The Best of 2025
These are the articles we look forward to producing each year—recognizing the top performances that captivated us over the last 12 months in the world of track & field and cross country. It’s a double-edged sword, though. At times, these articles can take an insurmountable amount of time to create. Where do we stop? Who do we choose?
It goes without question that each and every year, our athletes produce a plethora of memorable moments. If we listed them all, it could take hours—perhaps days—to complete. As much as we’d like to include every performance, we simply don’t have the time.
And there’s always that voice in the back of our heads that says we missed a few. For this list, we’re including the top performances that we feel made the biggest impact. That said, we encourage you, our followers, to help us out. In the comment section to the right of this article, share what you believe deserves recognition—those special performances that shouldn’t be ignored.
From us here at Bay State Running, Happy New Year to you all. We wish you the best in 2026! Our resolution is to continue to do our best in providing quality coverage of these great sports on BSR.
Okay, let’s get started…
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It didn’t take long to realize that Lucas Andrade was onto something special in the hurdles last winter. Right out of the gate, the Brockton standout was already clocking times close to what he had posted late the previous season—a clear sign his off-season work was paying dividends.
As the winter progressed, Andrade continued to build on that early momentum, establishing himself as not only one of the best in Massachusetts, but among the elite hurdlers in the entire region. After briefly losing the top spot in the state rankings following a state-record–tying 7.31 performance by Lowell’s equally gifted Khai Yin at the MVC Championships, Andrade responded with a record-breaking flurry the rest of the season.
The reigning Division 1, Meet of Champions, and New England champion successfully defended each of his titles, lowering the record multiple times—from 7.30 down to a new New England mark of 7.22. While any of those performances could stand as the highlight of his season, his showing at New Balance Nationals Indoor ranks as the best of them all.
At New Balance, Andrade advanced through every round, culminating in a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.78 seconds. In his opening heat, he set a personal best and new New England record of 7.74, further cementing his place among the nation’s top hurdlers.
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Sticking with the hurdling theme, Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien firmly established herself among the state’s elite in both indoor and outdoor hurdles. Last winter, with a goal of breaking the eight-second barrier, Edozien did it not just once, but twice, capping a dominant season by claiming the Division 1 title and finishing second at New England’s with a time of 7.96 seconds. Along the way, she also captured her first individual crown at the Meet of Champions, eclipsing the 12-year-old 55 m hurdles record of 7.97 set by former Brockton standout Vanessa Clerveaux.
Edozien’s outdoor campaign proved equally impressive. She ran under 14 seconds four times in the 100 m hurdles, including another individual title at the Meet of Champions. After narrowly missing the 2021 state record of 13.72 by Central Catholic’s Katherine Duren at the Bay State Conference Championships, Edozien finally etched her name in the record books with a 13.57 effort at the MOC, solidifying her dominance in Massachusetts hurdling.
We are listing her indoor performance as the top highlight here, with her outdoor performance coming in a very close second.
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Like our two previous choices, Abby Hennessy had several standout performances this past year, but we’d guess few would argue that the one we’re highlighting is the most impressive.
Capping off a year that began with some challenges, Hennessy was part of a mile race for the ages at New Balance Nationals in mid-June. Pushing the pace near the midway point, the Westford Academy standout broke her own state record by three seconds, placing third overall in 4:34.69. The race was won by Union Catholic (NJ) sophomore Paige Sheppard, who set a meet record of 4:33.67. Hennessy finished just strides behind former indoor and outdoor national record-holder Sadie Englehardt, who clocked 4:34.46.
Hennessy, who missed nearly the entire cross-country season and most of her indoor campaign due to medical issues, showed spark at Indoor Nationals, where she won the unseeded section of the mile, posting an indoor PR of 4:42.72 and finishing seventh overall. Her stellar outdoor season included successful defenses of her Division 1 and Meet of Champions titles.
The momentum carried into cross country this fall, where the Washington commit went undefeated against her state rivals, highlighted by titles at the Div. 1A Championships and Meet of Champions, continued with a big win at the Brooks Northeast XC Championships, and culminated in a fifth-place All-American finish at the Nationals in San Diego.
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Keeping in line with New Balance Nationals last spring, we have three more performances that certainly belong on our list.
When Westford Academy broke the state record in the Distance Medley Relay with a fifth-place finish and a time of 9:57.63 in 2024—a race so fast that the top seven teams all went under 10 minutes—we thought their mark would stand for a long time.
Were we wrong.
Just a year later, Brookline made the Ghosts’ record a distant memory. The quartet of Theodore Butty, Elijiah Sweeney, Harry Flint, and Altamo Aschkenasy nearly stole the show at New Balance Nationals, placing second overall while setting a new state record of 9:55.24. Each runner delivered their best splits of the season: Butty ran 3:05.8 for the 1,200 m, Sweeney clocked 49.8 for the 400 m, Flint blazed 1:51.6 for the 800 m, and Aschkenasy anchored with a 4:08.2 1,600 m to cap their silver-medal performance.
At the same meet, Catholic Memorial’s Amar Skeete added to the state-record frenzy with a memorable triple jump. The then-sophomore, fresh off victories at the Meet of Champions and New England’s, soared 50 feet, 5.25 inches to place third overall. Skeete’s leap shattered the 44-year-old mark set by former Ayer star Neal Connor at the 1981 Keebler International Prep Invitational.
Although not a state record, Lexington’s Aubrey Deardorf certainly had an effort at New Balance that would fit that category in most other states. Heading into the meet with six other 19-footers already during the season, the talented junior soared to the best of them all at the nationals, leaping to a career best of 19-9 to place fifth overall and earn All-American status.
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We get it. We understand that cross country times can be deceiving depending on the course. Flat layouts, rolling hills, and demanding terrain all produce very different results. A difficult 5K like Northfield Mountain will naturally yield much slower times than an easier course such as the Barnstable Fairgrounds. The results consistently prove that point.
With that being said, it shouldn’t discredited what Boston College High’s Greg McGrath did at the Catholic Conference Championships on the grounds of the Wrentham Developmental Center, a course noted for fast times. At the Oct. 21 meet, McGrath became only the fourth runner in course history to break 15 minutes, stopping the clock at 14:43.50. His performance ranks No. 2 all-time at Wrentham, trailing only Framingham’s Sam Burgess, who ran 14:38.87 to win the 2022 MIAA Division 1A Championships.
