Snow Leads Avalanche of PR's

Twelve athletes boarded a bus this morning, not all alike. Some were loose and well-rested, others were a bit under the weather, and a few were sick enough that there was a question of whether they'd run at all.

Twelve athletes came home this afternoon, all with Personal Records.

Fittingly, a captain lead the charge. Chelsea Dubin, who previously had scaled the Sub 6 Minute Wall, was now tackling a wall that loomed much larger: States. Thanks in part to a 38 second last lap (5:05 pace, so yes, that is a bona fide Kick with a capital K), she crossed the line in 5:44.95 seconds, over a full second below the state qualifying mark. She's now qualified in three events, the mile, 4x400, and 4x800. Her PR was just under five seconds better than her mark set on Wednesday.

Up next was fellow miler Jack Boyd. Boyd and 5:00 were old friends. He scaled its wall in outdoors, running 4:58 and change, but indoors, the Mountain fought back. He had made several attempts at the summit. 5:03, 5:05, 5:01...but today, as Jack passed the 800m mark in 2:22, he no longer was concerned about that summit, the only question was how high he'd be when he stopped climbing. With a 69.6 last 400, Boyd finished the race having taken an astounding 13 seconds off of his personal best. 4:45.65, the fourth fastest time in school history, and fastest in six years.

Boyd and Dubin's PR's got the snowball rolling. It gained size in the next event, the Girls 300. First up was Virginia Hanstad, who entered the meet with a 47.7 PR. She took third in a very competitive heat - two girls from it finished in the top 30 overall - and ran 46.17. A 1-2 punch was quickly formed, as Shauna Rockett lined up in the very next heat. Her time of 45.61 would ironically qualify her for the Division 2 State Championship (and put Virginia within 0.23 of qualifying), but our Division 3 (smaller schools!) standard is oddly a full second faster than the D2 Mark. Her time just missed the top-10 on the all-time list, which is largely populated by that 1997-2000 group that holds all those 4x200 and 4x400 marks. Tough group to break into.

Over on the infield, Logan Cotto and Evan Vasilauskas had gone 1-2 in every 45 yard hurdles race this season. Up against some of the state's best, the pair finished the day as the #1 and #2 ranked 55m hurdlers in the league. Logan ran 8.49 to qualify for states, while Evan ran 8.65, just missing states by 0.11 but ironically passed Logan's brother Mitch on the all-time list.

Shortly thereafter, Evan climbed into the blocks again for the 55 meter dash. Although he missed qualifying by just 0.01 seconds, his time of 6.95 makes him the seventh Holliston Panther to break 7 seconds, and is the fastest 55m time in the league this year. If anything, his competitors at the TVL Meet will now have to deal with the fact that he's also hell-bent on breaking 6.94.

Back on the oval, the rumbling of the avalanche was practically deafening, and would only grow louder, with the whole gym paying attention. Sydney Snow was seeded 26th with a 1:45.71. The PR would be a bit more daunting than others, since hers was set on this same track at the Fr/Soph Meet. Stuck in the fourth-fastest heat, she took off, leaving all but two runners completely out of it by 200m. She lead the entire race and kicked to finish in a 1:41.85, a time that beat all but one of the higher seeded kids that raced thereafter. Several minutes later, she was called to the podium to accept her second medal of the season for her 2nd place finish, as she took 5th in the Fr/Soph Meet.

For those wondering, her time is the 3rd fastest in Division 3, and only one kid behind her in the rankings races tomorrow in the Elite Meet.

Ryan Leonard and Ryan Moser came in having already punched their ticket to states, having broken the school record in the 4x800 at the Div. 3 Relays. Needing 1:29.74 to qualify as individuals, both attacked their heats from the beginning, and returned as Individual Qualifiers. Leonard ran 1:28.64, Moser 1:29.37, a whopping five seconds better than his best Holliston time. I should point out that normally kids run about 3 seconds faster at Reggie than they do at Holliston. A 5 second drop is a bit outside the norm.

Two athletes remained, as our streak had reached 10 for 10 on PR's. Katie Salley had pulled off a rare feat on Wednesday, qualifying for states in a distance event (1000) on our slow, flat 130 meter track. Thus, the opportunity to run on Reggie's surface begged the question. How fast would she go?

