Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Mass. All States Indoor Track - 25 Feb. 2008


Photos by George - click here


Since J.Huth is sunning himself on a beach in Jamaica, the Newton South report will be a little late.

from John H.:
I'm off to Jamaica first thing in the AM (this time, I hope for real).
A great meet - Gerald took 4th in the 300. Bridget smoked 'em in the mile, taking first in 5:01.76, Juliet Ryan-Davis ran two huge PR's - taking 4th in the mile in 5:08, and a 2:20 leadoff in the girls 4x8 relay. Kathy O'Keefe took 7th in the mile in 5:14.
Kelsey took 2nd overall in the 2-mile from the slow heat, running 11:07.99. Emily Jones from Bromfield ran a jaw-dropping 10:30.41 for first in the mile, despite achilles tendinitis.
The girls 4x8 finally got LS - when Bridget got the baton just a bit in front of Andrea Keklak, she put the foot on the gas and opened up a huge gap, holding on for the win in 9:23.45 - a new meet record.
The boys 4x2 took 7th overall, missing out on the hardware by just a few hundreths - still the guys were pretty happy with their performance.

I'd write more, but it's getting late.
I don't know if the coaches are going to send anyone to New Englands, or just concentrate on a few folks going to Nat's. We'll see.
It was an exciting meet. Andover took first overall in the scoring because of their depth in sprints and relays.
---------------
Let me add that the boys 4x800 took 6th for 1 point with a very respectable 8:16.61.
The boys team score was 5. (4 points for Gerald's 4th in the 300m and the 4x800 with 1 point). -HF

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There are many other stories and photos.

Many fuzzy photos were included because they show a race in progress or a person I had no other photo of: Photos by George - click here

Story by Newton's own Jon Waldron

Coolrunning Results

Newton Town Online story 25 Feb. 08 - before the meet

Newton Town Online story 26 Feb. 08 - after the meet

Town Online story

Runner's World story - MileSplit

some video

Monday, February 25, 2008

All States Preview from John H.

All-States preview

I’m not an impeccable source of information, but here’s something of a guide to All-States, which should be pretty memorable.

In the hurdles – for the girls, we have a huge favorite in Mansfield’s Meghan Ferriera, who has a seed time of 8.43. Westford Academy’s Cassie Ryding, Hopinton’s Cecily Boyce and Coyle’s Priscilla Trojano are all clustered in behind Meghan. Any one could snag second, or there could be surprises. A bit further out, but with shots are Attleboro’s Dara Edge and Newton North’s Michele Kaufman.

On the boys side, it’s hard to call, with LS’es Bryant Want, St. John’s Shrewsbury’s Andy Powell (also high jump phenomenon) and Chris Conway from Bishop Feehan, it’s anyone’s guess who will snag first. BC High’s Corey Thomas could surprise us.

In the dash, it looks like a wrap for Andover’s Chris McConnell, who ran a 6.42 in his class meet. He’s an amazingly fast sophomore, and you’ll be impressed when you see him run in heats.

NS’es own Pebbles Banks is seeded 9^th in the dash, with Candace Bailey seeded 15^th . Candace and Pebbles have been improving tremendously over the last couple of weeks, with Candace staging a comeback after a stress fracture. Favorites in the race are Alexis Capozzi from North Reading, and Christina Muccio of Andover. They ran 7.32 and 7.33 in the class meets.

In the girls 2-mile – this should be a great race. Bromfield’s Emily Jones ran an amazing 10:31 in the D4 meet last week for the number one time in the nation. Kelsey Karys got into the All-States, despite suffering from the flu. The extra couple of days before the meet also helps. Kelsey has run a 10:48 for fourth best in the nation. If she’s healthy, she’ll definitely hang on Emily for as long as possible. Emily has the capability of running a fast pace at the start, and then just building on that, going faster and faster. Word is that Emily has a mild case of achilles tendinitis - although that doesn't seem to have slowed her up. Beyond Kelsey and Emily, there are a large number of runners in the 11:10-11:20 zone, including Melanie Fineman. Expect a large pack in this one.

The boys 2-mile will be equally exciting. Last year, Ryan Collins dominated this event, running well out in front of everyone. This year, there’s a much more tightly bunched field of guys, many of whom haven’t run against each other. Top seed is North Middlesex’es David Hausherr (aka BaBar) in 9:28. But right behind that is W-H’es Peter Gilmore and Travis Wright, Nashoba’s Anthony Raduazo, Brookline’s Michael Burnstein and Robert Gibson. Gibson is very strong, and many people figure him to be the favorite. NS’es Andrew Wortham ran a powerful 9:42 behind Burnstein and Gibson, and could readily be in the mix. With 13 runners seeded between 9:27 and 9:45, it should be an exciting race – question is – when is one of the top runners going to make a move and try to pull away from the kickers .

