Hennessy, Leslie and Joseph win first place
Locals shine at the Meet of Champions in Roxbury
ROXBURY >> Heading into Saturday’s Meet of Champions, Billerica High’s Nyrah Joseph didn’t seem to have a chance to win the 55-meter hurdles. She was seeded ninth with a time of 8.57 seconds. On top of that, she woke up with a giant headache.
But when push came to shove, the talented multi-sport athlete came through with a brilliant performance to win with a personal best time of 8.26 seconds, which also broke the school record (8.46) held by Cassandra Thornton since 1996.
“I’m very surprised that I won. All season I have struggled with my starts,” Joseph said. “Today I have a massive headache but my starts (in the preliminary race and final) have been perfect. I don’t know it it’s the headache or something else, but it just all worked out.”
Last year, Joseph, a junior, finished seventh in 8.75 seconds.
“This means a lot because last year when I did the hurdles and was in the finals, I hit my knee and slowed down a lot. I was close to the front (at the time) so winning today just feels amazing,” she said.
Joseph also finished in a tie for seventh place in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, two inches, at the Reggie Lewis Center.
The second individual local champion came in the 1,000 meters as Westford Academy’s Abigail Hennessy ran a personal best time of 2:53.54, which is significantly better than her Division 1 sectional winning time of 2:56.71.
“I knew coming in to the race that it was going to be really tough competition with (Holliston’s) Carmen Luisi in it as she was the top seed, but then she scratched and I don’t know why. I still knew it would be tough because (the third) seed was .01 behind me,” she said.
Hennessy was in the middle
of the pack for the first two laps before she made a move and held on to the lead.
“I just always know that I have a good kick in me. I hadn’t felt so great on the first two laps but then the last lap came and I just said, ‘I can do this’. I’m very happy with this time. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a personal record because I was battling a cold this week,” she said.
Hennessy also joined Sydney Weiss, Alexa Pantoja and Ashley Vinith to take fifth in the 4×400 relay in 4:10.65.
On the boys side, the lone individual champion was Ryan Leslie in the two mile. He had the lead throughout the race, but Cambridge’s Paulino Guevera Mateo was right on his heels until the final 400 when the Billerica senior opened it up and went on to win with a season best time of 9:20.87.
“I didn’t know that he was right on me but figured he was when I heard the crowd,” said Leslie, who has been battling a minor hamstring injury. “With 400 meters left, I looked back and said, ‘oh crap, he’s right there.’ That’s when I knew I had to pick it up. I’m just glad I could hold him off. I’ve been dreaming of winning this race for a long time.”
Here’s a look at the other place finishers who finished in the top eight.
Girls
WESTFORD ACADEMY >> Alin Aydogan finished seventh in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.55 seconds.
BILLERICA >> Freshman Gianna Mcgowan was third in the two mile with a time of 11:03.37. GROTON-DUNSTABLE >> Senior Georgia Brooks was sixth in the two mile in 11:08.17.
WILMINGTON >> Mollie Osgood placed fourth in the high jump, clearing 5-4. LOWELL >> The 4×200 relay team of Anneliese Nogueira, Quinn Petzold, Drea Defreitas and Britney Ogiegor finished seventh in
1:47.45.
Boys
LOWELL >> Khai Yin finished seventh in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.84 seconds.
LITTLETON >> Bona Bradshaw was fourth in the mile, crossing the line in 4:22.99. Tyler Castillo placed fifth in the 55-meter dash in 6.57 seconds.
AYER-SHIRLEY >> Cole New was sixth in the 600 in 1:23.06 and then he joined James Churchill, Jacob Teo and Arthur Ribeiro to place second in the 4×400 relay with a collective time of 3:25.35.
GREATER LOWELL >> Dennis Mowatt finished second in the shot put, throwing 5302.00.
Adam Wedlake and Ryan Kyle came away with seventh places. Wedlake posted a time of 9:37.06 in the two mile and Kyle had a mark of 20-11 in the long jump.
BILLERICA >> The 4×200 relay team of Dhaethmy Dorival, Jacob Peck, Gryffin Bordeau and Tyler Fortune finished third in 1:31.77.