Records will be broken, there will be a plethora of PRs and there will be some celebrating, lots of it. It’ the best of the best converging at three different locales for a sure-to-be intense four days of competition. It’s this week’s MIAA Division State Championships. For track & field enthusiasts like us at Bay State Running, it doesn’t get any better than this.
Throughout the week, we’ll be previewing all six meets, girls and boys. What schools will be battling for the team titles? What are some of the events (and athletes) to keep an eye on from Thursday to Sunday? Will do our best to give glimpse of what to expect.
Let’s get started. Here were feature Division 1.
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Division 1 State Championships (Boys)
LOCATION: Tufts University
Days/Time: Thursday and Saturday
Teams: Acton Boxborough, Andover, Attleboro, Boston College High, Boston Latin, Braintree, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Central Catholic, Durfee, Framingham, Franklin, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lexington, Lincoln-Sudbury, Lowell, Medford, Methuen, Natick, Needham, New Bedford, Newton North, Newton South, Revere, Saint John’s, St. John’s Prep, Shrewsbury, Taunton, Westford Academy, Weymouth, Xaverian Brothers
Events To Watch: Keep an eye on the clock in both hurdle events. Why? For the simple reason that two of our most recent state-record holders are our No. 1 seeds inn each event. While there are some talented runners in the field, one stands alone in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles- Westford Academy’s Ryan Kyle. The talented senior is the top seed for Thursday’s race by more than two seconds with his PR and state mark of 52.72 seconds, set at the Dual Valley League Championships on May 21. Kyle will be back in action on Saturday when he matches up against All American Lucas Andrade of Brockton in the 110m HH. Like the WA standout, Andrade is also a recent state record-holder, annihilating the previous mark in this event with a winning time of 13.69 from the MSTCA Coaches Shore Invitational on May 10. Kyle appears to be the only hurdler who can pose any kind of threat to Andrade. He’s the only other athlete that has broken 14 seconds this season with his winning time of 13.92 from the Weston Twilight Invitational at the beginning of the month…There’s a chance for a state record in the 4x100m, too. After all, it does feature the current record-holder with St. John’s Prep occupying the No. 1 seed. The Eagles set their record with a time of 41.89 at the Div. 1 State Relays on May 18. The next closest seed is Acton Boxborough, which brings a solid time of 42.56. The 4x800m features three of our top four teams in MA with state-leader Boston College High (7:53.04) as well as Lowell (8:02.03) and Brookline (8:03.91), who rank No. 3 and No. 4 in the Bay State. We could have a few teams under eight minutes in this one with the Eagles leading the way. The 4x400m includes Newton North (3:20.68) and Lowell (3:21.59), who are 1-2 in the state right now. We could have a sub 3:20 here with these titans on the line…John Bianchi has had an outstanding career at BC High, but the one thing that has eluded him is a state title. We believe it will happen this week. Bianchi holds the No. 1 spot with his seed time of 4:18.62. The Eagles junior has run faster, a lot faster. A few weeks ago at the third annual BSR Elite Scholastic Mile, Bianchi was timed in an all-time best of 4:11.88. While we predict it will be Bianchi that’s the first to cross the line, you certainly can’t ignore the two seed, Brookline’s Altamo Aschkenasy. The Warrior senior is coming off a win from the MSTCA South Shore Twilight Invitational where he broke the tape in a PR of 4:18.62. Aschkenasy is always ready to battle the top runners in the field, regardless of the times they run. We’re expecting him to do his best to upset Bianchi with a PR performance this weekend. Look for the two mile to be a fast race with BC High’s Greg McGrath (9:12.66) and Lincoln Sudbury’s Ethan Sholk (9:15.55) the 1-2 seeds…
Team Outlook: With the ability to score high in several events, Lowell appears to have the edge over its competition in the team battle. Lowell is ranked No. 2 in the 4x400m and 4x800m and can get a considerable amount of points from junior Ethan Thevenin, who is ranked No. 1 in the triple jump (45-11) and the long jump (23-0). St. John’s Prep, Newton North and Lexington appear to be some of the teams that will also be in tge mix.
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Division 1 State Championships (Girls)
Days/Site: Thursday and Saturday at Tufts University
Teams: Acton Boxborough, Andover, Attleboro, Boston College High, Boston Latin, Braintree, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Central Catholic, Durfee, Framingham, Franklin, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lexington, Lincoln-Sudbury, Lowell, Medford, Methuen, Natick, Needham, New Bedford, Newton North, Newton South, Revere, Saint John’s, Shrewsbury, Taunton, Westford Academy, Weymouth, Xaverian Brothers
Events To Watch: The 1,500m and the 800m features Westford Academy’s Abby Hennessy, who won both crowns last spring. We don’t expect that to change this time around. The gifted junior ranks No. 3 nationally in the mile with a PR of 4:40.01 from her second-place finish at the Penn Relays Carnival. That effort puts her 10 seconds faster than Newton North’s Ciara Evans, who clocked a huge PR of 4:50.20 at the BSR Elite Scholastic Mile earlier this month. A few others like Needham’s Greta Hammer, Taunton’s Emersyn DePonte and Newton South’s Emily Frawley could make things interesting for those other top podium spots. Hennessy has a best of 2:09.14 for the 800m. That’s puts her three to four seconds ahead of a smattering of talented individuals that we expect will be fighting for the runner-up spot. Those runners include Frawley, Evans, Haverhill’s Lauren Downer, and Lexington’s Amelia Whorton….Look for Hammer to hammer the competition in the two mile. She ran an outdoor best of 10:28.51 during a league meet with Weymouth, Wellesley and Natick on May 7 and went 10:21 during the indoor season. She is comfortably ahead of her next closest rival and should turn this race solo with several laps remaining…You always have to think possible state record when Lincoln-Sudbury’s Gabrielle Pierre competes in the triple jump. After all, she is the state record holder with her best of 43-feet even. The University of Florida commit has a season best of 41-8.5 from the MSTCA Coaches Metro Invitational on May 10…The four-year-old state mark of 13.72 in the girls’ 100m hurdles by Central Catholic alum Katharine Duren has a good chance of getting erased this weekend. The No. 1 seed is Natick junior Emmanuella Edozien, who nearly broke it at the Bay State Conference Championships where she ran an all-time best of 13.73. Edozien always rises to the occasion when the stakes are at their highest. We expect that will be unchanged at Saturday’s race. Edozien is also the top seed in the long jump with her best of 19-5.75 from the Bay State meet. Lexington’s Aubrey Deardorf (19-0.75) and Pierre (18-10.5) are the next two seeds. There’s potential for several to be over 19 feet in this one…The state’s No. 1 thrower in the shot will be inside the circle in this meet. Holding that distinction is Haverhill’s Madeline Goncalves, who has been our state’s best since Day 1 with her PR of 44-2 from a league-opener on April 9. Goncalves, the indoor state champion, will be challenged. At the two seed is Lexington’s Ainsley Cuthbertson at 41-10.25.
Team Outlook: This could be a close one with anywhere from two to four teams expected to battle it out the final few events of the meet. Lexington, Newton North, Westford Academy and Natick can all make things interesting in the end.