NS has three girls in the mile, including top seed Bridget Dahlberg (5:02). Bridget has run a 4:58 this year. Last year’s All-States featured an exciting duel with Bromfield’s Emily Jones, where Bridget ran a 4:52 to take it. Just behind Bridget are Canton’s Alyse Rocco and LS’es Andrea Keklak, both of whom are big threats. Andrea has a strong kick, one you don’t want to be near when it happens. Juliet Ryan-Davis has shown some huge PR’s this year, and could very well surprise us with an even faster time. Also impressive is Kathy O’Keefe. Having sliced huge time off of her PR to run a 5:13, last week, I have no idea what she might bring to the track, come Monday.

The boys mile run should be dominated by a duel between Charlestown’s Omar Aden and Chelmsford’s Chris Brown. Last year, Chris won the D1, but didn’t fare so well in the All-States. Being a senior, I’m sure he would dearly love the win. I haven’t seen Omar really tested this year, and I’m guessing he could run a 4:17, if pushed. We’ll see.

In the 300 meter dash, for the girls – the top seed is North Reading’s Shannon Conway, in 40.61. Shannon has an upright running style that reminds me a bit of Michael Johnson. Close by is AB’s Casey Hsiung, seeded in 41.03. Casey hasn’t really been challenged this season, so it will be interesting to see this matchup. Also, watch for Wachusett’s Meghan Leahy and WA’s Karen Nallen.

In the boys 300 – I don’t know how to call this one – too many variables. Robbie Contuzzi from Northampton has been tearing up the western Mass circuit, on tracks that are nowhere as fast as Reggie, so I’m tempted to say that people should watch out for him. Gerald Arneaud has a shot at a good placing, but will have to work for it from the next-to-top seeded heat (no prelims in All-States). Gerald, Brockton’s Jimm Guerrier and New Bedford’s Jeff Rose had problems with a false start in the D1’s and are all capable of running faster than their seeds. Westborough’s Ryan Ruffing is the top seed in 35.42, but I think that there are maybe seven guys who are capable of running in the 35.2 zone, if pushed.

In the girls 600m, Bishop Feehan’s Meg Looney looks to be a favorite, having run a 1:33 earlier this year. I was looking forward to a big race between Meg and LS’es Dana Jamieson, but, unfortunately Dana pulled a hamstring in last week’s D1 long jump, so I doubt she’ll race. There are four other girls who can run in the 1:37 zone, but with Meg Looney’s ability to run a 1:33, she’s my favorite.

In the boys 600m – holy cow. Hang on to your hats! Top seed Ryad Bencheikh from Woburn has run a 1:21 already this year. Right behind him are Sean Mitchell and Dennis Kott from St. John’s Shrewsbury, and Brendan Norris from Beverly, and Ryan Buckley from Chelmsford, all runners in the 1:22 range. Ryan had a hamstring pull back in the McIntyre Relays, and is just coming back, so he has some strong potential in a high-end race like this. I’d give it to Ryad, though, because it seems that he’s been running huge times almost effortlessly. Look for this guy!

In the girls 1000m – I’d say Emily Mepham is the strong favorite. She has, by far, the fastest seed time going into the race, of 2:56.9 and is capable of going faster. NN’es Carolyn Ranti is the closest seed of 2:59.4, and ran with Emily last week. I don’t see Mepham being strongly challenged in this, if healthy.

The boys 1000 is a lot closer, with Gloucester’s Liam Anastasia-Murphy leading the seeds in 2:30.3, but right behing him are Brett Sullivan from Woburn, Mike Masse from St. John’s Prep, Seb Putzeys from Newton North, Nick Wade from North Attleboro, and Mike Bakhtiari from Central Catholic. All of these guys have run under 2:33, so it’ll be a hotly contested race. I’m guessing it comes in at 2:29.

In the girls 4x2, Andover has a huge sprint squad and looks to be the favorite in this one. Right behind them, though are a bunch of teams who can figure to place high, including AB, WA, North Reading (with Shannon Conway). Newton South is seeded 13^th , and is within shooting distance of placing with some good handoffs.

In the boys 4x2, we have the number 8 seed, which should place us in the next-to-fastest heat, next to Brockton, St. John’s Prep and Boston Latin. This should be good company. The boys hold the current school record of 1:33.4, and are capable of running faster, given good handoffs. On the very top end, Woburn and Reading look untouchable with seeds of 1:30.94 and 1:30.95 – expect a huge duel there and maybe a meet record (1:30.85 is the record – easily in shooting distance for those teams), and we’ll see who can pick up the pieces after that. Top 6 goes go the New Englands.

