Freshmen Mile
The Freshmen Milers have the honor of kicking things off Thursday afternoon, and this year we have quite the crop of freshmen representing the Bay State at Nationals.
Leading the way is individual title contender, Lucy Downin of Holliston. With her 4:53.53, Downin currently ranks fourth in the country for freshmen, and is number three overall in Massachusetts. Both Leski Sullivan of Weston and Emma Genovese are both ranked in the top 25 nationally, running 5:07.79 and 5:10.57. Could we see all three in the top 10?
In the boy’s race, the Bay State will be running deep. Quinn Cook leads the way with a PR of 4:30.03 and sits at #10 nationally. Will this be the day that he cracks 4:30? Looking to join him will be Parker Charter’s Jett Johnson and Belmont’s Ishaan Kanagaraj who sit at 17th and 18th nationally, having both run 4:32 and change.
The race also features Trevor Martorana of Stoughton, Connor Rightmire of Marshfield, Kiran Green of Lexington, and Nordeen Fadil of Newburyport. Keep an eye on the results as these young milers could be the future of the sport.
5000m
Cross Country Meet of Champ’s winner Landon Sarney will take on the 5000m Thursday. Sarney has run 9:24 this season and has a best of 9:15. Falmouth Speedster Silas Gartner will be racing the 5000m as well. He’s sort of a wild card, as he’s only run 9:20 this season, but holds a best of 9:07. Natham Palmieri of Pembroke and Brody Richardson of Easthampton Mass will also take on the weekends longest race.
The girl’s race will feature 2 Mile Champion Emily Flagg of Whitinsville Christian. While her twin sister Abby may prefer the Mile, Emily seems to get better as the distance goes up. She’s run a best of 10:36 for 2-Miles this indoor season and it will be exciting to see what she can do for 5000m. A finish in the top six for all-American is definitely a possibility.
Jane Conrad of Lexington will look to join her. While she’s raced sparingly this indoor season, she registered a 17:39 5K at the USATF New England Championships. Conrad was also 10th at the Nike Cross Regionals this past fall. Rosie Bradley of Bromfield and Emily Wedlake of Westford Academy will take a shot at the 25 lapper as well. Both athletes have run under 11 minutes this season for two miles and will represent the Bay State well.
4x800m
The Brookline Boys have gotten progressively faster all season, culminating in their recent 7:51.03 to take New England’s. That has them at #13 nationally. Can they go faster? We think so. They should be in the seeded heat Thursday, so they’ll be pushed everything step of the way. Running under The Patriot Athletic Club will be Concord Carlisle. They ran 7:57 at New England’s and have a great opportunity to shave a few seconds off that.
Billerica, Greater Lowell Tech, Lowell, Natick, North Andover, Andover, Weymouth, and Xaverian will look to make their mark as well.
In the girls 4x800m, Lexington will look to improve upon their 9:27 they ran at the Millrose Games back in February. With their lineup running fresh, they should have no problem doing that. Braintree, Franklin, Melrose, Newton South, Concord Carlisle, Wachusett, and Wellesley will look for bragging rights as well.
800m Wheelchair
The Boys and Girls Wheelchair 800m will feature Colton Robinson of Westfield and Mary McDonald of Taunton. We last saw Colton competing over 300m and 55m at the Meet of Champions, while Mary has competed unattached this season, most recently at the USATF New England Youth Invite. Mary owns a best of 3:06.55, and Colton has a PB of 2:30:06. Both athletes are veterans of this meet.
One Response
Great preview… looking forward to the nationals meet