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North Attleboro's trip to Holyoke proved profitable as the team returned with a boys' state champion and girls' relay record.

Ryan VanDeGiesen continued to show that his versatility stretches all the way to the state finals. His 42'3.25 triple jump didn't place, but it put him clearly into the top half of the competition, which were the 24 top triple jumpers from across the state. He proved even more competent in the javelin where his toss of 175'6” was good enough for 4 th place.

Chris Carpenter also competed in that event, his toss of 150'0” good enough for 18 th .

Aaron Fears made two rounds in the 100M dash running 11.54 in the trials and 11.40 in the semis. In his first year of competition he missed the finals by just 5/100ths of a second.

Another underclassman who put the state on notice that he's ready for the next level was Robbie Vaughn. He too made it to the semis, posting a 15.68 in the trials and finishing up with a 15.58 semi.

The long jump featured two strong performances, Matt Dienenger finishing 15 th with a leap of 20'6” while Marcus Vauhgn posted the first of his two placements. His jump of 21'9.5” puts him #3 on the NA all-time performance list and netted him a sixth place.

Once on the track Marcus re-established the fact that there is no finer hurdler in the state. His pedestrian level 15.55 in the trials gave false hope to all the pretenders. But King Marcus wasn't about to be de-throned. His 14.49 was the best time posted in the semis and he finished the day by blasting a 14.44 to again rule the state.

For those who don't appreciate the complexity of this task, man against barrier, consider the following. There are ten hurdles that must be cleared at full speed. Being 1” too low on any of them can be disaster. One 1” too high takes extra time and brings you back to the rest of the fleet-footed crowd barking at your heels. A bad start, one off balance landing, one break in concentration can all end your quest. And for each race there are ten impediments to perfection. You must negotiate this phalanx three times – six if you consider the fact that you needed to do the very same thing a week ago to get here. That becomes six games of sudden death hurdles, and Marcus is the lone person in the state to have done so flawlessly.

The boys' 4 X 100M matched their seed of 9th with a time of 43.77.

Jess Farren was the surprise entry into the finals by finding her range last week, PRing with a 106'6. Though a little short of that distance today, her toss of 102'3” was the third best of her career and proved that last week was no fluke. She just edged Franklin's Bertman (by 2”) who had beaten her on the tie-breaker last week.

TyLynn Graham made it all the way to finals in the 100M hurdles, eventually ending up 7th . Her entry into the event was nothing less than spectacular, having just begun hurdling at mid-season. Her series was as follows. Trials 15.89, semis 15.84, finals 15.76.

Leah Seward made it to semis in the 200M despite block failure during the trials. The person holding her blocks was not positioned properly and as Leah pushed off the blocks moved. Her 26.75 was the final qualifying time for semis. With a better start in the next round she sped to a 26.36 which was good for 12th overall.

Kellyn Kearney started her long jump series with a 16'4 and that ended up her best jump of the day – good for 13 th place. She added another 16'+   jump at 16'2.5” as she continued to show the type of consistency that has made her the best long jumper in North Attleboro history.

It remained for the girls' showcase event of the day – the 4X100. There was a lot riding on the race. North had made the New England Championships four years in a row and were looking for a 5 th . Plus, since unveiling the speed-suits five years ago they had brought good luck. Now the luck was to be tested.

Such is the bond that 4X100 members develop that they sent me in search of our star alternate, Nicole Chace, to stand on the blocks. Nicole made the trip to the states for the sole purpose of supporting her teammates, and now they needed her positive karma. The meet was stacked with teams that had sub-50 potential. The pressure was on.

Just before race-time Adrienne Goldberg asked “ Any last advice”. I simply said, “Be patient.” For a race that is associated with raw speed, the answer might sound strange unless put in the context of hand-offs, and the knowledge that the excitement of the race often leads to the outgoing runner leaving too early.

But as a team, each was patient. Each exchange of the baton went smoothly. Kellyn got out strong and it was evident that NA didn't want this to be their last race. Jen McNamara blasted down the backstretch. Adrienne's timing was perfect and I knew we were in great position with our two fastest legs left. Adrienne's flawlessly exchanged to Leah Seward who has shown the ability to hold off hard charging teams. She had to do so again. Receiving the baton in 4 th place, she defended the position as the top sprinters from other teams tried to close the gap.

Having placed 4 th in the seeded heat, it was clear that they would go on. When the results were announced it confirmed that no teams from other heats had bumped them. The best news was yet to come.

The official time was 49.50 F.A.T. and they had just broken one of the oldest and revered records. They had beaten the record of 49.56 set in 1986 when North's 4X1 was the most feared relay team in the state and they went on to win the Eastern State's 4X100M title at Hofstra University.

It is a sign of the times and the competition that it garners a 4 th on this day. The countless handoff practices that started back in mid-march and team unity have made the whole greater than the sum of its' parts, and have secured their spot in history – one for which other teams will now have to shoot.