In the girls 4x8 – another replay of the LS-NS matchup. Even with Dana Jamieson injured at the class meet, LS was able to split their hottest runners between their 4x4 and 4x8 squads to place high in both events (1^st and 3^rd ). The key for the NS girls will be to give Bridget the baton well ahead of Andrea Keklak. All the girls in NS are capable of running under 2:20, so with some good legs, the girls have a shot at this. Just behind LS and NS are a batch of teams in the 9:40-9:50 zone, including Hingham, Newton North, Franklin, Bromfield, Hopkinton, Beverly and Weymouth. That should make for a very crowded first and second legs, and tough handoffs.

In the boys 4x8, Brookline has the top seed of 8:03, and there’s Peabody (8:04) and New Bedford (8:06) just behind. My eternal question is: will anyone run under 8:00? If Brookline is pushed, maybe. NS is seeded 7^th in 8:17. The magic number for NS is 8:12 – if the boys can run that (only about 1.1 seconds faster per leg), they’ll qualify for a trip to the Nationals.

In the boys 4x4, Woburn and Belmont have both run 3:23, and Newton North has run a 3:25. NN is capable of running faster, and I hope that Woburn and Belmont also are. The meet record of 3:24.58 is likely to fall, and I have some outside hope that maybe, just maybe Woburn could sneak under 3:20, which would be great.

In the girls 4x4, there are 14 teams with seeds between 4:01 and 4:10. Andover (4:01.00) leads the pack and is the favorite. The battle for second should be pretty intense.


Girls, then boys

Hurdle prelims
Dash prelims
2 mile
1 mile
300m
600m
1000m
4x2
4x8
4x4

On New Englands - they're the end of this week at Reggie. Top six competitors or relay teams advance to the New Englands. Frequently, coaches don't run in the New Englands, so the 7th or 8th place teams could make it into New Englands. New Englands aren't always as hot as one might suppose - the major competition comes from Connecticut, and a lot of coaches are either looking toward outdoor at this point, or the Nationals for some kids.

Speaking of nationals - here are some numbers to keep in mind for competitors from South

Entry standards

Girls' 1 mile 5:08.0 (Bridget's already under that, two other runners could qualify.)
Girls' 2 mile 11:30.0 (Melanie Fineman and Kelsey Karys qualify already)
Girls' 5000 19:00 (a bunch of girls under this at Franklin Park)
Girls' 4x2 1:46.5 (The team needs to slice off one more second for this) Girls' 4x8 9:46.0 (Already qualified for this)
Girls' 4xMile 23:00 (we have four+ girls who can run 5:15 or better, that's 21:00 - very competitive, if we enter!)
Girls' Long Jump - 17-6 (not out of the question if Sarah really hits one)
Girls' Shot Put 36-6 (tough to hit, but who knows - if they really hit one today)

Boys' 2 mile 9:40.0 (close - 2 seconds off)
Boys' 5000m 17:00 projected (Andrew can do this)
Boys' 300m 35.5 (close, could be)
Boys' 4x2 1:32.5 (best so far this season is 1:33.4 - a bit of a long-shot)
Boys' 4x8 8:12.0 (so far this season, 8:16 - a bit of a long-shot, but could be done)
Boys sprint medley 3:40 (could be done)

On the boys 5k - we had four guys under 17 at Franklin Park for cross country, which is typically slower than a track race: Andrew Wortham, John Beck, Cameron Fen, and Ben Finch.

Even if the kids hit these marks, or are capable of them doesn't mean that the coaches will take all of these to the Nationals. If the fields look very strong, and they've already run in the nationals before, it may not make as much sense. For runners who haven't done it before, it makes a bit more sense. For the events where we're really strong (Bridget in the mile, Kelsey in the 2-mile, a 4xMile squad), it makes the most sense. Anyway, these are times to keep in mind, and we'll see what the coaches decide.

We'll probably have to pass the hat for helping fund the nationals. Any runners will go as members of "Newton Centre Athletics" because of MIAA rules. I'm the "coach" of Newton Centre Athletics - we're registered with the USA Track and Field Association, and have separate uniforms from Newton South for this.

Go Lions!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

All State Indoor Track Meet is Monday 25 Feb.

The All State Indoor Track Meet has been postponed until Monday, 25 Feb. because of the coming snowstorm.

The announcement is on the MIAA website:
www.mstca.org

Newton South Schedule:
2:00 Early dismissal for All State team
2:15 Bus load or car load as the case may be
4:30 Field Events
5:00 Track Events

Monday, February 18, 2008

D1 States results - JH


---- little-Huth in 4x200
219 PHOTOS by George

posting by JH:

It goes without saying that our view of events is colored by individual circumstances. You’ll have to bear with my particular slant – but it makes for more interesting reading (maybe).