In third for much of her heat, she kicked in the last 50m to earn a 3:18.37, the third fastest time in school history.

Finally, the last one up was Madison Ward. Despite being under the weather, she also wound up under her old PR. Stuck in a bit of no-man's land in the last mile, she used her trademark kick - 16.5 seconds for the last 100, which is a good kick if you're running the 600. In a 2 mile? Must've been a red blur to the many athletes she passed in the last lap. She finished in 12:40, besting her old mark.

Having all 12 athletes PR - or in Evan's case (since he hasn't run the 55m distance before) beat everyone in the league - is beyond rare. What you dozen kids today was beyond description. Here's the updated Top 10 All-Time List for the events run today. There's a few more chances to climb these ladders before the season is over.

Girls 55M
7.41 - Kristen Godfrey
7.67 - Meghan Beidleman
7.70 - Andrea Runstadler
7.71 - Leann Teager

7.79 - Nikki Kerrigan

7.81 - Caroline Clancy
7.83 - Nattie Tonello
7.84 - Sam Alper
7.84 - Nicole Chaput
7.97 - Briana Crowley
7.97 - Sarah Sams

Girls 600M
1:39.88 - Colleen Cotter
1:40.65 - Emily Naughton
1:40.87 - Dana Butler

1:41.85 - Sydney Snow

1:44.04 - Katie Davidoff
1:46.52 - Jess Robinson
1:46.89 - Lynda Maryanski
1:47.22 - Steph Paolillo
1:47.47 - Lauren Galiardi
1:48.01 - Ali Slyne

Girls 1000M
3:12.43 - Dana Butler
3:12.90 - Rosie Keogh

3:18.37 - Katie Salley

3:19.85 - Emily Ricketson
3:20.11 - Ally Lynch
3:20.59 - Laura O'Regan
3:21.32 - Carina Doyle
3:23.40 - Gill Chapman
3:23.56 - Anna Cristofori
3:23.70 - Claire Lingham

Girls 2Mile
10:59.84 - Rosie Keogh
11:34.56 - Kim Thalmann
12:03.72 - Amanda Lang
12:21.21 - Kristin Kyrka
12:32.14 - Courtney Richard
12:35.38 - Jill Rosati
12:38.70 - Joyce McKenna

12:40.72 - Madison Ward

12:50.88 - Anna Mannello
12:56.80 - Chelsea Dubin

Boys 55M Dash
6.77 - Jon Moussavou
6.84 - Tabor Beaudry
6.90 - James Ferdenzi

6.95 - Evan Vasilauskas

6.96 - Peter Landry
6.99 - Grant Slattery
7.03 - Trevor Alper
7.08 - Dan Ikuma
7.11 - Tommy Donovan

Boys 55M Hurdles
7.82 - Andrew Krauss
7.93 - Jeff Mansfield
8.04 - Ty Cotto
8.12 - Matt Esterman
8.32 - Josh McLinden
8.47 - Steve Blackmore

8.49 - Logan Cotto

8.65 - Evan Vasilauskas

8.66 - Mitch Cotto

Boys 600M

1:26.09 - Greg Dube
1:26.90 - Zack Snow
1:27.90 - Dan Slyne
1:27.93 - Andrew Johnson

1:28.64 - Ryan Leonard

1:29.09 - Steve Blackmore
1:29.33 - Steve Slyne

1:29.37 - Ryan Moser

1:30.09 - Steve Amrock
1:30.29 - Marc Levasseur

Boys Mile
4:35.00 - Bryan Cotter
4:40.73 - Cody LeGros
4:44.27 - Alden Woodrow

4:45.59 - Jack Boyd

4:45.80 - John Calhoun
4:50.28 - Dan Slyne
4:51.47 - Mark Texeira
4:51.59 - Andy Mysliwiec
4:55.36 - Avinash Sridhar
4:55.85 - Steve Amrock

Coaches Invitational Schedule/Banquet Announcement!

Schedule for the Coaches Invite is below. Also, the team banquet will be Tuesday, February 26th at 6:30 PM in the cafeteria!

