Chilly conditions can’t slow MSTCA entrants
Lothian sprints way to victory
WEST BRIDGEWATER — It should be very interesting to see just what kind of times Wellesley sprinter Abigail Lothian can put up on a clear, warm day in the starting blocks.
Saturday was far from optimal for any track event at the MSTCA In Vacational Meet. Athletes were met with windy, wet and cold conditions, but Lothian was seemingly unfazed as she accelerated away from a talented field to capture the 55meter in a quick 7.49 seconds. Mackenzie Kelly was clocked with a solid 7.63, but was never in contention once Lothian got going.
Lothian, an enormously talented sophomore who clocked a 57.4 400 in the eighth grade, was pleased with her win, but believes there is plenty room for improvement heading into the spring track campaign where she’ll be competing in the 100 and 200.
“I feel like my start was very good and I’ve improved a lot, but there are things I can improve on,” she said. “I did twice the amount of warming up I usually do because of the weather, so that helped. I need to keep working on my starts because that’s very important in short sprints. My arms too, I have to make sure they’re straight.”
Needham’s Tom Flanagan knew early on in the 2-mile that he would have to go at the wind by himself. The senior was clear of the field after 800 meters and ripped through the mile in 4:46. Flanagan continued to push the pace and surged across the finish line in 9:27.33, a new personal best by 10 seconds.
There’s no telling what Flanagan will run this spring with company at the front and the chance to pace off fellow competitors.
“I was hoping to (run a personal best),” he said. “I’ve never really had a good 2-mile season so I wanted to get one good one in. The wind was picking up on the last couple of laps going around the home turn, but it wasn’t as bad as it could be. It could have been going against me on the last 100. Normally I’d like to stay with the pack, but today I knew I’d have to pace myself.”
Paige Murphy had a big day as she ran away with the 55 hurdles in 8.91 and stretched to a 16-foot, 1Oinch win in the long jump.
Franklin Olivierre outdueled James Ibrahim to claim the 600, 1:22.32 to 1:23.03.
The boys’ mile turned into a duel between Sebastian Gilligan and Zachary Utz. Gilligan edged him in a sprint down the final straightaway in 4:28.45. Utz clocked a 4:29.21. Freshman Kailas Ciatto ran a stellar race for fifth in a quick 4:36.51. The girls’ mile was close as well with Pria Parker winning in 5:12.41. Sarah Ross was three steps back in 5:13.30.
Freshman Callie Dedecko of Barnstable ran steady through a 5:59 opening mile and continued to push on the way to capturing the 2-mile with a time of 12:15.08, three seconds off her personal best. Dedecko is confident she’ll better her mark this spring.
“Training has been going good and I’ve been using the winter season to get ready for outdoors — I’ve never done outdoors,” she said. “I definitely want to go sub 12.”
Weston junior Julie Hohenberg missed breaking a big barrier by less than a second as she pushed herself to an impressive win in the 1,000 with her 3:00.33. Hohenberg got a new personal best for her trouble and dominated the event as she finished more than six seconds ahead of Aisling Callahan’s strong 3:06.74.
“I was definitely looking at that 3-minute mark,” Hohenberg said. “It was definitely a good race and felt good. I felt my legs leave me in the last 400. It was my biggest challenge to get my legs up. I like the middle distance event because you really get the speed going. I’ll definitely be looking at the 800 and mile outdoors.”