An e-mail landed in my in-box Sunday AM. The Scoutmaster of troop 205, Joe Pope passed away suddenly on Saturday afternoon. He had been battling melanoma for several years, and it finally got the better of him. Together, we led a number of trips, including several days in the Downeast Maine backcountry. I remember staying up late evenings with Joe over the campfire, looking at the stars, and chatting. Goodbye, Joe. Be free.

On the way to Reggie, I made a quick visit to Marathon Sports in Brookline to get new sprint spikes to replace a long-moldering pair. The store had a number of would-be marathoners who were boasting about the sports-gels they drank on their long runs, etc. Sprinting seemed to be on their radar screen as much as curling or archery.

My contribution to the team was to shepard the runners into the check-in. For some reason, many of the kids just didn’t listen to the announcements for check in. It was good exercise for me, for sure, but there were a lot of “hey, there, didn’t you hear the check-in call for the 1000?”’s going on. (n.b. we didn’t have anyone in the 1000, that was rhetorical) Those were typically met with a blank stare, and “huh?’

We also had a number of kids who were off on vacation with their families. The hard-core was there, however – ever vigilant to their race check-ins, asking about their splits.

As a result of my running around, I didn’t get to see all the action, but I made a point of catching most of the races where NS was entered.

First up were the prelims for the 300m, with Gerald Arneaud and Georgiy Kupovykh. Gerald handily qualified for the finals, which were, strangely enough, run in two heats of 4 each. Gerald was in the top seeded heat, next to Jeff Rose of New Bedford. I told him to work off of Jeff, who typically goes out hard in the start of the 300.

The first heat of the “finals” of the 300 went off, then Gerald was up. The gun went off, and then suddenly, another shot went off from the officials table. The runners got nearly 80 meters down the track, when three more shots went off, and they were called back to the starting line.

The timer at the officials’ table hadn’t been reset, and for some reason, the starter thought they were good to go. Anyway, the hot heat of the 300 had to be restarted. Gerald ran a perfect race, staying with Jeff Rose, and then dueling and finally passing him at the end – a great run for Gerald.

Unfortunately, the problem with the start seemed to have drained and unnerved the runners, and now the slower heat got the better times. Gerald snagged 4th, and now advances to All-States, and with some incentive to run hard in the 4x2.

As long as we’re on mishaps, we can look to Yong Cho’s hurdle race. Yong had the fastest qualifying time in the prelims – 7.75. In the finals, he had a good lane assignment, next to LS’es Bryant Chang. All of Reggie was hushed for the start. The runners were in the “set” position, and we were anticipating a fast duel between Yong and Bryant. A split second before the gun went off, Yong twitched, and he was pulled out of the race for a false start.

Disconsolate, Yong wandered off to the high jump pit, and was slowly assessing the damage of one errant nerve communication to his legs. I called to him to come off the track, and tried to get him refocused on the upcoming 4x2.

Azeezah Gray’s family was there to watch her in the hurdles. She ran a fast 9.33, less than a tenth off of her PR, and good enough for 11th, but not enough to advance. Up next for Azeezah was the girls’ 4x2.

Candace Bailey and Pebbles Banks were in the prelims of the 55m dash. Pebbles got a new PR in the prelims with 7.39. In the finals, Pebbles got 4th overall to take home some hardware, with Candace taking 7th. Candace had a stress fracture in her foot that kept her out for most of the indoor season, and is making a comeback. We’ll be expecting big things of her in outdoor. Both Candace and Pebbles teamed up with Azeezah and Katie Sandson in the 4x2.

In the boys 55m dash, Kwame Francis-John ran a 6.91, not enough to qualify – but a great experience to run in the States. James Huth opted to skip the 55m dash, preferring to save his legs for the 4x2, along with Kwame, Gerald and Yong. In hindsight the decision not to run may have been golden. AB had a crack 4x2 relay team that beat out NS. AB’s star sprinter, DJ Brock, pulled a hamstring in the prelims of the dash, taking him out of their lineup.

Turning to hamstring injuries – we saw a few of them going on. The number two runner of Attleboro’s 4x2 pulled up lame on the backstretch, grimacing and holding the back of his leg in pain. LS’es star runner, and long jumper, Dana Jamieson, pulled her hamstring in the long jump, and was hobbling around on crutches. It’s a tough time of year, kids train hard, and that can leave them vulnerable toward the end of indoor season.

So, now to the long jump. Sarah Marquis has begun to jump really strongly this year. She hasn’t surpassed her PR of 16-10 this year, but is closing in on it. With Sarah getting ready for her last jump of the day, NS crowd was clapping that “long-jump-prep” clap that seemed unfamiliar to some, but they got the hang of it. That seemed to incite Sarah to throw down a 16-08.5 It was good enough for 4th, and a trip to All-States.

