BOYS AND GIRLS EARN A PAIR OF TOP-5 FINISHES AT DIVISIONAL 1 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Meet Information
MIAA Division 1 Championships
February 19, 2022
Reggie Lewis Track & Field Center - Boston, MA.
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - On Saturday morning The Minutemen were at Reggie Lewis for the Division 1 Championships. Coming in with a strong group of athletes, LHS was poised to place well in both the Boys and Girls team scoring. In the end, there were a handful of strong performances by The Minutemen which landed the Boys team with 36 points and a fourth place overall finish to Newton North, who won the title by scoring a total of 84 points. On the Girls side, the meet had significantly more drama as Newton North held a narrow lead over Wachusett and LHS going in the seeded section of the 4x400m Relay. In the end, the girls from Wachusett were able to take the victory in the event. However, their efforts were not enough to overtake the Tigers who placed second in the event sealing the team championship with 55 points. Lexington's relay ran a seven-second season best to place fifth in the event. With that, The Minutemen placed third overall with 45 points.
For The Minutemen, the meet was highlighted by the stellar performance of the 55m High Hurdlers. Juniors Michael Gerfen and Jayden Bai came into the meet seeded fifth and 12th respectively. However, both ran PRs in the prelims to get into the finals where they placed fourth and sixth respectively. Gerfen's time in the prelims of 8.04 seconds was a personal best by nearly a tenth of a second, while Bai improved his PR to 8.22 seconds in the final. Along with the hurdle squad, senior Ollie DiCerbo had a big day in the Mile. One of LHS's captains, DiCerbo turned in a five-second person best time of 4:24.75 to place seventh overall. Despite a tough start to his day in the Mile, fellow classmate and captain Evan Eberle (2:34.00) came back to gut his way to a PR in the 1000m. His time earned him the bronze medal and The Minutemen's highest finish on the day in the boys meet. In addition to the action on the track, junior Kaden Cassidy turned in his best performance of the year with the 12lb Shot Put. "The Sundance Kid's" best throw traveled 49'9.25" to land him fifth overall. It is worth noting that the Shot Put was won by Newton North senior Max Klein, who's best mark of 64'10.25" broke the record set in 1972 by Leominster great Ray Auger.
In the Girls meet, as they have done all season Mari McBride and Ava Criniti brought home the victory in their best events. For senior captain McBride, that meant continuing her undefeated season in the High Jump. Winning the event with a leap of 5'4". LHS's junior harrier Ava Criniti turned in a personal best 5:05.63 in the Mile to win the event going away. The Minutemen's unofficial performer of the meet award has to go to Annie O'Brien. Just over a month ago, the senior broke the 3:20 mark in the 1000m for the first time. Saturday she went toe-to-toe with some of the best runners in the state. Coming through the 800m in 2:30, O'Brien gutted her way to her second massive PR in as many weeks. This time crossing the line in 3:08.48 to place eighth overall in what has become her signature event. She then doubled back to leadoff the 4x800m Relay with a 2:29.8 split. Her relay mates Maya Dubrovsky (2:35.9), Serena Caira (2:35.9), and Samara McVey (2:32.9) all ran personal or season bests to placed seventh overall in a time of 10:14.82.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 55
2. Wachusett - 52
3. Lexington - 45
4. Andover - 39
4. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 39
6. Brookline - 38.50
7. Acton-Boxborough - 32
8. Newton South - 27
9. Central Catholic - 26
10. Westford Academy - 21
10. Franklin - 21
Other Highlights for the Boys
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 84
2. Acton-Boxborough - 74
3. Saint John's Prep - 47
4. Lexington - 36
5. Newton South - 32
6. Lowell - 27
7. Brockton - 27
8. Weymouth - 24
9. Brookline - 20
10. Andover - 16
Up Next
The Minutemen are off until next Saturday when they will compete against the best that Massachusetts has to offer at the All-State Championships. Unlike in the Fall during Cross Country, the Indoor Track & Field All-State Meet features all of the top prep talent in the state at one meet at one time. All-States will begin at 10:30am at Reggie Lewis.
MIAA Division 1 Championships
February 19, 2022
Reggie Lewis Track & Field Center - Boston, MA.
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - On Saturday morning The Minutemen were at Reggie Lewis for the Division 1 Championships. Coming in with a strong group of athletes, LHS was poised to place well in both the Boys and Girls team scoring. In the end, there were a handful of strong performances by The Minutemen which landed the Boys team with 36 points and a fourth place overall finish to Newton North, who won the title by scoring a total of 84 points. On the Girls side, the meet had significantly more drama as Newton North held a narrow lead over Wachusett and LHS going in the seeded section of the 4x400m Relay. In the end, the girls from Wachusett were able to take the victory in the event. However, their efforts were not enough to overtake the Tigers who placed second in the event sealing the team championship with 55 points. Lexington's relay ran a seven-second season best to place fifth in the event. With that, The Minutemen placed third overall with 45 points.
