The spectators and participants at Thursday’s MIAA Meet of Champions were greeted with weather conditions the were scorching hot.
So to was the competition.
Yes, it was a big day as usual at the season-ending meet. Day 1 of the two-day competition at Fitchburg State University was highlighted by two state marks, a bunch of meet records and several new state-leaders.
(Please note: Day 2 of the Meet of Champions has been postponed from his original day of Saturday to Sunday, due to rain and lightning in the forecast).
For the third straight meet, Westford Academy’s Ryan Kyle broke the state record in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. His latest effort landed him No. 5 on the national list. Kyle dominated a talented field with a record-breaking 51.72 seconds, erasing his week-old record of 52.12 from last week’s Division 1 Championships. Pembroke’s Luke Lamar was second in 53.43, followed by defending titlist Jarred Mighty of Brockton at 54.08.
What appeared to be a perfect race for Kyle, wasn’t technically sound, according to the gifted senior.
“I might have gone out too fast because my steps were a little off,” he said. “I was kind of going over with both legs throughout the race. In speed, I went with fast, which really is what counts. Luke was really pushing me at 200 over there, and I kind of pulled away after that.”
The top seven hurdlers in the field broke the meet record of 54.87, set by Mighty at last year’s race.
Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye (cover photo by Byron Flagg) defended his crown in the 200m. Like Kyle, her effort produced a new state record. Kyei-Aboagye was able to pull away from top rivals, Breanna Braham and Natick’s Chloe Elder, coming down the final stretch to win with a time of 23.28, Braham took the silver in a PR of 23.63, while Elder was third at 24.45, which was also a best.
Kyei’ Aboagye time broke the five-year-old mark of 23.32, set by former Buckingham Browne & Nichols School standout Samirah Moody.
“Coming in today, I wanted to defend my title. I won sophomore year and I was like. ‘I hope I can win again junior year,'” she said. “I definitely had a big goal this season that I’m getting the state record. I think I just knew I had to come off the (final) curve strong and pull it until the end.”
It proved to be deja vu for North Reading’s Giuliana Ligor, who made it back-to-back title in the girls’ 400m IH with a season best of 1:00.06. Ligor went into the race as the top seed, but only by slight margin of .32 over eventual second-place finisher, junior Solana Varela of Weston. As she often does, Ligor was able to take charge of this race before rounding the curve for the final stretch. Varela was timed in 1:02.13 for her placement. Taking third in 1:02.67 was Wayland’s Sazie Wrentmore at 1:02.67.
“I went into this race feeling pretty good,” she said. “I broke the state record last year so I wanted to do something similar. My goal was to break a minute; just shy of it so I’m not upset with that. I am pretty happy with the race overall.”
In all, eight meet records were broken on Day 1.
Westford Academy’s Abby Hennessy won the 800m for the second straight year, dipping three seconds under her own meet record with a time of 2:08.11. Plymouth North’ Macey Shriner took runner-up honors in 2:10.89. Both went under Hennessy’s 2:11.15 effort from 2024. In the boys’ 800m, red-hot Altamo Aschkenasy of Brockton took charge from the opening gun and never looked back, blasting across the line with a record and PR of 1:51.62. He was followed by Ludlow’s Logan Walsh (second,1:53.03) and Brockton’s Harry Flint (third, 1:53.10).
As expected, state-leader Alex Jackson of Peabody was victorious in the discus with a MR of 187 feet, 6 inches. Jackson, who will be looking to defend his title in the shot on Sunday, won the discus by 16 feet over second-place finisher Michael Reilly of Medfield (171-6). Placing third was Lawrence’s Argenis Luiciano (171-2).
In the triple jump, Catholic Memorial’s Amar Skeete and Lincoln Sudbury’s Gabby Pierre were the respective boys’ and girls’ winner, both etching their names into the record books. Skeete had a best by nearly a foot with a leap of 48-5. His previous best was 47-5.25 from his victory at last week’s Division 1 Championships. For the girls, Pierre defended her crown with a season best of 41-9.5.
Westborough’s Daniel Velez tied the MR in the pole vault by taking home his second straight title with a height of 14-6.