Nalis Mbianda popped a big PR for her in the shot, with a 33-03 toss to take first place! Liz Jeyaraj took fourth overall. Both now advance to the All-States on Friday.

Moving up the distance ladder, Tal Inbar ran a 1:27.43 600 to hold off LS’es Ben Cutting, who was a tenth behind.

Noteworthy races where NS didn’t run include the boys 1000, where St. John’s Prep’s Mike Masse held off Newton North’s Seb Putzeys to win in 2:31. The All-State 1000 is shaping up to be a fast one.

Chris Brown of Chelmsford ran out in front, alone, to take the mile. He’ll face Charlestown’s Omar Aden. Chris ran a 4:23, and Omar, in the D2 Champs, ran a 4:19.

In the two mile – a huge breakthrough for Andrew Wortham. Brookline’s Michael Burnstein and Robert Gibson took it out in their customary dominating fashion. Andrew hung onto the pace, and didn’t lose contact with them. He got a big PR of 9:42.1, which was good for third place, and is 10 seconds faster than his previous PR. The All-States 2-Mile is shaping up to be a real duel, with the only faster time than the Andrew’s, Burnstein and Gibson being North Middlesex’s Davd Hausherr and Whitman-Hanson’s Peter Gilmore who ran 9:32’s. Last year’s 2-mile was dominated Ryan Collins solo race in 9:13 – this one will have maybe 10 guys in the 9:30 to 9:45 region.

The girls’ mile was exciting. Bridget Dahlberg had her work cut out for her, with LS’es Andrea Keklak tailing her for the first 800. Keklak has a fast kick, and Bridget had to nullify that kick. With 800 to go, Bridget upp’ed the tempo from 76 400 splits, down to 73. That dropped Andrea back, who put on a strong kick, but not enough to catch Bridget, who won in a 5:02. Juliet Ryan-Davis took 4th in 5:12.98.

Keklak is a freshman – and speaking of that, Weymouth’s frosh Jill Corcoron took third in 5:11, and then NS’es own Kathy O’Keefe took 6th in 5:13.35 – a huge PR for her. So, three freshman milers under 5:15 in D1!

In the two mile, Kelsey Karys had the flu all week before the meet. She was able to run, and helped set the pace, carrying Melanie Fineman along. About a mile into the pace, Kelsey looked like she was struggling, so Melanie stepped up and ran a hard race. Melanie took 5th in 11:22.5, which, if not a PR for her, is very close to it. Kelsey ran hard, despite looking to struggling with her body just not delivering. She took 7th with an 11:27. Looking over the results from the other divisions, I see that no one in the other divisions ran as fast as this beyond the top five who make it to states. So, there’s a good chance that Kelsey gets to run in All-States. If that’s the case, she’ll face Bromfield’s Emily Jones, who ran a 10:31 in the D4’s last week.

The girls’ 4x800m relay. Another time that would’ve broken the meet record, another second place vanish to LS. This makes three in a row – and another duel coming up at All-States. At the gun, NN’es Carolyn Ranti opened up a 15 meter lead to hand off to Emma Kornetsky. Diana Braver and LS’es Ellie Hylton began to reel in Emma. Julia Frieze gave chase to close up the gap, and the handoff to Bridget Dahlberg put NS in front. In a replay of the DCL champ meet, LS’es Andrea Keklak hung on Bridget for three laps, and then put on her now-famous kick with about 300 meters to go, which was hard to answer. So, another would be record of 9:32.7. Splits were 2:22.3 (Juliet Ryan-Davis), 2:22.9 (Diana), 2:23.2 (Julia) and 2:23.5 (Bridget). Friday brings another shot at this, and with some strong running, the girls might be able to pull it off! That would be sweet.

In the girls 4x2, we had Candace Bailey to Pebbles Banks to Katie Sandson to Azeezah Gray. They ran in the next-to-fastest heat, and handily took first, which turned out to be an advantage. They took 6th overall with a time of 1:48.62. There are no faster teams beyond the top 5th in the other divisions, so this may very well get them at shot at it again at All-States. Splits were 27.5, 25.7, 28.3 and 26.8.

In the boys 4x8, we had Sasha Long to John Beck to Yuji Wakimoto to Will Cha. There’s a lot of depth in the 4x8 in D1. Brookline took it in 8:30. The guys ran a fast 8:17, with potential for even faster times. Splits were 2:03.8, 2:04.34, 2:07.4 and 2:02 – all more than respectable. They took 6th overall, and have the fastest non-top-5 time in all divisions, so it looks like they have a big shot at the All-States.