8:00 Depart for Reggie Lewis Center
8:45 Arrive at Reggie Lewis Center
9:30 - Checkin for milers/hurdles/dash
10:00 to 10:40 Girls Mile - Dubin 1st heat of 5 or 6
10:40 to 11:15 Boys Mile - Boyd 1st heat of 5 or 6
11:15 to 11:35 Girls 300 - About 14 heats, Hanstad/Rockett second or third heat
11:35 to 11:55 Boys 300
11:55 to 12:20 Girls 600 - About 10 heats, Snow probably 7th or 8th heat
12:20 to 12:40 Boys 600 - About 10 heats, Moser 2nd heat, Leonard 6th or 7th
12:40 to 1:10 Girls 1000 - About 7 heats, Salley 2nd heat
1:10 to 1:35 Boys 1000
1:35 to 2:20 Girls 2 Mile - Ward in 1st heat of 3

Dash and Hurdles will be on the infield at 10AM. No word yet on whether hurdles will go before dash. Trial heats are randomly seeded.

Salley makes states, lots of PR's vs. Hopkinton

Despite losing on both sides (60-26 boys, 52-34 girls), we had a lot of PR's today, and one new state meet qualifier! On to the recap...

In the girls hurdles, Diana Waterman set a new PR with a time of 7.6, while Juliana Van Pelt ran the same time, just 0.1 off of her own PR. We also saw PR's from Anna Clark (8.8 to 8.4), and freshman Eve Bagley broke 9 seconds in her debut, running 8.9.

In the dash, Nikki Kerrigan just missed a new PR, running 5.9 (rounded time) to tie her PR and take second place behind only the #1 girl in the entire league.

Over in the mile, captains Chelsea Dubin and Maggie Naughton both had massive PR's, as Chelsea broke the 5:50 barrier with a 5:49 (6 second PR) and Maggie dropped her best time down three seconds to 5:54! Both those times stack up very well in the league.

In the 600, Sydney Snow took second in 1:48, and Eve PR'd again, lowering her time two seconds to 1:53.8!

Not content with tying her PR in the dash, Nikki Kerrigan ran a fantastic race to take the 300 in a PR of 0.4 seconds in 46.5! Virginia Hanstad took third from the unseeded heat in 47.7, and Shauna Rockett just missed her PR with a 48.0, though she did take third in the heat with a strong finish on the final curve.

Next up was the 1000...Katie Salley took control early, building a 20 yard lead, but had bigger goals in mind. She kept the pace, withstood a late charge by Hopkinton's lead girl, and crossed the finish in 3:22.2, qualifying for states! (On OUR track!) Just behind her in third place, fighting off two surging Hillers, was Kiara Hanlon, who PR'd by 7 seconds to run in 3:26.6! Sarah Stebbins also PR'd in 3:40.8, nearly breaking the 3:40 barrier.

Over in the 2 mile, Madison Ward found herself in the middle of what seemed to be half the league, as a group of eight - maybe nine? - ran single file for most of the race at a strong pace. She finished in 12:52, just one second off her best time on our track. Jess Strzempko ran 13:58, in just her second race at that distance.

Ward had earlier tied her own personal best - which is also tied for tops among freshmen in school history - with a jump of 4'10 to win the high jump! It was the second best performance in the entire facility today (including the very talented Westwood and Ashland girls).

In the shot put, Caitlin Turner had a big PR to toss the shot put 26'1.75, finishing third against a team that just won the shot put relay on Sunday at the Div. 3 Relays. Hannah Brady nearly PR'd as well with a throw of 25'11.75.

The final event saw the undefeated 4x400 facing arguably their toughest challenge yet this season. Shauna, Chelsea, Sydney, and Virginia won in 4:32, with Virginia regaining the lead with 60 yards to go and surging to the finish line.

For the boys meet...
Logan Cotto remained undefeated in the hurdles, winning in 6.4 seconds. Ben Clapper nearly took third place in just his second hurdles race, running a 7.4 to match the Hopkinton athlete's time, though losing on the finish.

In the dash, Isaac Fadden nearly PR'd in 5.6 seconds, and Max Chisholm tied his with a 5.7! Roy Mitri also lowered his PR by 0.2 seconds, running six flat.

