Great job ending the regular season, the boys won 69-17, the girls triumphed 66-18 in our meet vs. Ashland today. We had five atheltes earn their varsity letter (8 points for the season) - Nick Bernard, Max Chisholm, Casey Rothschild, Jess Strzempko, and Caitlin Turner! Also, Madison Ward broke the freshman record in the high jump at 4'11!
I'll start with the boys meet. In the hurdles, Evan Vasilauskas tied his PR with a 6.2, easily winning the race. Ben Clapper took third in 7.3, now ranking in the top 15 in the entire league! Not bad for someone who hadn't hurdled until this month.
Shortly thereafter, in the varsity dash, Evan continued to be a one-man wrecking crew, tying his dash PR with a 5.3 to win easily. Matt McIsaac placed third in 5.7, and we also had PR's in the JV heats from Max Chisholm and Andrew Salant!
Up next was the mile, which was our first sweep of the day! Tanner Datz led the charge in 5:18, followed by Sam Scott (5:25, seasonal best) and Kevin Montain (5:27, PR).
In the 600, Ryan Moser and Cole Osten made great moves midway through the race to pull away and finish 1-2, with Moser tying his PR for this track (1:34.5), and Cole setting a PR as well in 1:35.5!
Usually in a 300, if you can PR by a tenth or two, it's a big deal. Nate Bubello basically took a sledgehammer to his old PR of 42.9. In the top varsity heat, he led at the break and was only passed by Jake O'Connell, with the two crossing the tape in 41.6 (Jake) and 41.8 (Nate). It was an 0.3 second improvement for Jake, and a full 1.1 second PR for Nate! Ben Clapper flew in the unseeded heat, pushing himself to the line in 42.2 to displace Ashland's top runner and complete the sweep.
Back in the 1000, Ashland's top runner - Ryan Milewski, who's got 4:40s mile credentials - was up against Jack Boyd and in his 1000m debut, Ryan Leonard. Milewski took the lead with three laps to go, but a furious kick by Boyd in the last lap left Jack as the winner in 2:51.2 (7 second PR!) and Leonard a close third in 2:52.4. We also had a PR from Matt Ferguson (3:25.8)!
In the 2 mile, the Glazebrooks led from wire to wire, with Mike crossing the tape in 11:12 and Ed finishing in 11:32. Mike was the fastest finisher of the meet, including the Westwood & Bellingham kids.
In field events, Evan Vasilauskas and Nick Bernard were facing a team with two 5'8 guys and one 5'6. Having only done 5'4 (Evan) and 5'6 (Nick) for their own personal bests, they were clear underdogs. However, they stepped up, as Evan won with a PR of 5'6, and Nick cleared 5'4 to take second! Nick's 3 points from the event clinched his varsity letter.
In the shot put, Max Chisholm also clinched his varsity letter, throwing 36'0.5 to take second place.
Finally, our "hybrid" 4x400 team (some usual suspects, some newbies) kept up the undefeated season, beating Ashland in a 3:57.0. Nate Bubello, Isaac Fadden, Jack Boyd, and Cole Osten were the fearsome foursome, with Boyd stealing the show with a blistering 57.5 split for the 3rd leg.
On to the girls meet...
In the hurdles, Juliana Van Pelt tied her PR of 7.5 with her win, and Diana Waterman took second in 8.0. Hana Gross (8.5) and Eve Bagley (8.7) also PRd!
Back in the dash, freshman Casey Rothschild not only clinched her varsity letter, she won the event with a 6.0, possibly the fastest freshman time in the league this year! Lily Stering took third in 6.5 seconds, and we had a PR from Simona Biundo (6.8) in the JV heat.
In the mile, Chelsea Dubin finished first, winning her last race on our indoor track in 5:56, just ahead of Ashland's top runner and our own Maggie Naughton, who ran 5:59. Abby Meltzer ran her best time of the year in 6:11, which is more impressive when you consider her old PR was set at the fast track at the Reggie Lewis Center. Katie DesRochers had an awesome mile debut in 6:24.
In the 600...Eve Bagley and Andrea Labb both had good races, unfortunately the official rang the bell one lap too soon, so their times (which were for 3 1/2 laps, not 4 1/2 since they were stopped early by the officials) don't count. But good efforts by both.
Back in the 300, Nikki Kerrigan (46.8), Shauna Rockett (47.7) and Virginia Hanstad (48.0) ran an impressive sweep, with Rockett tying her home PR and Virginia + Nikki coming within a couple tenths of their own as well. Hannah Freudenberger (50.7) and Katie Carchidi (53.0) also PR'd in the JV heats!
For the 1000, Katie Salley and Kiara Hanlon nearly PR'd on our track despite dropping the rest of the field in short order, running 3:23.6 and 3:28.1 for a 1-2 finish. Sarah Stebbins almost completed the sweep, just one second behind one of Ashland's top distance runners. Jillian McShane PR'd with a 3:44 as well!
In the 2 mile, Jess Strzempko clinched her varsity letter with a 2nd place finish, making her the second freshman to clinch her letter today!
Over in high jump...Sydney Snow tied her PR of 4'8, earning second place as Devin Cuevas also cleared 4'8. Andrea True had also set a PR earlier with a jump of 4'4. But the big story of the event was freshman Madison Ward clearing 4'11, which broke the tie between her and Shawna Rossini for the freshman school record (4'10), leaving Ward the record all by herself. Anyone that saw her attempts at 5'0 knows that the 4'11 might not last long, either.
In shot put, Caitlin Turner clinched her letter with a big PR of 26'11 for second place, with Hannah Brady taking third in 25'3.
And in the 4x400, the girls remained undefeated as the team of Sarah Stebbins, Lily Stering, Ally Rosati, and Casey Rotschild ran 4:57.
Practice is 2:30-4:30 Thursday, 2:30-3:30 Friday, off Saturday. Bus leaves at 1 PM for Reggie on Sunday, meet starts at 3PM (may be 2:45 for freshman mile)
