With more than 5,200 entries, the MSTCA Northeast Invitational once again drew a record number of competitors.
Fittingly, the three-day meet concluded with a record-setting finale Sunday at the Reggie Lewis Center. Four new meet records were broken, and another came within a mere hundredth of a second of being matched.
Natick senior Chloe Elder was responsible for that near miss, capturing the 200-meter dash in a swift 25.47 seconds—just outside the meet record of 25.46, set in 2020 by Tewksbury alum and future NCAA 800-meter champion Makayla Paige.
Elder didn’t leave Reggie without etching her name in the record books, however. Earlier in the day, the Redhawks standout powered to the 400-meter title in a meet-record 57.02. With a long, fluid stride that looked almost effortless, Elder topped a strong field that included runner-up Penny Blumenthal of Newton North, who finished in 58.18.
“I am very happy. That’s an indoor PR for me,” Elder said. “I just wanted to get out strong and finish strong. I’m proud I was able to do that.”
The North Carolina commit has big plans for the indoor campaign, where she is one of the top returnees in the 300m—an event she finished third at last year’s Meet of Champions behind individual winner and graduating senior Breanna Braham of Dennis-Yarmouth and Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye.
Elder is also coming off an outdoor season that saw her break 54 seconds in the 400, finishing second to Braham at the Meet of Champions, a competition where she also placed third in the 200 meters.
Her final high school season has already started with promise. She raced to a season best of 39.95 in the 300m to win the Speed Classic a few weeks ago. That time ranks No. 2 in the state behind Malden freshman Khadijah Diagne, who also runs for Metro Cobras TC and has not yet competed in an MSTCA event this winter.
“I’d like to go to Nationals and maybe place All-American,” Elder said. “Winning the state title in the 300 is also a goal.”
The girls’ two mile featured a new nation leader with Alexis Paterna of Exeter (NH) capturing the individual title, smashing the MR by 23 seconds with a time of 10:26.54. Westford Academy’s Emily Wedlake, who held the previous record of 10:49.55 with her victory last year, was second at 10:52.23. Finishing third was St. Mary’s Kelsey Kwiatek at 10:58.04.
Methuen’s Lauren Quarm broke two meet records. Both coming in the same race. The defending 55m champion dipped under the record of 7.15 that she shared with Pembroke’s Sarah Claflin in her preliminary heat with a 7.09 effort. In the finals, Quarm flew across the line unchallenged with a time of 7.0.
She could sense that everything would work out fine from her opening heat.
Today, I got a good night sleep. I woke up feeling very good and confident,” Quarm said. “My first block start was very, very good. I got out really hard and felt I was flying out of the blocks. I was really happy about that.”
The boys’ 400m featured eight runners under 51 seconds. But the one that reigned supreme was the only one that went sub-50. Top seed Nico Begic of Lincoln-Sudbury was locked in from the start, and blasted across the line in an indoor best and school record of 49.59. Westwood’s Jayden Pillard was second at 50.02.
The state’s 200m individual titlist at last spring’s Meet of Champions, Begic is currently ranked No. 1 in the 300m after clocking a best of 34.40 in a DCL meet in mid December. He has a lofty goal this season.
“I’m planning on breaking the 300-meter state record, set last year against me,” said the L-S senior, making reference to the current mark of 33.94, set in 2025 at the Div. 1 Championship by recent Newton North grad Reese Connors. “Now I’m motivated to break that and set my own.”
