Senior Mackenzie Condon took first and second place medals, Dash Christy took a second, Nate Packer a third, and Peter Burke chipped in a fourth-place mile finish to lead the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) track team to a solid and satisfying performance at the EMass Division 4 championships Sunday at Norwell High School.
Condon won the 100-meter hurdles (15:31 seconds) and set a personal best time (62.83 seconds) while finishing second in the 400m low hurdles. Christy also set a personal best time (15.46) to finish second in the 110m hurdles, with a gutsy lunge at the finish line. Packer turned in a 48 foot, 7 inch, shot put for his trip to the awards platform.
The daylong meet attracted an estimated 800 athletes from 44 eastern Massachusetts high schools, all seeking to qualify for the state championships next Saturday at Westfield State University, beginning at 3 pm. Divisional competitors must qualify for the event by season performance.
While only the top three Sunday event finishers qualify for states, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA)–sanctioned event awards points and medals for the top eight finishers in the regional events.
As it works out, MVRHS will send Condon, Packer, and Christy to States. Condon and Packer were the MVRHS representatives in 2018.
MVRHS sent 23 athletes, an unusually high number, to Norwell on Sunday, most as first-timers. Coach Joe Schroeder liked what he saw. “We had really good numbers and some outstanding performances. The girls team finished ninth in team competition, and the boys tied for 16th, and we had some personal bests, so the competitive level was there,” he said.
In addition to Burke’s mile run, junior Catherine Cherry gave her team points with an eighth-place two-mile finish (12.54.94). Additionally, the boys 4×800 relay team of Owen Porterfield, Zack Utz, Owen Atkins, and Burke finished sixth to boost the Vineyarders in the standings.
In the Unsung Hero category, Keiran Karabees worked long and hard the past two weeks to qualify for the D4s, and was rewarded with a 12th place finish in the two-mile run. Sophomore first-timer Yayla DeChiara also rose to the occasion, setting a personal best (2:29.13) to finish 12th in the 800m. And JoJo Bonneau, visibly fighting a head cold, hung in to finish 14th (16.82) in the 110m hurdles.
Senior Richie Barlett finished 17th in the javelin with a toss of 131 feet, 8 inches. Finishes in the top teens and low 20s were abundant for the Vineyarders, including Paige Pogue in the shot, Borja Tolay in the two-mile, Madia Bellebuono in the 800m, Annabelle Biggs in the long jump, and Nick Pecararo in the 400m dash. That’s important because 1) the difference in placement at this level is measured in fractions of inches and hundredths of seconds, and 2) this latter group are all back next year and beyond.