Familiar faces run to victory at Winterfest
Paige, Cabral set the pace at Haas Center
NORTON — Behind a mask, Makayla Paige may have been unrecognizable at first during her heat of the 1,000 at Saturday’s MSTCA Winterfest.
But there was no hiding the classic, fluid stride that has made her one of New England’s all-time great middle-distance runners.
Racing on the Haas Athletic Center track on the Wheaton College campus in the green colors of the Greater Lowell Road Runners, the Tewksbury star and Herald All-Scholastic glided to the front and cruised to an easy win in 3:04.90. Summer Bejarano had a strong race to take second in 3:05.79.
Running with a more chiseled, muscular look, Paige is glad to be back on the track after a successful cross country season.
“I’m just so glad to be running,” she said. “I’m so thankful that these meets are going on and to everyone who set them up. Honestly, my plan was just remembering how to race. I’ve done a lot more weights from what would have been the end of outdoor track. It definitely helps my stamina and kick. It’s been good. I like it a lot. I’ve just been trying to get back into it. It’s going really good so far.”
Wearing a mask for five laps, Paige said, took some getting used to. “It’s going to take a bit to get used to the mask,” she said. “That’s the biggest difference. Leg-wise I was OK. The mask definitely makes it tough.”
Paige will face stiffer competition the weekend of Jan. 14-17, when she competes in the 800 at the Virginia Showcase.
Seekonk’s Andrew Cabral, who was wearing a USA singlet given to him by Warrior legend Johnny Gregorek after breaking his home cross country course record, was an easy winner in the mile.
Cabral, a perennial Herald AllScholastic in cross country, didn’t miss the banked Reggie Lewis Center track as he powered his way to a 4:37.67 finish.
“I felt fast,” said Cabral. “I didn’t know what to expect with the mask. At the beginning it wasn’t too bad because the mask is dry and isn’t against your face. But as you breath the condensation builds up and I started inhaling the mask. It was harder to breath, but if I can run this with a mask on I can’t wait to see what I can do with the mask off.”
A 4:24 miler, Cabral is looking forward to running more of the MSTCA meets and eventually breaking his personal best in the mile by the time he graduates. He has been taking the limitations of the pandemic in stride, knowing that it can’t go on forever.
“I’m a little sad that I only had four (cross country) races, but that’s alright,” Cabral said. “It happens. What are you going to do about it? You just have to keep your head down and keep working.”
Kerry O’Connor came in as the top seed in the 600 and she lived up to the billing with a strategic win in 1:49.84. The Milford senior stayed in contact with the field and moved up to second with just under 200 meters remaining and kicked for home on the final straightaway.
“It was a little better than expected,” said O’Connor. “I was hoping to stick with the front until the last 150, which I did, and pass on the last straightaway.”
Newton North’s Max Klein had a monster effort in the shot put, winning with an eye-popping heave of 58-3. Mackenzie Gingras won with a solid 33-5 effort in the girls’ competition. Jordan Emile captured the 55 boys’ hurdles in 7.87 and Myra Bhathena won the girls’ race with her 9.46. Matthew Gard took first in the 1,000 with a 2:43.91 to edge Luke Llewellyn’s 2:44.20.