Mother Nature looks as though she’s going to cooperate and the competition is strong for this Saturday’s MSTCA Coaches Invitational meets. Be prepared for some top performances when teams compete in the Shore and Metro competitions this weekend.
Here’s what we consider the events of the must-see variety in the Coaches Metro Invitational at Lexington High.
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Girls’ 100m Hurdles
We don’t expect this race to be close. In fact, we believe the winner will have a cushion of more than a second by the time she crosses the line. This is one you have to keep your eyes on the digital clock at the finish, and for two reasons. We could have a meet record and also only our third sub 14-second performance in state history. The hurdler that has a chance to accomplish the twin bill is top seed and Natick junior Emmanuella Edozien. A few weeks ago, the indoor state 55m HH champion and state record-holder, clocked a PR of 14.01 for the longer race, a time that ranks No. 3 on the all-time list behind Central Catholic’s Katharine Duren’s state mark of 13.72 from 2021 and former Brockton standout Vanessa Clerveaux 13.96 best, set 13 years ago. The MR in this event is 14.08 by Clerveaux. While it appears as though this is going to be a solo effort from the beginning, Edozien has certainly proved to us during the indoor campaign that it doesn’t matter the competition, she’s always at her best when the smoke clears the starter’s gun. We expect the same this weekend.
2 Mile/Mile
We putting these events together because both feature para-athlete Delmace Joseph Mayo of Brighton. Mayo is experiencing one of his best years on the track (and road) before heading off to the University of Arizona. A few weeks ago, he completed his first marathon where he tackled the historic Boston Marathon, posting an incredible 2:04:30 for the 26.2-mile distance. He clocked PRs of 9:27.50 for the two mile and 2:04.18 for the 800m just a few days later at the MSTCA InVacational in North Andover and had his best mile, a huge PR of 4:10.54, at the New Balance Nationals back in March. Seems like lately it’s been all about PRs for the determined racer.
Boys’ 400m IH
This is an event that has really taken off in the Bay State where its produced some amazing times on both the girls’ and boys’ side. In 2024, we had two state records broken with North Reading’ Giuliana Ligor clocking 58.97 at the Meet of Champions and Lexington’s McKenna O’Hare Gibson etching his name in the books with a 52.85 effort at the New Balance Nationals. We don’t expect a state mark to be set this weekend, but we could have our second sub 54-second effort in as many weeks. The top seed is Mitchell Kisgen of Xaverian Brothers, who won the Catholic Conference Championships last spring with a best of 54.23. He’s following an impressive performance by last year’s state runner-up Ryan Kyle of Westford Academy, who was triumphant at the Weston Twilight Invitational with an all-time best and state-leading 53.38. No doubt his effort will provide motivation for Kisgen to do the same at Saturday’s meet, perhaps setting up a sure-to-be classic at the Meet of Champions next month.
Girls’ Triple Jump /Long Jump
We’re bunching these two events up for a reason. Keep reading and you’ll see why. In the triple jump, Lincoln Sudbury’s Gabrielle Pierre is the clear-cut favorite. She has a best of 43-feet even from last year’s Div. 1 Championships. That is more than five feet further than the closest seed on Saturday. The University of Florida commit and last year’s New Balance champion, who nearly earned a qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer, has a best this season of 41-1.5 from her win at the Pepsi Florida Relays early last month. Right now she’s tied for No. 15 in the country. If she can match her best, that puts her at No. 2. A little bit more, and we could have a new national leader. That spot right now belongs to Destine Smith of Souderton (PA), who soared to a best of 43-2.75 at the Cardinal Classic last month.
Now onto to the long jump where we have Pierre again as our top seed. The Lincoln Sudbury senior swept the long and triple jumps at the MOC, achieving a best of 19-7.75 in the former. She was close to that mark at New Balance with a strong 19-6.25 leap. Unlike the triple jump, we’re expecting her to have some company in this event, particularly Edozien. The Natick standout has a PR of 19-4 from her runner-up finish at the New England’s back in March. She always has her game when the stakes are at their highest. This will probably be the top must-see event of the whole meet. We also can’t forget another 19-footer, Wellesley senior Annie Comella. As a tenth-grader in 2023, Comella attained her all-time best of 19-3. Since that performance, she has had a few 18-footers over the last couple of years. Could she catch lightning in a bottle this weekend?
Boy’s High Jump
Anytime you have Derek Shimmer in this event, you have to list the high jump in articles like this for the simple reason that there a chance for a milestone performance. The milestone were referring to is seven feet. That’s a height that the Shrewsbury senior was a mere inch from achieving with his victory at the New England meet this past winter where he leaped a PR of 6-11.
Girls Pole Vault
Our top two athletes from last year’s Meet of Champions have since graduated. The next two finishers from that competition will face each other this weekend with Acton Boxborough’s Emerson Gould and Parker Charter’s Kinsley Kline in the field. Gould, who won the recent Twilight Invitational with a season best of 11 feet, owns the No. 1 seed. She has a PR of 11-9 from her fourth-place finish at last year’s New England’s. Kline has cleared a best of 11-6 twice already this spring. That’s six inches higher than her previous best from 2024. This should be a good one.