The girls 4x400m relay featured an all-frosh group of Jessica He to Kathy O’Keefe to Madeline Frieze to Andrea Braver. They ran a 4:26.27 to take 4th in their heat. Splits were 66-66-67-64, roughly. Although I don’t have the statistics to back it up, I’d bet good money that this was the only all-frosh 4x4 in Massachusetts. Congratulations on a great performance to the girls.

In the boys 4x2, we got some redemption for the false-starts, and being careful in earlier races. Seeded 6th, the team of Yong Cho to Kwame Francis-John to James Huth to Gerald Arneaud took 3rd overall with a time of 1:33.67. This still leaves their record at 1:33.4 in one piece, but they’re capable of running faster. Newton North took first 1:32.2, and it was pretty neat to see NN and NS standing next to each other on the awards stand.

Overall, the girls took 2nd with 48 points to LS’es 66. The boys took 7th overall. For the boys, this is a pretty good showing – particularly considering we may have gotten even more points from Yong and Gerald, had it not been for the false-starts.

So, things to watch for - coming to states for sure are Bridget Dahlberg, and Juliet Ryan-Davis in the mile, Melanie Fineman in the 2-mile, Sarah Marquis in the long-jump, Nalis Mbianda and Liz Jeyaraj in the shot, Pebbles Banks in the 55m dash and the 4x8 team for the girls. For the boys, we have Gerald in the 300, Andrew Wortham in the 2-mile, and the 4x2 team.

On the “hoping to make All-States list” – we have 6th and 7th place finishers who seem to have the top times in all divisions after the top 5 from each division are chosen. For the girls, these include Kelsey in the 2 mile, Kathy O’Keefe in the 1 mile, the girls’ 4x2 relay, Candace Bailey in the 55m dash.

For the boys, this includes the 4x8 relay.

I cannot say that the “hoping to make All-States list” is any more conclusive than “hoping to make”, but stay tuned –we may have an even better turn-out for All-States.

Go Lions!

Mass. Div 1 State indoor track meet 17 Feb. 2008





That was one exciting track meet today.
These photos and previous sets are now in chronological order.
219 PHOTOS CLICK BELOW:
Click here for PHOTOS by George

Friday, February 15, 2008

Mass. division 1 state meet: Sunday 1-5; Reggie Lewis

Newton South will have quite a few runners at the state meet. I'll be there watching.

ORDER OF EVENTS FOR DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS FEBRUARY 17, 2008
1:00
HIGH JUMP
LONG JUMP
SHOT PUT

1:30
300M RUN TRIALS (8 to Final)
ONE MILE RUN FINAL
600M RUN FINAL
1000M RUN FINAL
300M RUN FINAL
TWO MILE RUN FINAL – Girls
55M HURDLES TRIALS No Semi-Final Heats
55M DASH TRIALS No Semi-Final Heats
TWO MILE RUN FINAL – Boys
55M HURDLES FINAL All Sprint Finals will use 8 lanes
55M DASH FINAL
4x800M RELAY FINAL
4x200M RELAY FINAL
4x400M RELAY FINAL

ALL TRACK EVENTS: Girls followed by Boys
LONG JUMP AND SHOT PUT: Girls followed by Boys
HIGH JUMP: Boys and Girls compete simultaneously
Running events will be held up if the High Jump is not completed.

Monday, February 11, 2008

DCL League Championship Meet - JH



photo above by JH

PHOTOS by George

PHOTOS by Chris M.

DCL Championships 9 Feb. 2008

We had a team dinner at our house on Friday night – the sight of all the shoes at the front entrance was too much fun to resist. I took a photo of it.


DCL Championships

Full results can be found at:

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/08/ma/Feb9_DualCo_set1.shtml

PHOTO links below.

An exciting, hard fought meet on both sides, with a lot of surprises. In the end the NS boys took second by one point to AB 84-83. The girls took second to LS 126, the NS score was 97.5.

There was high drama again, as usual. I may as well put it up front, before getting to the results. Steven M. doubled Kelsey Karys in the 1-mile and the 2-mile. Coaches will frequently shuffle lineups in big meets to try to maximize points. Evidently there’s a rule that an athlete can run at most one race, one relay, and one field event, in the DCL League Championship meet. Sounds pretty arcane, no? But it’s a rule. What’s even more confusing is that it seems to apply only to the indoor season, and not the outdoor. That’s pretty tough to remember – like a trick question on an exam.

