INSTANT CLASSIC: LEX GIRLS WIN 87-87; BOYS SET NEW RECORD AT ML-12 CHAMPS
Meet Information
Middlesex League Championships
February 5, 2024
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA.
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - The Minutemen came to the Middlesex League Championships from two completely different angles on Monday. The Boys have been dominant in League action over the past two winters, winning every meet by double figures, and they set the scoring record at the 2023 League Championships with 138 points. On the other side, the Lex Girls were set to square off with a truly great Woburn team who handed them a 26-point defeat in mid-January. On paper the Tanners are just better than The Minutemen. However, in big meets like this one the seeds go out the window, and it is the teams that lay it all on the line for each other that get to call themselves champions. That is exactly what the Lex Girls did for four hours on Monday. They competed with grit, toughness, and a team-first attitude that picked each other up through the emotional roller coaster that was the 2024 Middlesex League Championships. In the end, LHS fought the Tanners to an 87-87 tie, and a share of the League Crown that tasted just as sweet as any outright victory. While the boys' meet lacked the drama, The Minutemen continued their reign of dominance as they once again set the scoring record with 139 points to earn their fifth straight Indoor League Championship.
The schedule of Indoor championship meets gives teams' hurdle and sprint squads the opportunity to set the tone right off the bat. That is exactly what happened for the Lex Girls as senior Amandine Mangon, who had yet to dip under eight-seconds in the 55m Hurdles - blasted her way to the top time in the prelims as she crossed the line in 8.75 seconds. That effort was followed up by senior captain Katie Atkins, who ran a massive PR of her own to sneak into finals with a time of 9.30. In the finals, the two were even better as Mangon (8.74) placed second, and Atkins (9.20) picked up two more points with a seventh place finish. In the 55m Dash, The Minutemen qualified five athletes - all underclassman - for the event, but it was sophomores Aubrey Deardorf, Bruguers Sagues, and Felice Haverly who made it to the finals. In those finals, the trio was electric. Deardorf ran another big PR of 7.35 seconds to earn silver. Sagues (7.71) picked up fifth place, and four big points with a PR of her own. And, Haverly (7.79) was able to run her way to seventh place. With that, the Lex Girls were up 24 to 21, and sent a message that they were not going to go quietly into the night. On the oval, few stood out more than junior Lucy Kontos who raced in the Mile and 1000m. In the Mile, against a wildly talented field, Kontos laid back in the pack early in the race before she unleashed a furious kick. With a 75-second final quarter, the junior crossed the line with a huge PR of 5:20.02 and earned a bronze medal and six points for her team. Shortly thereafter, she was back in the 1000m where again she laid off the fast pace at the start. With 200 to go, though, she had just edged ahead of Wakefield's Lily Sallee for the lead. Over the final lap the two were in full flight as they battled down the backstretch and around the final turn. Sallee would take the win, but Kontos's 33.90 final lap earned her a well deserved silver medal with a time of 3:07.57. While action was heating up on the track, LHS's Bomb Squad was holding its own in the Shot Put ring. On her final throw of prelims, senior Quin Tandeih made the mark she needed to get into finals along with sophomore Ainsley Cuthbertson. Once there, the two saved their best for last. On their final throws, Cuthbertson (32'3.25") and Tandeih (30'11.25") move up the rankings, and landed in fifth and sixth respectively. Those seven points gave The Minutemen a three-point cushion going into the relays, as the score stood at 74-71.
