Return to : Home

There are times when you know you should have been somewhere else. Saturday I was in the wrong place at the wrong time! That’s because I wasn’t at the Reggie Lewis Center and that is definitely where you wanted to be if you were a track fan. It was just a great meet!

When I returned home from Connecticut last night I got a taste of the meet through a couple of e-mails from coaches. This morning I rushed to pick up the Boston Globe and it just gave the top 6 places – again only a teaser. Finally, I found the complete results on ihigh.com and following is a summary of the Hockomock League’s best performances.

On the girl’s side Foxboro placed 7th based on the strength of Steph Guy, the quick feet of Holly Heinricker and another breakthru race by the almost no-name Foxboro 4X4. Oliver Ames ended up 9th with 14 points. Perhaps it was the passing of a torch as Katy O is closing out her distance era and Shanika Pitts is changing the face of the OA team with her sprinting.

On the boys side North Attleboro placed 4th with Marcus, Marcus and more Marcus. He accounted for 20.25 of their 21 points and set history by becoming the first NA athlete to be a double state winner in open events. A history of NA’s State Meet multiple winners can be found here. Foxboro boys used speed to place 8th with 15 points, all on the speed of State Champion John Lancaster, John Lyles and the 4X200.

Speed was a big factor in Hockomock success in general. Lancaster won the 55M title with relative ease as he burst ahead of a group that even made the electronic timing have to look twice. With a series of 6.62-6.54-6.51 he was in command all day. Lyles grabbed the 6th by going 6.76-6.68-6.66. So close were the other runners that he had the identical time as 5th place and was only .06 out of 2nd. They were part of the 4th place 4X200 that ran 1:33.66. North Attleboro was the other placement in the 4X200 grabbing 6th at 1:34.91.

Meanwhile Pitts ran incredibly steady with 7.34-7.36-7.35. Her second place was the sole Hock finisher, Kristy Fuller being the only other representative to make it past the first round. The good news was that her 7.48 in the trials would have been good enough to get to the finals and place. But her 7.58 semi wasn’t enough. Remarkably, there was not a senior in the finals so next year will be just as tough.

Elsewhere on the infield it was North Attleboro that showed strength over the barriers. Marcus shattered his own school record in the finals cruising to a 7.55. Even his prelim of 7.71 would have done it. He also rushed back and forth to long jump where he captured another win in the slimmest of margins - .25”. His leap of 21’4.75 came with the disadvantage of not having a training facility for the event, making his double win all-the-more spectacular. Next year this event is wide open as 16 of the 19 competitors were seniors, the other three being juniors.

Jen McNamara didn’t place but she continued to lower her time. Entering the meet with a PR 9.06 she ran all three trips faster at 9.03-8.88-9.01. Though placing 8th she will go on by virtue of other runners opting to go to nationals.

Holly Heinricker flashed to third place in the 300M running a 41.12 qualifier and 40.87 in the finals. She also added a 58.5 anchor on the 4X4 showing her ability to recover quickly. Mike Lyon placed 6th , following up his 36.74 with a 36.68. Mike Dundon was just .05 from qualifying for finals and sophomore Dave Lint was one of the only two sophomores to make this meet.

In the 600M, Jake Hopkins and Mike Lawler were the best Hock male representatives at the meet posting 1:26.36 and 1:26.39 in different heats. But it was Alison Cuozzo who stole the show with a meet winning 1:36.09. Only a sophomore and already racking up state championships!

The 1000M wasn’t kind to the Hock runners as none of the representatives was able to PR or place.

But the mile was another story. OA posted a pair of third place finishes. Drew Harrington was well off his Class B meet record pace of a week ago but still grabbed the third place at 4:19.91. Then on the girls’ side Katy O’Brien ran another solid race (maybe another PR?) at 5:11.86. To show the Hock won’t be losing all of its’ mile strength next year as junior Kate Brague placed 6th in her own PR - 5:16.86. Kate’s team mate Kailin Collins also notched a 6th place finish running 11:48.50 in the two mile. Another Mansfield junior runner, Mike Meagher was the closest to placing at 10:03 – 11 seconds from medaling.

Derek McCune was a little off his PR but still placed 6th in the shot put at 52’2.25” Shot was a great event for the girls as the Hock posted 3 of the top 6 places. Tricia Harrison (3rd-39’3), Stephanie Guy (5th-38’7.5”) and Aimee Kern (6th-38’.05”). Kern, who has been well back of Harrison and Guy all season has shown she intends to challenge them this spring. It will be a duel of all seniors and who knows where this event is headed next year.

Kristen Oberlander was the only Hock athlete to score in HJ – a 5’2 placement getting her a tie for 5th. She has been a model of consistency all season but will have to hold off a group of talented young challengers in the spring (that could be a pun).

The top relays for girls were Franklin’s 4X800M placing third in 9:52.94 and Foxboro’s suddenly dominant 4X400 getting 5th at 4:07.61

Oliver Ames’s 4X4 is reminiscent of the great teams of the early 80’s when OA, NA and Canton placed 1-2-3 (in that order) in the outdoor New England Championship. They still have a little ways to go to catch up to the outdoor school record but their 3:30.74 for 6th place is a good start. Also posting a fast time was Mansfield with a 3:31.82 good for 8th.