BOYS SITTING THIRD AFTER DAY 1 AT DIVS; GIRLS 13TH ON THE BACK OF CRINITI'S 2 MILE
Meet Information
MIAA Division 1 Championships Day 1
May 25, 2023
Duane Stadium - North Andover, MA
RESULTS
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Thursday The Minutemen traveled to the campus of Merrimack College for the MIAA Division 1 Championships. With there no longer being an All-State team competition, this meet is the Super Bowl for largest schools in the Bay State. One meet, over two days to determine who is the best large-school team in Massachusetts.
The highlight of the day for the Lex Girls was unquestionably the efforts of Ava Criniti. LHS's senior captain came into the meet with a lifetime best time of 10:51.22, which she ran at the Indoor Meet of Champions this past February. Thursday, LHS's distance queen was the best she has been to date. The veteran harrier led all 3218 meters of the race, and took the field out in a blistering 5:20 through the mile. That grueling pace wore the field down to a group of four runners. Then Criniti began to turn the screw even further. She used a 79-second and then 78-second lap of the track to gap the three athletes left in the chase pack, and she came across the line and heard the bell for the final lap, Criniti gritted her teeth and found another gear. A 75-second final quarter mile put a stamp on her victory as she crossed the line in an amazing time of 10:34.82. That time makes her US #4 for the full 2 Mile event, and qualified her for Nationals in June. More importantly, it scored 10 points for her team to get them on the board in 13th place overall. There must have been something in the water in the Distance Squad's bottles, because along with Criniti's huge day senior Jasmine Sun ran a huge PR of 11:33.40 to qualify for the Meet of Champions, and both junior Dora Liao (12:07.45) and freshman Meghan Caldera (12:10.00) turned in personal bests of their own. The Girls 800m also featured a pair of huge performances from the dynamic duo of Samara McVey and Adia Singh. The juniors made a statement that they are ready to compete with the best of the best in the event this year and beyond. McVey (2:21.53) turned in a four-second PR from the first of three heats to finish 20th overall in a Meet of Champions qualifying time. While Singh (2:22.87) battled through the unseeded section to a PR and 22nd place finish of her own. LHS's Bomb Squad was led by freshman Ainsley Cuthbertson. One of only four ninth graders in the Girls Discus field - along with teammate Ella Wolosoff - Cuthbertson turned in one final PR of 98'8" to end her season. Her mark landed her in 11th place overall.
On the boys' side of the meet, The Minutemen got a taste of what the best teams in Division 1 bring to championship meets. LHS's Boys are among the top contenders for the team title along with the likes of Acton-Boxborough, St. John's Prep, and Newton North. While The Minutemen had a solid day across the board, the other teams elevated their performances, and beat expectations throughout the competition. After Day 1, A-B leads the scoring with 51 points. Prep sits second at 37. LHS is third with 30. And, despite sitting in fourth place, Newton North scored 15 more points than expected on Thursday and currently has 24 points on the board. There are still 11 of the 18 events to be competed on Day 2 this Saturday, but The Minutemen are going to have to lay it all on the line if they want to walk away as champions.
Leading the way for The Minutemen was Kaden "The Sundance Kid" Cassidy. The senior came in as the top seed in the Boys Discus and showed why on his very first throw. That throw, which flew 149'7", was enough to win the competition and secure 10 much needed points for LHS. However, Cassidy saved his best throw of the meet for his final attempt. With his team behind him, Cassidy uncorked the Discus 157'10" to cement his victory by over 10 feet. Perhaps the biggest surprise in Day 1 for The Minutemen was the performance of the Triple Jumpers. Coming in as the 17th seed, Junior Jacob Pan snuck his way into the ninth and final spot in the finals with his jump of 41'10.25" from the first flight. Then in his first jump of the finals, Pan flew nearly a foot farther than he ever has before, and landed in fourth place with a leap of 42'8.75". Along with Pan's big day, the always reliable senior captain Alexios Kontothanassis turned in a leap of 42'8" to secure fifth place for his team. The two combined to score nine points for their team. Another big performance came from junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson in the 400m Hurdles. O'Hare Gibson faced a very talented field, which included reigning State Champ, Acton-Boxborough's Noah Stegmeier. The senior successfully defended his Division 1 title on Thursday with a time of 55.45 seconds. However, O'Hare Gibson ran tough for the entire race and turned in a PR of 55.90 seconds to earn the bronze medal and six key points for his team. Sophomore Max Zhang was seeded 16th coming into the meet with a time of 1:59.74. That meant he had to run in the unseeded section. When the gun fired, he made the decision to go for it all or die trying. The sophomore cruised through the 200 in a sizzling 26 seconds, and continued to pour it on as he hit the quarter mile in 55 seconds. Zhang did not let his foot off the gas down the backstretch and put a significant gap on the rest of his heat as he came through in 1:25 for 600 meters. By that point he was simply in survival mode. He sprinted around the turn and, grinded through the final 100 meters to cross the line in 1:57.54. That time would hold up to earn a point for his team, as he beat all but seven runners in the seeded section to place eighth overall.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Girls Team Scores After Day 1 (Top 5)
1. Brookline - 29
2. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 27
3. Lowell - 26
4. Franklin - 23
5. Newton North - 17
5. Newton South - 17
13. Lexington - 10
Other Highlights for the Boys
Boys Team Scores After Day 1 (Top 5)
1. Acton-Boxborough - 51
2. St. John's Prep - 37
3. Lexington - 30
4. Newton North - 24
5. Wachusett - 17
Up Next
The Minutemen will return to Duane Stadium on Saturday for Day 2 of the MIAA Division 1 Championships. Action will get underway at 2:30pm. Live results can be found HERE.
