Hot times in cool temperatures
Shriner among those shining at MSTCA meet
PLYMOUTH >> Macey Shriner knew she wasn’t going to get any favors from the weather when she took the line for the mile at Saturday’s MSTCA Jim Hoar Freshman-Sophomore Invitational at Plymouth South.
The freshman, though, wasn’t going to let the stiff, chilly breeze stymie her chances at racing for a new personal best. The smoothstriding Shriner stayed on the shoulder of Brookline’s Lucia Werner before surging into the lead on the back straightaway of the final lap and gritted her teeth for the final 100 meters to destroy her personal best.
Shriner’s time of 5:13.98 erased her previous best of 5:24 and certainly gave her a lift with the warmer weather hopefully right around the corner. Werner finished strong to clinch second in 5:27.11 in a photo finish with Arlington’s Elise Kempf (5:27.12).
Shriner attributed her new personal best to her warmup, which included 20 minutes of running and plenty of stretching. By the time she stripped off her sweats, she was ready for a strong effort.
“I was trying to break that time since middle school,” said the beaming Shriner, who would like to run under 5:10 this spring. “That race went really well. I was sure not to slow down on the third lap, which I do sometimes. I’ve had the speed, I just haven’t had the focus to push that hard.”
Like Shriner, Brookline’s Kailas Ciatto used his closing speed to capture the boys’ mile in a quick 4:28.29. The sophomore made one move past Littleton’s Timothy Rank
(second, 4:32.46) and was never challenged over the final 200.
“The goal really was just to win,” said Ciatto, who clocked a 4:24 indoors and has his sites set on a sub 4:20 this spring. “My (Mike Glennon) told me to sit on them until at least 1300 and then to kick away the last two or 300. And that’s what I did.”
Franklin sophomore Sarah Dumas’ technique over the 400 hurdles was very close to flawless as she simply ran away from the field for an easy 66.46 win. That time put Dumas more than four seconds ahead of teammate and secondplace finisher Ella Chandaris (1:10.94). It was also just short of the school record of 65.94.
“I just ran in the moment,” said Dumas. “I
wasn’t thinking about my steps. I was going to do enough to stay in the race. I tried to stay low (over the hurdles) because of the wind, but it wasn’t that bad.”
Natick 2-miler Steven D’Allesandro waged a fierce duel with Newton North’s Gabe Grove over the last 100 and came away with the narrow win, 9:59.41 to 9:59.88.
“I’ve raced a lot of these guys before so I knew they were going to be there,” said D’Allesandro.
Dylan Albierti of St. John’s Prep bolted to the win in the 400 hurdles in 59.92 and Brookline’s Andrew Bamberg of Brookline captured the 200 in 23.29 and Medford’s William Kelley put up a 53.68 to win the 400. Newton North’s Donnell Harvey took the 100 in 11.50 and Chloe Guthrie of Mansfield won on the girls’ side in 13.06. In the field events, Liberty Gazaille of Case got off a heave of 92-7 to win the discus and Skye