Cambridge’s Bernard bounces back at Meet of Champions
FITCHBURG >> A disappointing fifth-place finish in the 200 on the opening day of the Meet of Champions wasn’t about to rattle a perennial winner like Cambridge’s Kylee Bernard in Saturday’s chilly meet finale.
The defending champion in the 400, Bernard went up against a deep, talent field and left no question about the finish. Bernard went to her arms down the final straightaway and powered to the tape in a fast time of 56.38 seconds. Bernard left runner-up Ali Murphy of Norton more than a second behind (56.42) on the way to putting an exclamation mark on her second consecutive title after finishing third as a sophomore.
“It was really important (to win),” said Bernard, who will compete at Boston College. “The 400 is my favorite event and it’s super emotional repeating and going out with a bang.”
Bernard showed her championship makeup as she shrugged off the uncharacteristic off-day in the 200. “One race doesn’t define who you and you can always get better,” she said. “My goal at nationals is to break 55 seconds.”
Amelia Everett of Newton South further cemented her impressive resume with scary ease in the mile. Coming off a successful defense of the 800 on Thursday, the strong, smooth-striding Everett star looked perfectly calm in the breezy, 48-degree chill.
Everett, who ran a personal best of 4:47 earlier this season, glided towards the front after the first lap and had a gear no one could match over the final 400, surging across the finish line in 4:54.02. Charlotte Tuxbury of Wellesley ran the race of her life as she broke her personal best by two seconds to take the silver medal in 4:55.89. Dana Lehr of Belmont also dipped under 5-minutes with her 4:56.81.
“The heat took something out of me on Thursday,
but I much prefer this weather,” said the personable Lion star in winning her third consecutive mile title and will compete at nationals in two weeks. “I knew it was going to be a good fast field.”
Everett is confident she still has faster times to run on the national stage before heading to Stanford University in the fall. “I ran 4:47 and I’ve only gotten fitter since,” she said.
Nathan Lopez completed his 2-mile/mile double by pulling away from the pack and pushing hard down the final straightaway for the win in 4:12.99. The St. John’s Prep star broke Alberto Salazar’s meet record in an emotional 2-mile race
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