First up for the Lex Girls was the 4x200m team of Sagues, Deardorf, senior Carson Cheng, and freshman Alyssa McKee. Competing in their third events of the day, the star sophomores got their team out to an early lead with splits of 27.1 and 26.4 respectively. Cheng then held strong and powered around the track towards McKee. The freshman patiently waited on the anchor leg, not only with the weight of her team's shot at a League Championship on her young shoulders, but with the knowledge that she would be trying to hold off one of Massachusetts' truly great sprinters in Reading's Kamryn Encarnacao. With the intensity of that moment, McKee got the baton and quite simply laid her heart on the line for her team. She ran well, but was just edged out in the final strides by a hard charging Encarnacao. However, despite the loss, the 4x2's efforts still earned eight points, while the Tanners could only manage six with their third place finish. With that, the score stood at 82 to 77, which meant that Woburn needed to make up six points in the 4x400m Relay to win. In other words, all the best 4x4 in the state could do was run their race, and hope The Minutemen did not have enough left in the tank to place fourth or better. In the 4x4, LHS called on senior captain Jada Solomon, junior Caroline Kvaal, freshman Callie Glenn, and sophomore Anika Steinbrecher to deliver for their teammates. The gun fired, and the race was off. After an incredible 300m race earlier in the night to place fifth for her team with a massive PR of 43.90, Solomon did not let her tired legs back off an inch as she handed off the baton with a 65.1 split. Kvaal competed hard and kept her team in the mix with a 65.3 leg before handing off to Glenn. She grinding through two laps to the tune of a 65.7 split, which got Steinbrecher the baton in fourth place, and in striking distance of Reading for third place - and the outright team title. The sophomore flew around the first turn but was still behind Reading senior Caroline Gallegos through the first lap. As she came to the bell - her team chanting L!-H!-S! with her every stride - she charged up to Gallegos. The two were separated by less than a meter as they flew down the backstretch, but in the end Gallegos had just enough to hold off Steinbrecher's 61.9 anchor leg to leave the Lex Girls with a fourth place finish and five points. With Woburn's 4x4 taking the win and 10 points, it meant that for the first time in meet history the Middlesex League Championship was shared between two tremendous teams.
On the boys' side, The Minutemen had a number of huge performances along the way to their record setting victory. However, it was the "Burger Squad" who shined brightest. In the 55m Hurdles The Minutemen boasted four qualifiers at the Championships, and in the prelims they were out hot. Junior Ryan Zhang broke through in an indescribably massive way with a time of 7.90 seconds to qualify second going into the finals. In his first season of indoor hurdles, the junior has now qualified for the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Along with Zhang, senior Jacob Pan ran a PR of 8.04 in the prelims, and sophomore Aidan Raney had a huge performance of his own. He took down his previous personal best by nearly a half-second with a time of 8.52 seconds. In the finals, sophomore Simon Tandeih (7.99), Zhang (8.02), and Pan (8.10) placed two-three-four respectively. Along with the fireworks in the hurdles, soccer star Nayan Das proved that he is ready to compete on the biggest stage in the 600m. Das flew through the 400m mark in a time of 53.13, and continued to pour it on over the final 200 to cross the line in an MA #5 and National qualifying time of 1:22.48 to win the event. That performance marked the only Meet Record broken in this year's Boys Championships. Another two-sport athlete, Division 1 lacrosse commit senior Sean Crogan came through for his team in a huge way. Crogan dropped a big PR of 43'3.25" on his first throw of the day. That throw set the tone for the entire field, and held up for six rounds to earn him a bronze medal in his first full season competing the event. And, no recap of the Middlesex League Championships is complete without highlighting the efforts of senior captain Joey Ryan. "The Candyman" made an emphatic statement that he is the class of the League on Monday night. Undefeated in the Mile and 2 Mile throughout the regular season, Ryan cruised his way to victory in 4:26.64 in the Mile, with only his training partner, freshman phenom Patrick Noonan (4:28.54) within striking distance. He then dominated the 2 Mile with an MA #3 time of 9:29.62, besting the field by over 20 seconds.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Final Girls Team Scores
1. Lexington - 87
1. Woburn - 87
3. Arlington - 71
4. Reading - 66
5. Burlington - 34
6. Wilmington - 26
7. Melrose - 24.50
8. Winchester - 23
9. Stoneham - 17.50
10. Wakefield - 15
11. Belmont - 12
12. Watertown - 5
Other Highlights for the Boys
Final Boys Team Scores
1. Lexington - 139
2. Melrose - 70
3. Winchester - 49
4. Wakefield - 47
5. Burlington - 45
6. Reading - 44
6. Woburn - 44
8. Belmont - 11
9. Wilmington - 9
10. Arlington - 7
11. Stoneham - 3
Up Next
A select group of athletes will make one final attempt at hitting a Divisional or Freshman National standard at the MSTCA Qualifier Meet this Saturday, February 10th. The meet - at the Reggie Lewis Center - will begin at 10am.