In any case – as the story was recounted, and it seems correct – one or both of the LS coaches saw the entries and noticed that Kelsey was entered in both the mile and 2-mile. They alerted the meet officials to this fact and reminded them of the “DCL-League-Indoor-Championship-meet – can’t-double-in-a-race (on odd numbered Saturdays in February) rule”. After Kelsey ran (and won, I’m calling it a win, OK? You got a problem with that, see me outside) the two mile, the announcer called the NS coach over to the scorer’s table. Lots of head shaking, ringing of hands, paper being waved around, coaches talking with officials. I couldn’t tell precisely what was going on, but ultimately she was disqualified from both the 1 mile and the 2-mile, where she had taken second and first, respectively.

So, if you think this was drama enough. The boys meet was extraordinarily tight, with leads changing between AB, NS and LS throughout. The boys 4x200 meter relay was a thriller, with NS narrowly missing AB. Both teams ran extraordinary times – the NS time of 1:33.41 is a new school record eclipsing the old one of 1:35.09, set in 2002. Congratulations to James, Georgiy, Kwame and Gerald!

More twists and turns – the announcer called up the AB coach, Brian, to the scorer’s table after the 4x200 meter relay. Evidently one of the officials wanted to disqualify the 4x200m relay team from AB because they wore speed suits – note that the speed suits were identical, except perhaps for that extra piece of fuzz on Stanley Ye’s uniform. I could only see a lot of shaking of heads, waving of hands, consulting of rule books etc from the sidelines. It didn’t look pretty.

This all transpired near the end of the meet. I was walking back to the stands where the NS contingent was lingering, and passed Brian. I asked him what happened, and he told me that the AB team had not been DQ’ed after all (a relief to me, I’m not fond of that uniform rule). At that moment, the overall team score was flashed on the board, showing that AB won by one point. I gave Brian a big hug, and then he told me that he’d just found out that his sister was in intensive care with double pneumonia and an elevated white blood cell count. That knocked the wind out of my sails and put some perspective on the whole meet. The business about DQ’es, not doubling two races, uniforms, and all that seemed petty, and my only thought was one of gratitude that I could be in a place where healthy kids could run and compete, and their proud parents could watch them.

The meet would’ve been more enjoyable without the soap opera, but my prayers go out to Brian and his family.

On to some results:

In the hurdles, Azeezah Gray ran a 9:39 to take second in her heat. Azeezah is coming off of a nasty spill in the hurdles from last week, and clipped one in the finals, slowing her way down. She’s qualified for the States already, so look for her next week. Rachel Rubinstein ran a 10.42 and Mary-Kate Cronin ran a 10.23, which I think is a season best for her.

In the boys hurdles, Yong Cho won his heat in 7.80, and came back to take second in the finals, running a 7.78. LS’es Bryant Wang ran an amazing 7.61, which is around top 2 or 3 in the state this year.

We had three girls all advance to the finals in the 55m dash – Katie Sandson, Pebbles Banks, and Candace Bailey!! They took 2, 3 and 8th in the finals. Candace’s times are coming down. She ran a 7.45 in the finals, getting closer to her marks from last year.

In the boys dash, both James Huth and Kwame Francis-John advanced to the finals, and took 5-6 respectively in 6.81 and 6.82. There was one one-hundredth separating 4-5-6th place. James is now qualified for States in the 55m dash (first time running in spikes at Reggie this season).

The mile – we had Kelsey take 2nd (before the DQ) in 5:13-ish, Juliet Ryan-Davis 3rd (now 2nd) in 5:14.33, and Kathy O’Keefe taking 5th (now 4th) in 5:22.5 – great time for Kathy – we have more top-notch milers than we know what to do with.

On the boys mile, John Beck ran a 4:36 to take 3rd, Yuji Wakimoto ran 4:39.9, looking very smooth and in control. Ben Finch ran a 4:45.

In the boys 300, Gerald Arneaud took first, reversing his loss to Boston Latin’s Peter Rice, running a wicked fast 36.09. We also had a big PR from Georgiy Kupovykh, who ran 37.56.

Diana Braver, Julia Frieze and Kyle Remy ran 3-4-6 in the 600. Kyle ran a great 1:40, winning one of the unseeded heats. In the boys 600, Tal Inbar ran an amazing 1:26.9 to take third – he’s really improving by leaps and bounds. Will Cha took 5th to add points on the board.

In the 1000, Bridget Dahlberg dueled with LS’es Emily Mepham throughout the race. In the end, Emily put on a wicked finishing kick that was hard to answer. Bridget’s time was very fast – 2:59.02.

The boys 1000m had a dramatic finish- WA’s Marc Boutin and AB’s Jack Benjamin were dueling it out, when Alec Linden from LS came out of nowhere with a wicked finishing kick to win. Bodies littered the track at the end of that one. Alex Long snuck in behind the carnage to take 4th in 2:43.2.


In the girls’ shot, big points from Liz Jeyaraj, who is undefeated in DCL competition – taking first, and Nalis Mbianda taking 3rd with throws of 34-02 and 31-04.

