat at the New Balance Nationals in mid March where she nearly made the podium with a seventh-place finish and time of 4:42.72 in only her third competition of the season. Stay Tuned!
There were a few more solid performances in the Championship events at Penn. Continuing with the theme of Distance Night, Marshfield was one of the 15 teams that earned an invite into the Distance Medley Relay. While their final time wasn’t what they were looking for, the Rams still combined for a respectable 10:25.07 clocking. The foursome with their legs and splits were Matt McCable (3:12.54, 1,200m), Nate Looney (49.54, 400m), Tucker McNamee (800m, 2:04.23) and Graham Heinrich (mile, 4:18.78).
In the girls’ triple jump, Lincoln Sudbury’s Gabrielle Pierre was fourth overall with a leap of 40 feet, 9 inches. Pierre went 40-plus on her last three attempts in the finals. Jamaica’s Jade Ann Dawkins won the event with a best of 43-3. The next three athletes were separated by 3.5 inches. Pierre was the second American with Desitini Smith of Souderton (PA) just ahead of her in third with a distance of 41-0.25. Peabody’s Alex Jackson was seventh overall in the shot with a heave of 62-10. Chelmsford All American Gable Gray was fifth in the javelin with a distance of 187-7. The talented junior, who broke the state mark last year with toss of 206-3 at the Andover Boosters Invitational, was sixth in his specialty at last year’s New Balance Nationals at the UPenn’s facility, the same venue he competed at this past Thursday. He has a best season of 191-1 from his victory at the 46th annual Ottaviani Invitational on April 19 at Haverhill.
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Friday night was the BSR Mid-Distance Classic where we saw a few MA athletes earn top finishes as well as five gold medals. The Marblehead tandem of Will Cerrutti and Nathaniel Assa raced to the No. 1 and No. 3 times in the state this season with their 1-2 finish. Cerrutti won with a state-leading and PR of 4:19.03. Assa was right behind at 4:20.16, which was just four hundredths of a second behind the 4:20.12 time produced by Bostin Latin’s Bilal El Haji to win the mile earlier in the day at the InVacational & Pentathlon. Bromfield’s Evelyn Wool in the girls’ mile (5:10.91), Pentucket freshman Susa Wisniewsk in the girls’ 800m (2:19.65), St. John’s Prep’s Anthony Ragosa in the boys’ shot (47-0.5) and Essex North Shore’s Nora Kisel in the girls 200m (25.84) were the other Bay Staters that struck it rich at the third annual event.
Mid-Distance Invitational Results
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The Warrior Invitational and InVactional & Pentathlon produced a number of state-leaders.
Natick’s Emmanuella Eodzien came close to breaking 14 seconds in the 100m hurdles at the Warrior Invitational with a winning time and PR of 14.01. The current state mark is 13.72 by Central Catholic’s Katharine Duren from 2021. It’s not too far-fetched to think that the five-year-old record is within reach, especially how Edozien performed during the indoor season where she broke a more than decade-old mark for the 55m hurdles with a best of 7.96. The Redhawk junior also won the long jump with a state No. 2 of 18-6. Also at the Warrior Invite, state bests were achieved by Sharon’s Nina Kyei Aboagye in the 100m (11.93), Falmouth’s Silas Gartner in the two mile (9:23.60), Mansfield in the 4x800m (8:06.36) and Dennis Yarmouth’s Breanna Braham in the 200m (24.09), a race she edged Kyei-Aboagye (24.19),
At the InVacational Invite, Cristana Reinso ran a state leader in the 400m by athletes that compete in MIAA and MSTCA events by clocking 49.04. Parker Charter’s Kinsley Kline did the same on a state level in the girls’ pole vault with a height of 11-6.
Cohasset’s Nathan Askjaer (3,123 points) and Masconomet Regional’s Mara Siewko (2,995 points) claimed the respective boys’ and girls’ pentathlon titles in the first multis of the spring.