Jack Boyd came thisclose to breaking 5:00 in the mile, finishing in 5:01.0 to take third against some of Hopkinton's best distance runners. The story of the race may be in fourth place, as Tanner Datz came into the race with a 5:10.6 PR. Not one to merely just break 5:10, he hammered out a 5:05.6! One wonders how fast he'll run on the fast oval at Reggie...

In the 600, Ryan Leonard took second in 1:32.5, leading reigning TVL MVP Tim Bolick for all but the last lap. Ryan Moser finished third in 1:34.8

Jake O'Connell was also facing some of the highest ranked people in the league in the 300, and used the competition to break the 42-second barrier with a third place time of 41.9! Clapper PR'd yet again with a 42.7.

In the 1000, Mike Simonelli lowered his best time to 2:58.5 to take third place.

Mike and Ed Glazebrook continued their recent streak of 1-2 finishes, as Mike won in 11:04 and Ed took second in 11:27. Mike's time was second best among all teams today.

Over in the high jump, Nick Bernard cleared 5'4 to take third in the high jump, just missing second on tiebreakers. Matt McIsaac cleared opening height for the second straight meet, a rare feat for a freshman.

Ryan Lynch had a big PR in shot put, throwing 26'11 to improve his best by over a foot!

In the final event...the boys 4x400 team knew their undefeated streak was going to face a tough task, especially with our usual anchor unable to run. Leonard took the lead with a 57-second split, Cole began building it in the second leg, and Jake O'Connell pulled away, giving anchor Ryan Moser an insurmountable lead that at one point was the length of the entire turn. The boys ran 3:56.2, just off their best time (here) for the year.

Our last meet is Wednesday against Ashland. I'll have the updated TVL Rankings by Friday, so you varsity kids can find out where you want to wind up for seedings for the big TVL Championship a week from Sunday!

Boys 4x800 Broke School Record!

Congratulations to our boys 4x800 team of Ryan Leonard, Ryan Moser, Mike Simonelli, and Jack Boyd, who broke the school record with a time of 8:44.08. The  previous record was 8:46.70, set by the team of Steve Blackmore, Greg Dube, Cody LeGros, and Mark Texeira at the Winter Festival in the 2007-08 season.

Here are the teams that now rank among the fastest relay teams' we've had. (For each year, I only counted the best mark. For example if a team ran 3:45 at Div. 3 Relays, then 3:42 at the Div. 3 State Meet, I'd just use the 3:42 for that year).

Boys 4x800 (sub 9 minutes)
8:44.08 - (2013) Leonard, Moser, Simonelli, Boyd
8:46.70 - (2008) Blackmore, Dube, LeGros, Texeira
8:52.96 - (2004)
8:58.24 - (2010)

All-Time Girls Indoor Marks

Top 10 All-Time List. Some events (hurdles, high jump a few relays) had little data beyond a certain time, so I stopped it at a certain time/distance.

Who's getting on the list tomorrow? Moving up the list? Reaching the top?

Girls 55m dash
7.41 - (2000) Kristen Godfrey
7.67 - (2009) Meghan Beidleman
7.70 - (2001) Andrea Runstadler
7.71 - (1999) Leann Teager
7.77 - (2015) Emma Guccione
7.79 - (2013) Nikki Kerrigan
7.81 - (2012) Caroline Clancy
7.83 - (2002) Natalie Tonello
7.84 - (2007) Sam Alper
7.84 - (2008) Nicole Chaput

Girls 55m hurdles (sub 10 seconds)
8.83 - (2003) Shawna Rossini
9.02 - (2009) Marissa Bynoe
9.50 - (1998) Sandra Costello
9.52 - (2010) Sarah Sams
9.73 - (1999) Sara Rosen
9.79 - (2009) Kerry Ritucci
9.85 - (2012) Steph Paolillo

Girls 300 (sub 45)
42.76 - (2003) Chrissy Sereno
42.79 - (2011) Kendra Costello
43.02 - (1997) Leann Teager
43.08 - (2007) Kristen Kelleher
43.27 - (2013) Nikki Kerrigan
43.52 - (2015) Emma Guccione
43.73 - (2006) Meghan Krauss
44.00 - (2002) Liz Rowland
44.11 - (1997) Katie Femino
44.61 - (1997) Jacqui Martinelli

