Twice is nice to Norton’s Williams
Norton’s Brooke-Lynn Williams raced away from a stacked 55-meter dash field to easily defend her title in last night’s Division 4 track championships.
Then, the first lady of Massachusetts track came back and did it all over again when a timing snafu in the event negated the original results and forced meet officials to rerun the heats and final later in the competition.
The four-hour delay didn’t slow Williams one iota as she sailed through her second preliminary heat of the night in 7.33 seconds and proceeded to pulverize the field to win her third division title in 7.05.
“It’s so hard because I know my second race was faster than they had it as,” said Williams. “I felt really good today even after all the races. We definitely train for this endurance. I was a little discouraged and a little nervous. I scratched the 300 because this is my baby race. I ran the 4x200 and we ended up winning and that was so encouraging. I’m ready for next week and I’m really excited.”
While Williams & Co. waited, the record books took a pounding as a slew of marks fell.
Milton’s Smith Charles thoroughly enjoyed darting to a win and meet record of 6.45 seconds in the 55. The sophomore’s time was under the 6.47 Norton’s Abu Ceesay recorded in 2016. Charles was equally devastating in the jumps, leaping 22 feet, 3 1⁄2 inches to win the long jump and cleared the high jump bar at 6-foot-4.
“I thought my starts were better even though I didn’t break 6.3,” he said. “I think (breaking the record) is a fun thing to do and hopefully there’s more to come.”
Milton’s Bridget Mitchell ran 15 laps of the mile in front with Tewksbury’s Rachel Sessa in her back pocket, but it was Sessa who made the break with 200 left to capture the win in 4:57.16. Sessa’s time was an indoor personal best and bettered the meet record of 4:58.39 set in 2013 by Olivia Lantz of Manchester Essex.
“I had no idea how the race was going to unfold,” she said. “It’s such a talented division. I just wanted to put myself in a position where I could be patient and then make a move.”
Rodney Agyare-May of Burncoat was a picture of concentration as he clinched his third consecutive Div. 4 title in the 600. The Harvard-bound senior looked relaxed and in complete control as he left the field behind to break his own meet record in 1:20.99.
“I just wanted to stay relaxed the whole race and make sure my form was good,” said Agyare-May.
Northampton’s boys captured the team title with 67 points to edge out Wakefield’s 61 points. Burlington was third with 48.5 points.
Milton sophomore Elise O’Leary used her devastating kick over the final 200 to distance herself from Lauren Poimeno and easily take the 600 in a meetrecord time of 1:34.92. Milton’s girls captured the team title with 95 points.
Medway sophomore Ava Vasile dusted two fields, copping the gold medal in the 55 hurdles in 8.53 and coming back to nail down a 40.39 in the 300. Melrose’s Kevin Wheelock had a tremendous night on the oval, garnering a pair of gold medals with wins in the mile (4:25.17) and 2 mile (9:47.51).