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!