DCL dual meet; NSHS v Boston Latin

The second DCL dual meet was today at the very nice Boston University indoor track. Newton South ran against Boston Latin.
Click here for full results
Click here for photos by George
Click here for photos by Dave Fineman
Click here for photos by John Keklak (LS)

Dual County League - 12/20/2010

Meet#2 Boston University Dual Meet Scores - Through Event 31 

Women 

Lincoln-Sudbury 48.00 Acton-Boxborough  47.00

Wayland High School 54.00 Arlington  37.00

Concord-Carlisle 81.00 Bedford 10.00

Newton South 73.00 Boston Latin 17.00

Notre Dame Academy 68.00 Weston 27.00

Westford 46.00 Waltham 43.00

Men 

Acton-Boxborough 61.00 Lincoln-Sudbury 34.00

Wayland High School 53.00 Arlington 41.00

Concord-Carlisle 78.00 Bedford 17.00

Newton South 79.00 Boston Latin 14.00

Westford 63.00 Waltham 31.00

The results show Kathy O'Keefe running 2:55 in the 1000. That is a wow!! - a time faster than many varsity boys and a common all state winning time. Kathy ran this alone with no competitors close. I didn't expect that. In the 2 mile, Kathy and Andrea Keklak, (LS) allstate XC champ for the past few years started out. No one else seemed to dare go out in front of those two even though they were going slow. Steve M. yelled at Kathy "do not lead!" Kathy slowed even more so on the next lap it looked like the whole pack was walking. Kathy smiled in a bewildered way, arms up, almost saying, how?" Kathy didn't need to run fast to win. Andrea K. from LS wanted to win with as slow a time as possible so she could race hard in the next race, the 4 x 400 relay, because LS and Acton-Boxborough had a very close meet. Finally, the pace picked up to about a 6 min/mile. At about the mile mark or a little later, Andrea got impatient and went out smooth and fast to a very big negative split but still look rested at the end. She shortly after ran a 58 sec. 400 meter split in the relay with LS nipping AB by one point 48-47. Kathy picked up the pace also looking very comfortable but not "racing".

From NSHS v Boston Latin, Indoor track DCL league

NS was not running against LS but the photo looked good. All the large schools run the relay together but get scored just against the team they face in the dual meet.

From NSHS v Boston Latin, Indoor track DCL league

From NSHS v Boston Latin, Indoor track DCL league

From NSHS v Boston Latin, Indoor track DCL league

Coach's report; DCL dual meet NS v AB

Thursday, 9 Dec.,Newton South started the indoor DCL season with a head to head with Acton-Boxboro (AB).
A tough match for the redeveloping NS team but made enough head way to make the challenge a worthwhile experience for both teams. Senior, Co-Captain, Alex Karys got a 1st and 2nd in the Shot Put and High Jump respectively. Senior, Co-Captain David Melly took a first place in the 1 Mile, as well as new senior Patrick Kuffour ran away with the 55 meter dash with a first place clocking in 6.82. Final score AB-60 NS-35

DCL meet #2 will be held on Tuesday Dec.21 at the Boston University Track Complex, start time 4:30

Coach Norton
Head Coach
NSTrack- Boys
B/G Sprint & Field Events

MSTCA Winter Festival at Reggie

Click here for results

The Newton South Boys sprint squad took a test run Saturday at the MSTCA Winter Festival. Solid performances were had by both the returning and new south athletes.
Junior, Yousef Elkorchi was 3rd place in High Jump with 5'-10", and ran a 4th place personal best 37:38 in the 300M.
Sophomore, Jung Park also had a personal best 8.27 in the 55M hurdles where he finished 7th overall.
Marini Lopci, also a sophomore, produced a 7.03 in the 55M dash.

Freshman Tyrone Thornton ran 7.04 in the 55M dash and long jumped 17'-3". 

Senior, Grant Henderson runs a 7.10 also in the 55M race.
Patrick Kuffour, a senior, had an busy day with a 3rd Place finish in the 55M dash in 6.81 and long jumped 19'4", and anchored the 4x200 relay along with teammates Tyrone Thornton, Marini Lopci, Grant Henderson, and Marini Lopci.

The throwers flexed their muscles today. Senior, Brandon Caldwell and freshman
Stephen Okren Shot Put 36'5" and 32'3" respectively.

The sprint squad will join in with the rest of the Newton South Lions this Tuesday for their 2nd DCL meet of the season against Boston Latin at the Boston University Track Complex.

Coach Norton
Head Track Coach
Newton South - Boys
B/G Sprints & Field Events

Baaack to Reggie!!

Imagine you have a favorite TV series that you watched faithfully for a number of years and then took a hiatus, and returned. The characters change and the drama evolves. That’s the case for me and NS track and field. When I last tuned in, the team had won the outdoor DCL championships on both the boys and girls side. The boys swept all 3 relays (4x1, 4x4 and 4x8), and the girls won the All-State Championships.

I did catch some highlights in subsequent years, like the record breaking 4x8’s, which were about as dramatic as it gets. I remember clearly the New Englands where Melanie, Kathy, Juliet and Bridget smashed the old record – and Sasha’s anchor at the outdoor All-States. But the drama of the meet-to-meet efforts were missing.

Reggie is really something, and I’d forgotten what a three-ring circus it is during the indoor season. Jostling goes on in the relays, some runners look like they’re just jogging in the 2 mile, but get a round of applause anyway when they cross the finish line.