Sunday, the 4x800m Relay of Das, Barry, Ryan, and Max Zhang will travel to New York City to compete at the 116th Millrose Games. The meet - which also features American Record Holder in the Mile Yared Nuguse, as well as 3x World Championship Gold Medalist and 60m World Record Holder Christian Coleman - will take place at the famed Armory in Washington Heights. The meet begins at 8:45am, with the Invitational 4x800m Relay set to race at 11:00am, and can be streamed with a subscription HERE.
Middlesex League Championships
February 5, 2024
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA.
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - The Minutemen came to the Middlesex League Championships from two completely different angles on Monday. The Boys have been dominant in League action over the past two winters, winning every meet by double figures, and they set the scoring record at the 2023 League Championships with 138 points. On the other side, the Lex Girls were set to square off with a truly great Woburn team who handed them a 26-point defeat in mid-January. On paper the Tanners are just better than The Minutemen. However, in big meets like this one the seeds go out the window, and it is the teams that lay it all on the line for each other that get to call themselves champions. That is exactly what the Lex Girls did for four hours on Monday. They competed with grit, toughness, and a team-first attitude that picked each other up through the emotional roller coaster that was the 2024 Middlesex League Championships. In the end, LHS fought the Tanners to an 87-87 tie, and a share of the League Crown that tasted just as sweet as any outright victory. While the boys' meet lacked the drama, The Minutemen continued their reign of dominance as they once again set the scoring record with 139 points to earn their fifth straight Indoor League Championship.
The schedule of Indoor championship meets gives teams' hurdle and sprint squads the opportunity to set the tone right off the bat. That is exactly what happened for the Lex Girls as senior Amandine Mangon, who had yet to dip under eight-seconds in the 55m Hurdles - blasted her way to the top time in the prelims as she crossed the line in 8.75 seconds. That effort was followed up by senior captain Katie Atkins, who ran a massive PR of her own to sneak into finals with a time of 9.30. In the finals, the two were even better as Mangon (8.74) placed second, and Atkins (9.20) picked up two more points with a seventh place finish. In the 55m Dash, The Minutemen qualified five athletes - all underclassman - for the event, but it was sophomores Aubrey Deardorf, Bruguers Sagues, and Felice Haverly who made it to the finals. In those finals, the trio was electric. Deardorf ran another big PR of 7.35 seconds to earn silver. Sagues (7.71) picked up fifth place, and four big points with a PR of her own. And, Haverly (7.79) was able to run her way to seventh place. With that, the Lex Girls were up 24 to 21, and sent a message that they were not going to go quietly into the night. On the oval, few stood out more than junior Lucy Kontos who raced in the Mile and 1000m. In the Mile, against a wildly talented field, Kontos laid back in the pack early in the race before she unleashed a furious kick. With a 75-second final quarter, the junior crossed the line with a huge PR of 5:20.02 and earned a bronze medal and six points for her team. Shortly thereafter, she was back in the 1000m where again she laid off the fast pace at the start. With 200 to go, though, she had just edged ahead of Wakefield's Lily Sallee for the lead. Over the final lap the two were in full flight as they battled down the backstretch and around the final turn. Sallee would take the win, but Kontos's 33.90 final lap earned her a well deserved silver medal with a time of 3:07.57. While action was heating up on the track, LHS's Bomb Squad was holding its own in the Shot Put ring. On her final throw of prelims, senior Quin Tandeih made the mark she needed to get into finals along with sophomore Ainsley Cuthbertson. Once there, the two saved their best for last. On their final throws, Cuthbertson (32'3.25") and Tandeih (30'11.25") move up the rankings, and landed in fifth and sixth respectively. Those seven points gave The Minutemen a three-point cushion going into the relays, as the score stood at 74-71.