MIAA Division 1 Championships Day 1
May 25, 2023
Duane Stadium - North Andover, MA
RESULTS
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Thursday The Minutemen traveled to the campus of Merrimack College for the MIAA Division 1 Championships. With there no longer being an All-State team competition, this meet is the Super Bowl for largest schools in the Bay State. One meet, over two days to determine who is the best large-school team in Massachusetts.
The highlight of the day for the Lex Girls was unquestionably the efforts of Ava Criniti. LHS's senior captain came into the meet with a lifetime best time of 10:51.22, which she ran at the Indoor Meet of Champions this past February. Thursday, LHS's distance queen was the best she has been to date. The veteran harrier led all 3218 meters of the race, and took the field out in a blistering 5:20 through the mile. That grueling pace wore the field down to a group of four runners. Then Criniti began to turn the screw even further. She used a 79-second and then 78-second lap of the track to gap the three athletes left in the chase pack, and she came across the line and heard the bell for the final lap, Criniti gritted her teeth and found another gear. A 75-second final quarter mile put a stamp on her victory as she crossed the line in an amazing time of 10:34.82. That time makes her US #4 for the full 2 Mile event, and qualified her for Nationals in June. More importantly, it scored 10 points for her team to get them on the board in 13th place overall. There must have been something in the water in the Distance Squad's bottles, because along with Criniti's huge day senior Jasmine Sun ran a huge PR of 11:33.40 to qualify for the Meet of Champions, and both junior Dora Liao (12:07.45) and freshman Meghan Caldera (12:10.00) turned in personal bests of their own. The Girls 800m also featured a pair of huge performances from the dynamic duo of Samara McVey and Adia Singh. The juniors made a statement that they are ready to compete with the best of the best in the event this year and beyond. McVey (2:21.53) turned in a four-second PR from the first of three heats to finish 20th overall in a Meet of Champions qualifying time. While Singh (2:22.87) battled through the unseeded section to a PR and 22nd place finish of her own. LHS's Bomb Squad was led by freshman Ainsley Cuthbertson. One of only four ninth graders in the Girls Discus field - along with teammate Ella Wolosoff - Cuthbertson turned in one final PR of 98'8" to end her season. Her mark landed her in 11th place overall.
On the boys' side of the meet, The Minutemen got a taste of what the best teams in Division 1 bring to championship meets. LHS's Boys are among the top contenders for the team title along with the likes of Acton-Boxborough, St. John's Prep, and Newton North. While The Minutemen had a solid day across the board, the other teams elevated their performances, and beat expectations throughout the competition. After Day 1, A-B leads the scoring with 51 points. Prep sits second at 37. LHS is third with 30. And, despite sitting in fourth place, Newton North scored 15 more points than expected on Thursday and currently has 24 points on the board. There are still 11 of the 18 events to be competed on Day 2 this Saturday, but The Minutemen are going to have to lay it all on the line if they want to walk away as champions.
