Hot times on a hot day
Burlington wins boys ' team title
HINGHAM — Rithikh Prakash knew he couldn't sit behind Gloucester's Finn O'hara and wait until the final 100 meters of the mile in a last- ditch effort to outkick Friday's 800 winner at the conclusion of the Div. 4 Track Championships at sweltering Notre Dame Sunday.
Prakash, who took the 2-mile on Friday, made an aggressive move earlier and it led the way to the gold medal. He burst into the lead with 600 left and pulled away by a small margin for the win in an outdoor personal best of 4 minutes, 20.57 seconds. O'hara, who raced to a big personal best of 1:56.56 in the 800, finished strong in 4:21.42. Prakash's teammate Eric Sekyaya was a strong third with his 4:24.04.
"My coach wanted me to gauge the first two laps," said Burlington's Prakash. "Finn is a great runner and I know he has good finishing speed so that's why I took off from 600 out."
Prakash, who has a 2-mile best of 9:14, will move up to his specialty at next weekend's Meet of Champions and is hoping to run close to 9 minutes. The competition will be as deep as it has been in years.
"It should be a super-fast race," he said.
Prakash's pair of wins fueled the Devils to the team title with 100.33 points. That score put them well ahead of Tewksbury (81 points) and Pembroke (67 points).
The PA announcer called Tewksbury's Alex Arbogast the "King of the Sprints" after the senior easily defended his 100 title 10.74. Newburyport's Ean Hynes won the 110 hurdles in 14.77 and Damian Bebber of Nauset clocked 49.35 for a win in the 400. Foxboro's Harrison Keen took the javelin with a throw of 154- 5 and Jonathan Magliozzi of Wilmington capture the long jump with a 21- 9 effort.
After a big third-place finish against a deep field
in the 200 in Day 1 of action, where she broke the school record, Jayni Santos of Tewksbury thoroughly dominated the 400 in 57.85 in just her second time running the distance this season. Ludlow's Carlie Schwartz was second in 59.14 and Hope Hanafin of Burlington took third in 59.54. Santos was also part of the 4×100 squad that took the gold medal in 49.45.
"They threw me in (the 400) because I was good at the 300 indoors," said the
Umass- Amherst- bound Santos. "It's more of a mental thing running the 400. My starts aren't the best. I watch how the other girls do it and try to copy them."
Pembroke great Sara Claflin outdueled Burlington's Grace Hanafin to capture the 100 in 12.04, defending her 2022 title. Hanafin was a strong second in 12.23 and Syriah McCruse of Canton clinched the bronze medal in 12.61. Claflin and Hanafin also finished 1-2 in the 200 on Day 1.
"I had a pretty good start," she said. "I stayed strong and just executed. It was a pretty big deal for me."
Newburyport put the topping on its' team title with a 4:05.83 win in the 4×400. Devin Stroope had a big fourth-place finish in 59.90 in the 400 and added a bronze medal with a 104- 6 heave in the javelin. Abby Kelly and Hailey Larosa, the 2-mile winner on Day 1, picked up points in the mile, finishing fourth and seventh, respectively.