Girls 600 (sub 1:50)
1:38.39 - (2015) Sydney Snow
1:39.88 - (2000) Colleen Cotter
1:40.65 - (2005) Emily Naughton
1:40.87 - (2008) Dana Butler
1:43.86 - (2015) Eve Bagley
1:44.04 - (2006) Katie Davidoff
1:46.52 - (2007) Jess Robinson
1:46.89 - (2001) Lynda Maryanski
1:47.22 - (2012) Steph Paolillo
1:47.47 - (2005) Lauren Galiardi

Girls 1000 (sub 3:25)
2:59.76 - (2015) Sydney Snow
3:12.43 - (2005) Dana Butler
3:12.79 - (2014) Katie Salley
3:12.90 - (2008) Rosie Keogh
3:14.62 - (2015) Alexis Mejia
3:15.90 - (2007) Ally Lynch
3:19.85 - (2004) Emily Ricketson
3:20.59 - (2003) Laura O'Regan
3:21.32 - (2009) Carina Doyle
3:22.15 - (2013) Kiara Hanlon

Girls Mile
5:06.07 - (1998) Kim Thalmann
5:25.59 - (1999) Lynda Maryanski
5:26.62 - (2008) Rosie Keogh
5:29.97 - (2003) Linsey Cohen
5:32.18 - (1998) Shelby Ahern
5:34.13 - (2008) Ally Lynch
5:34.51 - (2014) Katie Salley
5:35.00 - (2015) Sydney Snow
5:35.36 - (2011) Jill Rosati
5:41.54 - (2004) Courtney Richard

Girls 2 Mile
10:59.84 - (2009) Rosie Keogh
11:34.56 - (1997) Kim Thalmann
12:03.72 - (2008) Amanda Lang
12:21.21 - (2000) Kristin Kyrka
12:32.15 - (2003) Courtney Richard
12:35.38 - (2012) Jill Rosati
12:38.70 - (2006) Joyce McKenna

12:40.72 - (2013) Madison Ward

12:45.21 - (2014) Adri Grinder

12:50.88 - (2012) Anna Mannello 

Girls High Jump (4'10)
5'6 - (2003) Shawna Rossini
5'3 - (2007) Dana Butler
5'2  - (2014) Madison Ward
5'0 - (2012) Rachel Everett
5'0 - (1997) Lauren Kane

4'10 - (2013) Devin Cuevas

4'10 - (1999) Tara Havery

4'10 - (1999) Catie Sullivan

Girls Shot Put (over 27'0)
42'6        - (2009) Emmaline Berg
36'5.25   - (2011) Vicki Palmatier
33'11.25 - (1997) Jenna Stacer
32'1        - (2005) Danielle Blais
31'7.75   - (1997) Jenna Stacer
30'4.5     - (2007) Kendal Knight
27'7        - (2014) Hannah Brady

Girls Long Jump (15'0)
17'5.25 - (2003) Chrissy Sereno
15'6      - (2009) Meghan Beidleman
15'4      - (2005) Gail Bush
15'0.5   - (2008) Nicole Chaput
15'0.5   - (2008) Marissa Bynoe

Girls 4x200 (each year only gets its best recorded - sub 1:55)
1:49.04 - 1997 (Kristen Godfrey, Jacqui Martinelli, Katie Femino, Leann Teager)
1:49.54 - 1998
1:49.68 - 2000
1:51.94 - 2001
1:52.22 - 2007
1:52.39 - 2002
1:52.78 - 1999
1:52.87 - 2002
1:53.30 - 2010
1:54.24 - 2011

Girls 4x400 (each year only gets its best recorded, sub 4:30)
4:14.62 - 2015
4:15.54 - 2000
4:16.49 - 2014
4:18.90 - 2008
4:19.38 - 2013
4:20.77 - 2010
4:22.18 - 1998
4:22.34 - 2009
4:23.37 - 2007
4:28.37 - 2004
4:29.47 - 2011

Girls 4x800 (each year only gets its best recorded, sub-11:00)
10:04.54 - 2005 (Dana Butler, Katie Davidoff, Emily Naughton, Lauren Galiardi)
10:07.19 - 2015 (Salley, Bagley, Mejia, Snow)
10:14.32 - 2003
10:19.00 - 2007
10:19.20 - 2014 (Salley, Ward, Mejia, Snow)
10:19.31 - 2004
10:30.26 -1999
10:31.63 - 2013
10:35.73 - 1998
10:51.25 - 2006

4 relays qualify for states, all teams finish in top 14!