First up for the Lex Girls was the 4x200m team of Sagues, Deardorf, senior Carson Cheng, and freshman Alyssa McKee. Competing in their third events of the day, the star sophomores got their team out to an early lead with splits of 27.1 and 26.4 respectively. Cheng then held strong and powered around the track towards McKee. The freshman patiently waited on the anchor leg, not only with the weight of her team's shot at a League Championship on her young shoulders, but with the knowledge that she would be trying to hold off one of Massachusetts' truly great sprinters in Reading's Kamryn Encarnacao. With the intensity of that moment, McKee got the baton and quite simply laid her heart on the line for her team. She ran well, but was just edged out in the final strides by a hard charging Encarnacao. However, despite the loss, the 4x2's efforts still earned eight points, while the Tanners could only manage six with their third place finish. With that, the score stood at 82 to 77, which meant that Woburn needed to make up six points in the 4x400m Relay to win. In other words, all the best 4x4 in the state could do was run their race, and hope The Minutemen did not have enough left in the tank to place fourth or better. In the 4x4, LHS called on senior captain Jada Solomon, junior Caroline Kvaal, freshman Callie Glenn, and sophomore Anika Steinbrecher to deliver for their teammates. The gun fired, and the race was off. After an incredible 300m race earlier in the night to place fifth for her team with a massive PR of 43.90, Solomon did not let her tired legs back off an inch as she handed off the baton with a 65.1 split. Kvaal competed hard and kept her team in the mix with a 65.3 leg before handing off to Glenn. She grinding through two laps to the tune of a 65.7 split, which got Steinbrecher the baton in fourth place, and in striking distance of Reading for third place - and the outright team title. The sophomore flew around the first turn but was still behind Reading senior Caroline Gallegos through the first lap. As she came to the bell - her team chanting L!-H!-S! with her every stride - she charged up to Gallegos. The two were separated by less than a meter as they flew down the backstretch, but in the end Gallegos had just enough to hold off Steinbrecher's 61.9 anchor leg to leave the Lex Girls with a fourth place finish and five points. With Woburn's 4x4 taking the win and 10 points, it meant that for the first time in meet history the Middlesex League Championship was shared between two tremendous teams.
On the boys' side, The Minutemen had a number of huge performances along the way to their record setting victory. However, it was the "Burger Squad" who shined brightest. In the 55m Hurdles The Minutemen boasted four qualifiers at the Championships, and in the prelims they were out hot. Junior Ryan Zhang broke through in an indescribably massive way with a time of 7.90 seconds to qualify second going into the finals. In his first season of indoor hurdles, the junior has now qualified for the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Along with Zhang, senior Jacob Pan ran a PR of 8.04 in the prelims, and sophomore Aidan Raney had a huge performance of his own. He took down his previous personal best by nearly a half-second with a time of 8.52 seconds. In the finals, sophomore Simon Tandeih (7.99), Zhang (8.02), and Pan (8.10) placed two-three-four respectively. Along with the fireworks in the hurdles, soccer star Nayan Das proved that he is ready to compete on the biggest stage in the 600m. Das flew through the 400m mark in a time of 53.13, and continued to pour it on over the final 200 to cross the line in an MA #5 and National qualifying time of 1:22.48 to win the event. That performance marked the only Meet Record broken in this year's Boys Championships. Another two-sport athlete, Division 1 lacrosse commit senior Sean Crogan came through for his team in a huge way. Crogan dropped a big PR of 43'3.25" on his first throw of the day. That throw set the tone for the entire field, and held up for six rounds to earn him a bronze medal in his first full season competing the event. And, no recap of the Middlesex League Championships is complete without highlighting the efforts of senior captain Joey Ryan. "The Candyman" made an emphatic statement that he is the class of the League on Monday night. Undefeated in the Mile and 2 Mile throughout the regular season, Ryan cruised his way to victory in 4:26.64 in the Mile, with only his training partner, freshman phenom Patrick Noonan (4:28.54) within striking distance. He then dominated the 2 Mile with an MA #3 time of 9:29.62, besting the field by over 20 seconds.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- Along with Solomon's big day, Haverly earned silver in the 300m with a time of 42.65 seconds.
