Division 1 state track: Acton-Boxboro boys double up
WESTFIELD — The Acton-Boxboro boys track team competed a rare double on Sunday at Alumni Field. The Revolution backed up an indoor title this winter with a victory in the Div. 1 outdoor boys track and field championships.
On the girls side, Franklin came into the day with a three point lead over Westford Academy and it stayed that way most of the day until the next to last event when Elizabeth Hopkins’ win in the javelin insured the Panthers first D1 title.
For A-B, it was a huge performance in the pole vault on Sunday that propelled the Revolution to a huge lead that stood up to late charges from St. John’s Prep and Lexington.
Christoph Osselman Chai won the event with a leap of 14-6. Teammate Diego Harris was second while Sidharth Panchu and Colin Robinson shared sixth place for a 23 point haul, doubling what they had coming into the day.
“It was a massive day for those guys,” A-B coach D.J. Brock said. “We knew coming in that they were seeded pretty high and they actually overachieved.”
The Revolution steadily scored all day Sunday and had a nearly 30-point lead before the Eagles made a last-ditch run at them.
The Prep finished second in the 4 x 800 and 4 x 100 relays before a seventh place in the high jump got them within three points at 64-61. Bit a third place finish by A-B in the 4 x 400 clinched the title.
Franklin, conversely, had to work hard all day on Sunday to hold off the Grey Ghosts. They did so thanks in large part to the efforts of senior Sarah Dumas, who accounted for 30 of the Panthers 71 points over the two day competition.
Her win in the 100 hurdles just ahead of Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien came at a perfect time when Westford was chipping away at the Panthers lead.
“Sarah was just outstanding,” Franklin coach Paul Trovato said. “It wasn’t an easy couple of days and her performance was remarkable.”
Even with that effort, Westford was hanging tough. Abby Hennessy gave the Grey Ghosts a win in the mile. But it wasn’t until Hopkins turned in a throw of 137-2 in the javelin with only one running event left that the Panthers could finally breathe easy.
“Thankfully it wasn’t just track because the field events were awesome for us,” Trovato said.
Brockton’s Lucas Andrade was the lone double winner on Sunday as he took the 100 in 10.58 seconds and then won a back and forth battle with Shrewsbury’s Derek Shimer in the high jump.