New England Rankings: 5th Release

Show stopping relays were the order of the week with the Yale Track Classic and the Massachusetts Division meets providing ample competition to tear apart the rankings.  Some teams, like Marshfield (MA), had the luxury of doing both.  They participated in the MSTCA Division 2 Relays last weekend, and then traveled to Yale on Friday where they unleashed a US#1 DMR time of 10:17.40.  That group was anchored by Joel Hubbard who split 4:14 for his mile leg.

Three was the magic number for La Salle Academy (RI) at the Yale Track Classic.  They ran a US#3 time of 9:16.68 to finish second to national power Saratoga Springs of New York.  If that wasn’t enough of an accomplishment for one weekend, they also ran a US#3 time of 11:53.36 to finish second behind national power Tatnall of Deleware.  To complete the theme, Molly Keating ran a NE#3 time of 5:02.28 in the mile.

Hope High School of Rhode Island set a new state record of 1:43.24 in the girls 4x200m at Yale.  That time is NE#1 and US#12.

Lowell High School (MA) took over the top spot in New England with their 8:06.30 winning time in the 4x800m at the MSTCA Division 1 relays.  They had just enough to hold off NE#2 Brookline who finished second in 8:06.52.  Both teams were invited to the New Balance Grand Prix where they will square-off with four additional teams from Massachusetts and six teams from New York.  Connecticut rivals Staples and Norwich Free Academy also moved into the New England top five with 8:07.22 and 8:07.31 times at Yale.

The girls 2 mile is beginning to tighten up with the cross country runners beginning to round into shape following a long fall season of racing.  Bethanie Brown of Waterville (ME) still leads the group at 10:48.35, but three girls made significant progress over the weekend.  Abbie McNulty of Bishop Feehan is now MA#1 after winning the EAC Championships in 11:08.61, and down at Yale, Kellie Davis (Hillhouse, CT) and Paige Ethier (South Kingstown, RI) posted impressive 3,000m times of 10:01.86 and 10:05.91, respectively.  They are now NE#1 and #2 in that event.

A showdown appears to be brewing in the boys’ middle distance events.  Four athletes posted 800m times in the mid 1:50 range, with Zach Campo of South Kingstown (RI) leading the way at 1:55.70.  Connecticut star Brian Poirier (Northwest Catholic) was not far behind at 1:55.72 and Dan Kilcoyne (Chariho, RI) is right on his heels at 1:56.21.  Joe Vercollone (Pembroke) was bumped to US#2 in the 1000m (2:30.51) this week, but he did rip a 1:56.8 split in the 4x800m at the MSTCA Division 3 relays.

The jumps got two new leaders in Adam Couitt (Somerville, MA) and Craig Shytle (Weston, MA).  Couitt, who is only a sophomore, improved to 6’9” in the high jump at the EAC Championships, while Shytle won the long jump at Yale with a mark of 22’1”.