A bulk of our MA track & field athletes made the five-hour trip to Philadelphia for the New Balance Nationals this past weekend.
But it wasn’t the only show in town.
Or shall we say, country.
There was also the Nike Outdoor Nationals out in Eugene, Oregon that attracted a few Bay Staters this past weekend, and even produced a gold-medalist!
Algonquin Regional’s Miles Lipka was the recipient of that honor by capturing the individual title in the decathlon. Lipka became the state’s second athlete to exceed the 7K mark with 7,218 points. The Titan senior was first in four of the 10 events – the 110-meter hurdles (14.59 seconds), the high jump (6 feet, 6 inches), the javelin (178-6) and the shot (50-10.25). He scored a high of 820 point in the shot and had PRs or tied bests in the hurdles, shot, javelin, high jump, pole vault (11-11.75), 1,500m (4:59.41), and long jump (21-11.5). This was Lipka’s second national title. He also won the pentathlon at the New Balance Nationals during the indoor season. Nice work!
For the Amherst Pelham girls, it was all about the relays. The Hurricanes came less than two seconds from the state record in the girls’ 4×400-meter relay. The quartet of Ololara Baptiste, Skylar Fox, Ruby Austin and Moriah Luetjen finished fourth overall with a time of 3 minutes, 49.91 seconds. That effort was just short of the 2011 mark of 3:48.44 by Marshfield from the 2014 New Balance Nationals. The squad of Baptiste, Austin, Luetjen and Claire Fortin were sixth in the 4x100m at 48.08. Fortin, Austin, Luetjen and Fox were also fifth in the Sprint Medley Relay with a state No. 2 of 4:05.59. In the 4x200m, the only event Amherst-Pelham did not earn All-American status with a top-six finish, the Hurricanes were 11th in a loaded 4x200m with a state-leading 1:43.11.
Chelmsford’s Gable Gray earned All-American in the javelin. Gray heaved the metal spear a PR of 208 feet, 8 inches. That effort bettered his previous best of 207-6 from the Meet of Champions a few weeks ago.
Division 1 and MOC winner Breanna Braham went sub 55 seconds for the fifth time this season in the 400m. The Dennis-Yarmouth senior was just outside a podium placement, taking eighth overall in 54.53. Luetjen was 26th in the race at 57.01. Dennis-Yarmouth’s promising ninth-grader Kerri Clark, was eighth in the Freshmen 400m where she was timed in 57.67.
RESULTS
