Saturday at Reggie Lewis Track
Boys
55: Sam Grad from Westford has been a force in this event this season, and leads competitors with a 6.74 season’s best.
55 Hurdles: Yong Cho from NS seems to be a no-brainer here. He has the #2 time in the state this year at 7.73, and is unlikely to be beaten. Westford’s Chris Fowler is also strong runner in this event.
300: This event is up for grabs, assuming that Grad runs the 55. AB is fairly deep in this event, so look for one of their guys, such as John Murphy or promising soph Neal Olsen to take the title.
600: This is another wide open race, as no athlete has been able to grab control of this event this season. Athletes to watch include David Brew and Curt Owen.
1000: Assuming he is at full fitness after missing the last DCL meet, NS senior Sasha Long should take this race easily. He has by far the fastest PR (2:38), so the only question is whether he is healthy or not.
1 mile: I will be running this event, so I won’t make any really bold predictions, but…
It should be a strong field, also featuring John Jantz (4:29), Yuji Wakimoto (4:31), and Alec Barnes (4:35). Look for a fast winning time and some good PRs. Will we see a small school athlete take home the crown for the second year in a row?
2 mile: Antony Taylor. He will be unchallenged in this event, with a PR almost 30 seconds faster than his nearest competitor, Teddy Farley of AB.
4x200: Westford, with the 2nd best time in the state this year at 1:32, should win, but could be challenged by AB, who ran 1:34 at Class A relays.
4x400: Westford has the fastest time this year of any DCL school with a 3:34, but it will be interesting to see how schools split up their athletes between the three relays at this meet. AB and Newton South will both definitely be in the mix for this race.
4x800: Newton South, who ran 8:19 at Class A relays, should be unchallenged in this event. Look for Arlington though, who, with Jantz and Taylor, could put up a pretty fast time.
Shot put: Andrew Bernard of CC (no, not the guy from The Office) leads DCL competitors this year with a heave of 47-03.
High jump: Sam Wuest of LS is the favorite here with a 6-3 PR. He has proven himself against DCL competition, having already won a DCL title.
Long Jump: NS junior Ross McDonald, with the #3 jump in the state this year at 21-07, should win this event comfortably.
Girls
55: This should be a two way battle for supremacy between Ezra Banks of NS, Olivia Grant of Boston Latin. Banks has the faster time between them this year, at 7.43.
55 Hurdles: Cassandra Ryding of WA should have no difficulty defending her title from last year. Her 2009 season’s best is 8.53.
300: Meisha Brooks looks like a good bet to take the title, but watch for precocious frosh Rebecca Robinson of Arlington, who is seeded only half a second behind Brooks.
600: Depending on how they spread their talent, NS and LS both have several runners who could take this event. Andrea Keklak has the fastest DCL time this year, but I bet she’ll run another event. I see LS’s Jessica Griffin taking the win here.
1000: We will likely see a matchup of the two best 1000 runners in the state this season, Ellie Hylton of LS and Kathy O’Keefe of NS, both of whom have run under 3 minutes. It should be close, but look for the experienced Hylton to prevail, as she did two weeks ago at the MSTCA Elite meet.
1 mile: Again, NS and LS could split their talent here but I predict NS’s Bridget Dahlberg to run here against Keklak. Dahlberg, coming off a 5:02 at the Boston Indoor Games, should have little trouble dispatching Keklak, who won this event last year, but was DQ’ed for entering two events.
2 mile: I see Kelsey Karys vs Jen Gossels here, with Karys winning pretty comfortably. The question is, will we see this year’s first sub-11 2 mile?
4x200: Boston Latin and Newton South’s best times this year are only separated by .02 seconds. Look for a really good battle, with Westford taking third.
4x400: This should be between NS and LS, who have both run 4:08. Look for WA and AB to battle for 3rd and 4th.
4x800: This should recall the epic XC battles between NS and LS last fall. NS are the defending state champs in this event, but LS has the faster time this year, with 9:30. I predict that, if Dahlberg anchors this race, then NS will pull away on the final leg for the win.
Shot put: Nalis Mbianda of NS has emerged as a major threat in this event, and should win easily.
High Jump: Look for Maggie Fleming of LS and Alisha Hanly of WA to battle for the crown. Fleming has jumped one inch higher this season, at 5-2, so look for her to hold the edge.
Long jump: Madison Acton, an LS freshman, leads DCL competitors this year with a leap of 16-01.5. She is the top competitor to watch in this year’s field.
Teamwise, look for a battle between Westford, NS, and AB on the boys side. It will be a very close meet.
For the girls, it will be, as always, between NS and LS. I think that this is NS’s year, as they are defending state champs in outdoor track and cross country. Look for them to add the DCL indoor crown, as well as a potential state championship to their crowded trophy case.
2006 DCL outdoor league meet 2 mile. Jon Gault, 2nd from left, Teddy Farley 3rd from left, Andrew Wortham 5th from left.
No comments:
Post a Comment