- In the Long Jump, Deardorf placed third with a leap of 16'6.50".
- Glenn gutted her way to a fifth place finish in the Mile with a time of 5:24.73.
- Haverly (4'9") was sixth in the High Jump.
- Sophomore Meghan Caldera (12:21.60) placed seventh in the 2 Mile; freshmen Erin Ehmann (12:22.92) and Josie Bettencourt (12:27.37) both ran huge PRs and qualified for the MIAA Division 1 Championships.
- In the 1000m, sophomore Prachi Aggarwal ran a PR and Division 1 qualifying time of 3:17.44 to place eighth.
- A new LHS Record was established by senior Amandine Mangon, as she leapt her way to a distance of 31'8.50" in the Triple Jump.
Final Girls Team Scores
1. Lexington - 87
1. Woburn - 87
3. Arlington - 71
4. Reading - 66
5. Burlington - 34
6. Wilmington - 26
7. Melrose - 24.50
8. Winchester - 23
9. Stoneham - 17.50
10. Wakefield - 15
11. Belmont - 12
12. Watertown - 5
Other Highlights for the Boys
- The 4x200m Relay of freshman Cayden Chambers, junior Tim George, senior Victor Yu, and senior captain Khai Uda-Thach won the title in 1:32.06.
- Senior McKenna O'Hare Gibson (35.47) earned silver with a PR in the 300m; Uda-Thach (36.49) earned bronze.
- In the 1000m, junior captain Max Zhang (2:36.44) raced to a silver medal with a PR; junior Will Fletcher (2:40.48) ran a PR of his own to place sixth; fellow classmate Zach Barry was eighth in 2:41.94; freshman Eric House ran a PR and qualified for Divisionals with a time of 2:44.71.
- Junior James Joseph teamed up with Max Zhang, Das, and O'Hare Gibson to earn silver in the 4x400m Relay in a time of 3:31.39.
- On his final jump of the competition Tandeih flew 20'1" to place third in the Long Jump.
- George qualified for Divisionals in the 55m Dash in the prelims with a time of 6.80 seconds; he and Yu (6.83) placed fifth and sixth respectively in the finals of the event.
- It was sophomore Cleavon Manor Jr and O'Hare Gibson who landed in a tie for sixth in the High Jump as both cleared the bar at 5'9".
- Sophomore Sam Finch had a huge day in the 2 Mile, as placed sixth with a PR and Divisional qualifier of 10:08.84; freshman Trevor Stevens (10:11.55) had a PR of his own to place seventh.
- Along with the one-two punch of Ryan and Noonan, freshman Owen Ross ran a PR and picked up a point for his team with an eighth place finish in 4:42.52.
- The 25lb. Weight Throw saw senior captain Elijah Brown (49'2"), his brother sophomore Christian Brown (44'5"), and Crogan (42'6.50") all throw personal bests to finish first, fourth and fifth respectively.
Final Boys Team Scores
1. Lexington - 139
2. Melrose - 70
3. Winchester - 49
4. Wakefield - 47
5. Burlington - 45
6. Reading - 44
6. Woburn - 44
8. Belmont - 11
9. Wilmington - 9
10. Arlington - 7
11. Stoneham - 3
Up Next
A select group of athletes will make one final attempt at hitting a Divisional or Freshman National standard at the MSTCA Qualifier Meet this Saturday, February 10th. The meet - at the Reggie Lewis Center - will begin at 10am.
Sunday, the 4x800m Relay of Das, Barry, Ryan, and Max Zhang will travel to New York City to compete at the 116th Millrose Games. The meet - which also features American Record Holder in the Mile Yared Nuguse, as well as 3x World Championship Gold Medalist and 60m World Record Holder Christian Coleman - will take place at the famed Armory in Washington Heights. The meet begins at 8:45am, with the Invitational 4x800m Relay set to race at 11:00am, and can be streamed with a subscription HERE.