A record throw for McMeniman
NORTH READING — Dracut girls track coach Ted Shepard held his hands slightly apart and over his head after Erin McMeniman’s first throw in the javelin to show her just how close she was to the meet record at yesterday’s Division 3 state championships.
McMeniman took notice and wasted no time in putting her name in the record book.
On her second throw she was close to technically perfect as her 140-foot, 1-inch launch shattered the former mark of 136-0 set by Bethany Barrar of Somerset in 2010.
McMeniman hopes to improve even more at next Saturday’s All-States at Fitchburg State University.
“It was perfect throwing conditions,” said the Brown-bound McMeniman. “I kept my back (arm) longer than I usually do and that’s been something I’ve been working on. My approach was quicker than it has been.”
North Reading’s Megan Lawlor captured the long jump with a leap of 17-73⁄4 and pole vaulters Isabella Parrett and Sophia Casciano finished 1-2 to pace the Hornets to the team victory with a massive 108.58 points. Ali Grasso took second in the triple jump at 37-21⁄2 and sprinted to a clocking of 15.71 seconds for second in the 110 hurdles for the Hornets.
Wakefield’s boys squad was powered by Patrick Redmond’s win in the shot put (52-81⁄4) as the Warriors dominated the team competition with 77 points. Pembroke finished a distant second with 53 points.
Steve Wilson of Tewksbury had to contend with mother nature in the pole vault, but he made the necessary adjustments and came away with a meet record of 14-0. That finish bettered the 13-8 mark set back in 1992 by Holliston’s Jerry Taylor.
“I thought I had a shot (at the meet record),” said Wilson. “I always have my eyes on it. I had a strong headwind on my third attempt, but I knew I had to go for it. You get a little bit of a feeling of how close you are. I didn’t hit the bar on the way up and I moved my hips going over.”
LSU-bound Julia Palin of Norton settled into the pack for three laps and needed just one move to put her third career 2-mile title to bed. She surged to the front with just over a mile to go and was by herself over the final four laps. Palin crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of second place in 11:13.66. She was just over her personal best of 11:07 and is hoping to finish in the top two and dip under 11 minutes at All-States.
“I wanted to be patient and going into the mile is where I thought I should really start moving,” said Palin. “I tried to stay in the zone and just keep digging.”
Tiana Bazie of Dennis-Yarmouth switched her technique in the discus three days ago and delivered a personal-best throw of 132-11 for the win. Bazie also outdueled Tewksbury’s Krista Stracqualursi in the shot put for the win at 39-31⁄4.
“(The technique) is pretty new, but it felt good,” said Bazie. “I slow down in the back of the circle and then I speed up, so when I get to the front I switch my leg over. This is my first weekend where it’s been really good weather. I just want to do my best (at All-States). If I do that I’ve already won.”
Milton’s Smith Charles won both the long jump (23-1⁄4) and high jump (6-6) to go along with a second-place finish in the triple jump (44-7).