Great day by everyone at the Division 3 Relays, we had the second most relays (4) qualify for states in school history! Record is 5, next highest prior to today was 3.

QUALIFYING FOR STATES
Girls 4x800
Boys 4x800
Girls 4x400
Boys 4x400

6 of the 7 track event teams won their heat!
ALL 7 teams placed in the top 14! And there were over 30 schools at this meet, with as many as 45 teams entered in events (including "B" teams)

Girls 4x800 - 12th, 10:31.44, qualifies by 11 seconds! Snow 2:30.9, Dubin 2:42.7, Naughton 2:39.3, Salley 2:38.4, they won their heat!

Boys 4x800 - 7th, 8:44.08 - qualifies by 7 seconds, nearly medaled! Leonard 2:10.2, Moser 2:13.0, Simonelli 2:10.0, Boyd 2:10.5

Girls Sprint Medley - 4:46.16, 13th out of over 40 teams! Hanlon 2:36.0 (2nd-fastest 800 of the day!), Vrees 29.9, Rosati 30.7, Bagley 69.5, won their heat!

Girls 4x200 - 14th, 1:56.35, missed qualifying by just 0.31 seconds. Cuevas 29.5, Stering 28.8, Rotschild 29.7, Kerrigan 28.1

Boys 4x200 - 9th, 1:39.49 - Cotto 24.6, O'Connell 24.6, McIsaac 25.0, Vasilauskas 25.3, won their heat!

Girls High Jump - 9th, 13'7.75, Snow 4'8, Cuevas 4'8, Ward 4'4

Girls 4x400 - 14th, 4:24.26, Rockett 62.6 (400 PR!), Dubin 68.5, Snow 67.0, Hanstad 65.8, won their heat! Qualified easily by 8 seconds!

Boys 4x400 - 7th, 3:40.92, Leonard 54.5, O'Connell 55.5, Osten 56.6, Cotto 54.0 - 2nd in their heat, just missed medaling by 0.19, ran 15 seconds faster than their home PR! Quailfied by over 4 seconds!

Division 3 Relays Schedule

***New posting at the alumni blog on our former boys' team stars. Feel free to take a look.***
7:30 - Arrive at Holliston High School. Locker rooms will be open if you need to get your gear. This meet DOES allow spikes with implements. No bib # needed, just your uniform. If you're wearing spandex or compression shorts, they have to be a solid color and anyone on the same relay has to be wearing the same color.
7:45 - Depart for Reggie Lewis Center. Don't be late, the bus won't wait.
9:30 - Girls 4x800 (2 heats) - Snow, Dubin, Naughton, Salley
9:55 - Boys 4x800 (2 heats) - Leonard, Moser, Simonelli, Boyd
10:20 - Girls Sprint Medley - Hanlon, Vrees, Rosati, Bagley
10:50 - Boys Sprint Medley
11:20 - Girls 4x200 - Cuevas, Stering, Rothschild, Kerrigan
11:45 - Boys 4x200 - Cotto, O'Connell, McIsaac, Vasilauskas
12:10 - Girls Distance Medley
12:40 - Boys Distance Medley
1:05 - Girls 4x400 - Rockett, Dubin, Snow, Hanstad
1:35 - Boys 4x400 - Leonard, Osten, O'Connell, Cotto

High Jump Relay starts after the shuttle hurdles and shuttle dash are finished on the infield, 10:45 at the earliest. Opening height is 4'4, teams jump in alphabetical order.

Division 3 State Championship Qualifying Marks
Boys 4x200 - 1:39.04
Boys 4x400 - 3:45.24
Boys 4x800 - 8:51.24

Girls 4x200 - 1:56.24
Girls 4x400 - 4:32.24
Girls 4x800 - 10:42.44

School record for girls high jump relay is 13'11.