Leading the way for The Minutemen was Kaden "The Sundance Kid" Cassidy. The senior came in as the top seed in the Boys Discus and showed why on his very first throw. That throw, which flew 149'7", was enough to win the competition and secure 10 much needed points for LHS. However, Cassidy saved his best throw of the meet for his final attempt. With his team behind him, Cassidy uncorked the Discus 157'10" to cement his victory by over 10 feet. Perhaps the biggest surprise in Day 1 for The Minutemen was the performance of the Triple Jumpers. Coming in as the 17th seed, Junior Jacob Pan snuck his way into the ninth and final spot in the finals with his jump of 41'10.25" from the first flight. Then in his first jump of the finals, Pan flew nearly a foot farther than he ever has before, and landed in fourth place with a leap of 42'8.75". Along with Pan's big day, the always reliable senior captain Alexios Kontothanassis turned in a leap of 42'8" to secure fifth place for his team. The two combined to score nine points for their team. Another big performance came from junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson in the 400m Hurdles. O'Hare Gibson faced a very talented field, which included reigning State Champ, Acton-Boxborough's Noah Stegmeier. The senior successfully defended his Division 1 title on Thursday with a time of 55.45 seconds. However, O'Hare Gibson ran tough for the entire race and turned in a PR of 55.90 seconds to earn the bronze medal and six key points for his team. Sophomore Max Zhang was seeded 16th coming into the meet with a time of 1:59.74. That meant he had to run in the unseeded section. When the gun fired, he made the decision to go for it all or die trying. The sophomore cruised through the 200 in a sizzling 26 seconds, and continued to pour it on as he hit the quarter mile in 55 seconds. Zhang did not let his foot off the gas down the backstretch and put a significant gap on the rest of his heat as he came through in 1:25 for 600 meters. By that point he was simply in survival mode. He sprinted around the turn and, grinded through the final 100 meters to cross the line in 1:57.54. That time would hold up to earn a point for his team, as he beat all but seven runners in the seeded section to place eighth overall.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- In the 200m, freshman Felice Haverly ran 26.50 seconds to finish 10th; Junior Noa Helmbrecht ran a big PR of 26.66 seconds to finish 13th; junior captain Jada Solomon turned in a PR of 27.40 seconds to finish 24th; freshman Julianna Mathurin ran 27.45 seconds to finish 25th.
- Junior Caroline Kvaal (1:11.71) competed well in the 400m Hurdles to finish 11th overall.
- The Discus saw junior Quin Tandeih (97'4") finish 12th; Wolosoff threw 86'7" to finish 17th overall.
- As the only freshman in the field, Bruguers Sagues finished 21st overall with a leap of 31'10.50".
- Senior Uma Sanker ran 2:28.21 to finish 29th in the 800m.
- Sophomore Heidi Alexanderian finished ninth in the Pentathlon with 1529 points.
Girls Team Scores After Day 1 (Top 5)
1. Brookline - 29
2. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 27
3. Lowell - 26
4. Franklin - 23
5. Newton North - 17
5. Newton South - 17
13. Lexington - 10
Other Highlights for the Boys
- In the Discus, senior Allen Jiang threw a PR of 140'11" to place seventh overall; "The Captain" senior Jack Ngo (135'3") was ninth, while juniors Elijah Brown (116'10") and Christian Arrington (109'8") finished 17th and 23rd.
- Senior captain Jayden Bai (57.71) placed seventh in the 400m Hurdles; fellow classmates Naresh Vytheswaran (59.07) and Nick Chipashvili (1:02.27) were 11th and 25th respectively.
- After he turned in PRs in the three of the five events - 19'2.25" in Long Jump, 31'2.75" in Shot Put, and 4:59.90 in the 1500m - freshman Simon Tandeih finished ninth overall with 2789 points in his first ever Pentathlon, narrowly missing out on points to St. John's Prep's Andrew Vigneaux (2797) and Westford Academy's Josh Forty (2794).
- The 200m saw seniors Jake Wheaton (22.32) and Branndon Uda-Thach (22.32) finish ninth and tenth respectively; junior Khai Uda-Thach finished 21st with a PR of 22.74 seconds.
- It was senior captain Aviv Spitz who ran a PR of 2:02.04 to finish 25th in the final open 800m of his LHS career.
- Junior Joey "Candy Man" Ryan ran his heart out in the 2 Mile; his time of 9:33.61 was a PR and landed him in 14th place overall.
Boys Team Scores After Day 1 (Top 5)
1. Acton-Boxborough - 51
2. St. John's Prep - 37
3. Lexington - 30
4. Newton North - 24
5. Wachusett - 17
Up Next
The Minutemen will return to Duane Stadium on Saturday for Day 2 of the MIAA Division 1 Championships. Action will get underway at 2:30pm. Live results can be found HERE.