The boys 2-mile was full of excitement, with Andrew Wortham again dueling with Jon Gault – exchanging the lead many times. Andrew took 2nd in 9:52.8 – great effort, and I think this is a PR for Andrew.

In the girls’ 2-mile, Melanie Fineman and Kelsey Karys ran together for much of the race. Kelsey ended up moving ahead of Melanie. Kelsey won it in 11:07, Melanie ran an 11:30.78 to take second. Sara Chari took 7th in 11:49.4, and Sonya Freeman hit another huge PR, running 11:52.2. Sonya was ecstatic with her time. She’d been chasing the 12:00 barrier since Freshman year and now is demolishing it.

Of course, you’ve heard the story about the DQ of Kelsey above. This resulted in Melanie getting the 1st place trophy. In a touching moment, Melanie tried to give the trophy to Kelsey, who wouldn’t have any of it. When it looked like AB might’ve been DQ’ed in the boys 4x2, our runners made a pact that they’d give AB the trophy if they had been DQ’ed (which didn’t materialize, fortunately). I think the kids sometimes have better sensibilities than adults (well, officials, anyway). You parents really deserve a big pat on the back for raising your kids so well!

Sarah Marquis took 3rd in the long jump 15’-9”. Yong Cho also scored in the long jump, taking 5th. Chris Kim took 3rd in the shot – adding big points. We’re hoping Chris decides to come to outdoor season, rather than lacrosse. We need to figure out how to make the javelin more pugilistic for Chris’ tastes, however.

In the girls’ high jump we got 3rd 5th and 5th from the Ellis sisters, Elizabeth and Kathryn and Diana Braver, who had to zip off to run the 600 and get back to the jump – always a tough double.

The boys 4x800m relay came through bigtime for us, winning in 8:31.6 – Sasha, John Beck, Yuji and Will Cha all doubled back for this.

The girls 4x800m relay was a tight race, dueling again with LS. This is a bit like banging your head against a wall. We have one of the most outstanding distance teams in the Northeast, and we happen to be in the same league as another team that has one of the most outstanding distance squads in the Northeast. So, we run against them in dual meets, league meets, Class meets, and all-States.

Juliet Ryan-Davis ran a great leadoff leg, splitting a 2:21.4. Diana Braver and Julia Frieze ran out in front, which is tough. They wanted to give Bridget a good lead for the anchor, and did that, but it wasn’t enough – Emily Mepham closed in the anchor for an LS win. The time of 9:34.6 is one of the best times in the states, ranking up there with the other marks set by Newton South and LS. Jeeze. To give you an idea how close it was, the LS time was 9:30.7. The next fastest team, Acton Boxborough, ran a 10:12. All the other teams were lapped in this relay.

In the girls 4x400, we had the youngest team competing, by far, with three freshmen, Madeline Frieze and Andrea Braver, Kathy O’Keefe, and sophomore Kyle Remy. They ran a 4:28, which is really impressive, and we’re looking for big things from them.

The boys 4x400 gave a chance for guys who don’t normally run this to compete, so we had Ben Finch, Emerson Shui, Tal Inbar and John Mitkevicius running to take 4th.

In the girls’ 4x200, with Pebbles Banks to Sarah Marquis to Elizabeth Ellis to Azeezah Gray, we had a bit of a scare. Sarah couldn’t quite figure out the exchange zone markers (sound familiar?), so I had to run over and show her where to stand before a fast closing Pebbles got to her.

And, I already told you about the boys 4x2 – there was one touchy handoff, but the guys got it around for a new school record. On that, upbeat note, I think I’ll end. I have to say that the emotion of the whole meet was draining. The track team is truly blessed with some wonderful kids, and I’ll just reiterate a great thanks to all you parents who do such a wonderful job!

DCL Championships 9 Feb. 2008 PHOTOS




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Click here for photos by George

Click here for photos by Chris M.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

MSTCA meet 3 Feb. 2008 PHOTOS


Included a lot of fuzzy shots cause I liked the photo otherwise. Oops, Picasa shuffled the photo order!

click here for PHOTOS by George

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

MSTCA meet 3 Feb. 2008

There are a lot of photos still to be posted and probably a story of the MSTCA meet on Sunday. Just gotta dump the day job. Keep checking in.

The DCL JV meet is tomorrow, Wednesday 6 Feb. at Newton South. I have to be at a meeting and probably can't be there. Anyone taking photos, please send a link to be posted.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

DCL; NS vs WA vs Bedford 1 Feb. 2008


The last double dual meet. Actually, the boys ran against Westford Academy and Bedford; the girls ran against Westford Academy and Notre Dame of Hingham. Hope I got that right. Bedford does not have a girls team.

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Coolrunning Results