As for Newton South, Kathy O’Keefe and David Melly were freshmen for that high-tide season several years ago. Kathy’s worked incredibly hard over the years and had a smashing opener – rocketing through a mile all alone in 5:12. In a close battle with AB in the 4x4, she got the baton from behind and scorched a 60-flat to catch and pass the AB anchor. David was in the pack at the start of the mile and broke out with around 600m to go, and winning handily in 4:41.

The dual matchup for this meet was against AB, who are really hot this season, with a strong mix of athletes at all distances and in field events.

One of the big highlights of the meet was the performances turned in by Rebecca Robinson from Arlington – a junior – taking the 55m dash in 7.34, the 300 in 39.8 and the long jump in 16-8. Her race in the 300 was a real head-turner – “where’d that come from?”

We visited my son James in England over Thanksgiving break, and his sister Charlotte told him that Ray Park was aiming to take down his 100m dash record, expecting some kind of irritated reaction. James had the final word, saying that he hoped Ray would take it. It looks like Ray may have some competition. Freshman – yes, freshman Tyrone Kuffour slipped in the blocks at the start of 55m dash, but ran a 6.82. Considering that this was a time that James only hit toward the end of the indoor season as a junior, I am predicting some amazing things from Tyrone. He also split a 25 in the JV 4x2 at the end.

The incoming freshman class is a big bright side for the team, with a lot of athletes, ready to rock and roll. We saw some of the stronger efforts from a number of freshmen. What makes this even more impressive is that date of the meet – Dec. 9^th –the earliest start of the season I’ve ever seen. With some workouts under their belts, we’ll see some great stuff. The hurdlers have barely had time to practice.

Speaking of practicing, the 600m guys should practice making the bus on time. When the gun went off there was no blue and orange on the line. They did make it for the 4x4 at the end, and ran a respectable 3:38 – with the first three legs splitting around 53. I’m sure I’ll learn their names, since the 400-600 was my specialty in college and I’m an obsessive relay let splitter.

Other highlights included a duel between A-B’s Savanna Craib and N-S’s Nicole Kestenberg in the high jump at 5’. Connor O’Brien is coming back from two sprained ankles He was up against the 3 amazing AB runners in the 1000 (Curt Owen, Carl Forgo and Brenden Lemier) hanging tough. I’m expecting a strong 4x8 out of AB this year. Junior Youssef El Korchi took 2^nd in the 300 in 38.4, and 2^nd in the high jump in 5-10.

I’m sure I missed a lot as I don’t recognize a lot of faces and names, but I’ll learn these as the season progresses. One tradition I’d forgotten, but was soon reacquainted with was the cheering during the 4x4’s. All of Newton South lines up in a phalanx at the end of the back straightaway. You feel the energy of a Janis Joplin concert as the yelling cranks up as the runner approaches the turn. Nothing like it.

DCL indoor meet #1 at Reggie Lewis

The first indoor dual meet was held at Reggie Lewis track in Boston today. Newton South ran against Acton-Boxborough.
Click here for photos by Dave Fineman
Click here for photos by John Keklak (LS)
Hopefully I'll get a hold of results soon.
Couldn't be there for photos, hopefully next meet. Anyone else take photos?
Unofficial team scores of large school meets:
boys:
AB 59 NS 36
LS 77 Waltham 16
Westford 76 Boston Latin 19
girls:
AB 67 NS 28
LS 55 Waltham 40
Westford 59 BL 32

INDOOR TRACK IS HERE

Indoor track has started and the 1st dual meet is this Thursday at Reggie Lewis track starting 4:30 pm.
In the past the meet started with the JV mile.
Click here for Reggie Lewis website
Plan on rush hour traffic.

The DCL league match ups are:
Newton South v Acton-Boxborough
Lincoln-Sudbury v Waltham
Boston Latin v Westford Academy
Wayland v Bedford
Weston v Arlington
Concord-Carlisle v Notre Dame (girls)
Concord-Carlisle v Cambridge Ringe & Latin (boys)

All these meets run concurrently in the DCL time slot at Reggie Lewis. (4:30 - 7:30)

The NS teams are very young. The girls team in particular has a very high number of freshman.

NXN Nike XC Nationals

The Nike XC National Championship meet was held yesterday in Portland, Oregon.
Click here for meet results, photos, videos, interviews, history
You can watch videos of the complete races from 3 vehicles on this specially designed course.
The winning girls team, Manlius XC club from the Fayetteville-Manlius High School in Manlius, NY, a suburb of Syracuse with a population of about 32,000, won this national championship for the 5th time in a row with a team score of 27! Their team will have 6 of 7 runners returning for next year including the top four! The school has 1640 students in grades 9-12, so is a little smaller than Newton South. How is this possible to be so overwhelmingly superior nationally? I'm at a loss of words. I apologize for not having blogged info about the live webcast. Watch the race, watch the interview with F-M HS coach. Read Jon Waldron's comments at:
 http://nnhsxc.blogspot.com/2010/12/five-in-row-for-fayetteville-manlius.html

This should be the link to the whole girls race video:
http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=videos&year=2010&pg=1&event_id=13&video_id=34726&folder_id=2422&offset=20#video
The whole boys race video:
http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=videos&year=2010&pg=1&event_id=13&video_id=34721&folder_id=2422&offset=9#video