For The Minutemen, the meet was highlighted by the stellar performance of the 55m High Hurdlers. Juniors Michael Gerfen and Jayden Bai came into the meet seeded fifth and 12th respectively. However, both ran PRs in the prelims to get into the finals where they placed fourth and sixth respectively. Gerfen's time in the prelims of 8.04 seconds was a personal best by nearly a tenth of a second, while Bai improved his PR to 8.22 seconds in the final. Along with the hurdle squad, senior Ollie DiCerbo had a big day in the Mile. One of LHS's captains, DiCerbo turned in a five-second person best time of 4:24.75 to place seventh overall. Despite a tough start to his day in the Mile, fellow classmate and captain Evan Eberle (2:34.00) came back to gut his way to a PR in the 1000m. His time earned him the bronze medal and The Minutemen's highest finish on the day in the boys meet. In addition to the action on the track, junior Kaden Cassidy turned in his best performance of the year with the 12lb Shot Put. "The Sundance Kid's" best throw traveled 49'9.25" to land him fifth overall. It is worth noting that the Shot Put was won by Newton North senior Max Klein, who's best mark of 64'10.25" broke the record set in 1972 by Leominster great Ray Auger.
In the Girls meet, as they have done all season Mari McBride and Ava Criniti brought home the victory in their best events. For senior captain McBride, that meant continuing her undefeated season in the High Jump. Winning the event with a leap of 5'4". LHS's junior harrier Ava Criniti turned in a personal best 5:05.63 in the Mile to win the event going away. The Minutemen's unofficial performer of the meet award has to go to Annie O'Brien. Just over a month ago, the senior broke the 3:20 mark in the 1000m for the first time. Saturday she went toe-to-toe with some of the best runners in the state. Coming through the 800m in 2:30, O'Brien gutted her way to her second massive PR in as many weeks. This time crossing the line in 3:08.48 to place eighth overall in what has become her signature event. She then doubled back to leadoff the 4x800m Relay with a 2:29.8 split. Her relay mates Maya Dubrovsky (2:35.9), Serena Caira (2:35.9), and Samara McVey (2:32.9) all ran personal or season bests to placed seventh overall in a time of 10:14.82.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- In the 2 Mile the tandem of senior captain Clara Fu (11:40.82) and Uma Sanker (11:45.29) earned 11 points by placing third and fourth respectively.
- Criniti (3:02.89) followed up her Mile win with a bronze medal in the 1000m.
- Senior captain Elena Sabin, sophomores Adia Singh and Gabby Fanielli, and McBride made up the fifth place relay that ran 4:09.97.
- McBride placed eighth in the 300m with a time of 42.34.
- Junior Jasmine Sun found a whole other gear in the Mile; her time of 5:42.36 was a 10-second PR and good enough to finish 17th overall.
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 55
2. Wachusett - 52
3. Lexington - 45
4. Andover - 39
4. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 39
6. Brookline - 38.50
7. Acton-Boxborough - 32
8. Newton South - 27
9. Central Catholic - 26
10. Westford Academy - 21
10. Franklin - 21
Other Highlights for the Boys
- Also earning a bronze medal for The Minutemen was senior captain Josh Lee; his 300m time of 36.58 was a PR.
- Lee led the way for the 4x400m Relay with an unofficial split of 50.9; senior Andreas Padilla, junior Alexios Kontothanassis, and junior Aviv Spitz finished it off for LHS to earn a fifth place finish with a time of 3:36.73.
- In the 4x200m Relay, Gerfen, Bai, junior Miguel Jaramillo, and Lee ran just off LHS's season best; their time of 1:34.76 placed seventh.
- Along with Cassidy's fifth place finish, junior Jack Ngo placed eighth with a throw of 44'8.75".
- Also placing seventh was the 4x800m Relay (8:22.60) of DiCerbo, senior Nick Lam, sophomore Glenn Burscu, and Eberle.
- Earning the title freshman phenom, Max Zhang was the only 9th Grader in the field for the 1000m; his time of 2:42.22 was a three-second PR and landed him 13th overall.
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 84
2. Acton-Boxborough - 74
3. Saint John's Prep - 47
4. Lexington - 36
5. Newton South - 32
6. Lowell - 27
7. Brockton - 27
8. Weymouth - 24
9. Brookline - 20
10. Andover - 16
Up Next
The Minutemen are off until next Saturday when they will compete against the best that Massachusetts has to offer at the All-State Championships. Unlike in the Fall during Cross Country, the Indoor Track & Field All-State Meet features all of the top prep talent in the state at one meet at one time. All-States will begin at 10:30am at Reggie Lewis.