Acton-Boxboro’s Kyle Verner knew a time close to his personal best would pretty much translate to a victory and possibly a meet record in the mile at Thursday’s MSTCA Distance Classic.

Verner’s calculations held up nicely on the Reggie Lewis Center track in a meet where the Colonials dominated the competition.

The distance ace Verner pulled away from teammate Anthony Cronin and clinched the win with a time of 4 minutes, 31.57 seconds. That time was just under the 4:32.30 record set by Shane Grant of Walpole in 2018. Acton-Boxboro snagged the top-two places as Cronin also dipped under the old mark with his 4:32.06.

“I knew the meet record was probably in reach, but I was going for a time close to my personal best,” said Verner, who has a best time of 4:29.55. “We were just trying to go out at 2:15 (for the first 800) and see what happens.”

Acton-Boxboro garnered another victory in an extremely entertaining 2-mile that featured a duel up front between the Colonials’ Chris Lin and Luke Zahurak of Walpole. It was Lin who accelerated over the final 200 to pull away to a personal-best win of 9:56.17.

Zahurak also picked up a PR of 9:57.56 for second.

“I saw the seeds and thought I really wanted to win,” said Lin, who has been packing in 50 miles a week. “I knew I had something left in the tank (the final 200).”

The Colonials continued to flex their distance muscles with a 1-2 sweep of the girls’ mile. The tall, smooth-striding Paige McInerney surged into the lead after the first 200 and never gave it up. Her finishing time of 5:14.27 was less than a second off the meet record and two seconds in front of teammate Elizabeth Latham (5:16.80). Walpole’s Ila Zollo ran well to clinch the bronze medal in 5:19.12.

McInerney didn’t want to lead early, but with the slowish pace she had no choice. “We went through the first 200 in 39 to 40 and I didn’t want that so I was forced to make a move,” she said.

Nashoba’s Connor Acierno got the meet off to a strong start in the first event, racing to a meet record in the 800. His time of 1:59.76 easily bettered the 2:01.22 mark set in 2019 by Myles Liss-Riordan of Brookline.

Acierno was in control from the start and staved off a brief challenge from runner-up Nick Brisson (2:01.96) of Hampshire Regional with just over 200 to go. Once Acierno went to his arms with 200 to go the race was over.

“I felt smooth, strong and comfortable,” said Acierno, who has a personal best of 1:59.05. “Getting the meet record and running under 2-minutes was the goal. I could hear him (Brisson) on my shoulder and I really picked it up.”

A day after throwing a personal best in the weight event at the Boston Holiday Challenge, North Andover’s Makenna Dube broke the meet record in the shot put with a 37-7 toss. The top-four competitors all bettered the 33-11 mark of Jenna Bard of North Andover set in 2021.

“I was excited to come to this meet,” said Dube, who has her sights set on North Andover’s school record of 38-10-1/2. “I’ve been working on my speed this season moving through the circle. I definitely accomplished that goal today.”