Marshfield’s Graham Heinrich and Belmont’s Dana Lehr were a few of the biggest winners on Thursday in the first part of the MIAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Merrimack College.
Heinrich won the boys two-mile race with a time of 9:17.42, and also placed fourth in the boys 800 meter race with a final mark of 1:55.20. Meanwhile, Lehr was the winner of the girls two-mile race, posting a time of 10:36.90.
Here are more highlights from the first day of action in North Andover:
John Kivlan, Josie Hopkins win respective pentathlons
John Kivlan of Chelmsford and Josie Hopkins of Hopkinton won the boys and girls pentathlons, respectively. Kivlan was boosted by his first-place finishes in the long jump, high jump and shot put.
Moreover, Kivlan didn’t finish lower than third in any of the pentathlon events, giving him a good balance of scores.
For Hopkins, a pair of wins in the 100 meter hurdles and the long jump were key for her pentathlon victory. Hopkins also placed fifth in the high jump and shot put and eighth in the 800 meters, with the fact that she was the only athlete able to win multiple events propelling her to the top of the leaderboard.
Arlington, Marshfield populate leaderboards in track events
Beyond the previously mentioned successes of Heinrich, runners from Marshfield and Arlington could be found at and near the top of leaderboards for several races on Thursday.
For Marshfield, Nathan Looney won the boys 200 meter race with a time of 21.74 seconds, while Matt McCabe placed second in the boys 800 meter competition, clocking in at 1:53.54.
On the girls side, Meredith Miller finished eighth in the 800 meters, and Eleanor Angeles-Whitfield and Sarah Penney each placed in the top 10 in the two-mile race.
Switching gears, Arlington saw two of their runners win races on the day. Bryn Ryan paced the competition in the girls 400 meter hurdles and finished with a time of 1:07.14, while Nico Peukert won the boys 800 meters run, tallying a 1:53.03.
In the boys two mile-race, Arlington put two more names high up on the leaderboard, as Jack Moir and Daichi Collins each came in the top 10.
Peabody dominates discus competitions
A quick glance at the leaderboards for Thursday’s discus events shows that Peabody Veterans Memorial High School was on a different level in those competitions, having the first- and third-place finishers in both the boys and girls sections.
Alessandra Forgione came in first in the girls event with a distance of 130 feet and two inches. Meanwhile, Madison Holleran placed third with a throw that went 113 feet and two inches.
In the boys competition, Alex Jackson won with a throw that traveled 180 feet and five inches, while Areno Saint-Victor recorded a distance of 153 feet and 10 inches to end up in third place.
Bella Hayes of Arlington (114 feet, 11 inches) and Chalais Saintil of Malden (162 feet, two inches) finished second in the girls and boys discus events, respectively.
Close finishes in several races
Multiple of Thursday’s races came down to the wire, including the boys two-mile, where Heinrich won over Hopkinton’s Sean Finnegan by a margin of less than four seconds.
Elsewhere, Alex D’Amadio won the girls 200 meters by a tenth of a second over Plymouth North’s Willow Herndon, and Peukert’s victory over McCabe in the boys 800 meters came by a smidge over half a second.
The MIAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championship will continue on Saturday at Merrimack College, with competitions set to begin at 2:30 p.m.
