Monday, May 28, 2018

Palin & Wisnaskas are D3 STATE CHAMPIONS!! 9 Norton Athletes are Moving On to All-States!

Julia Palin (2 Mile) & Paul Wisnaskas (400 Hurdles) are D3 State Champs! 

The Family 

Your Norton D3 States Medalists (Minus Meg Nichols)! 
It was an incredible performance for the Norton Lancers in their first ever appearance at the Division THREE State Championship!  Out of the 51 schools at the MIAA Division 3 State Championship, the girls placed 8th overall, while the boys placed 11th!  The Lancers will have nine athletes moving on to All-States, a commendable feat for their first time in Division 3. D3 had some very tough competition, including some of the best schools in the entire state, all divisions, including Milton, Tewksbury, Wakefield, North Reading, and Pembroke. 

Leading the way for the Lancers was Senior Captain Julia Palin who ran a smart race in VERY HOT conditions (85 degrees) in the two mile and eventually asserted her dominance in the second mile as she extended her lead over the course in the final four laps with negative splits to win by 26 seconds!  This is Julia's first ever individual Outdoor Track State Championship (she has an indoor D4 title to her name in the 1000 Meters)! We are so proud of you J-Pay! Julia will get her chance to move on to the All-State Championship next week and flex her muscles against the best in the entire state of Massachusetts, all divisions! 

J-Pay Sprints the Final 100 Meters in the 2 Mile to Win by 26 seconds! 

That Smile Says it All! Division 3 State Champion! 
FRESHMAN phenom Paul Wisnaskas lead the way for the boys with his amazing D3 State Champion performance in the 400 hurdles of 57.51, which is the SECOND FASTEST 400 HURDLE TIME IN THE USA from a freshman this year!! Winning a state championship as a freshman is incredible and the ICEMAN SUPREME was leading by the 6th hurdle and never looked back as he attained a new personal record. With each meet this season, he is getting better and better. Paul is a force to be reckoned with if he is this good at this age! 

#2 Freshman in the USA (400 Hurdles) & His Hardware After Being Named Mass D3 State Champion! 

Senior Captain Mary Diestel was the runner-up in the D3 State Pentathlon with a new school record of 2595 (previously held by Sarah Driscoll in 2016 with 2111) and grabbed 8 more points for the Lady Lancers. Mary PRed in 100 hurdles by a second: 17.53, was close to PR in high jump (4' 9.5") and WON the event, after 2 fouls in long jump she jumped a PR by an inch and a half in a pressure packed final jump (15' 4.5"), shotput was 20' 0.25", and then she went on to WIN the 800 in a massive lifetime PR of 2:27.82.  After four years of working hard at so many events, Mary's hard work paid off and she will be competing at All-States this Thursday!

Mar-Bear Donning Her Second Place MIAA D3 Medal! 

Mary Performing in All 5 of Her Events in the Pentathlon
Senior Captain Ian Pereira grabbed a second place finish overall as well in the 400 Meters with a lifetime personal record of 51.15. 

Senior Captain Ian Pereira After His Second Place Finish in the 400 Meters! 
Senior Captain Meg Nichols had a great performance as well in the shotput with a lifetime best toss by a foot and half of 35' 0.25" to move up from being ranked 10th overall to 4th and qualifying for ALL-STATES!!  She also was able to grab a 15th place overall in the discus with a throw of 91' 1". 

Meg Nichols Doing What She Does Best! 

Michaela Whiteside, Coach Whiteside, & Meg Nichols (With Medal) Share a Pose After the Shotput 
The next placement was the boys 4x800 meter relay who ran the second fastest time in school history with a smoking fast 8:20.27 for a second place overall finish punching a ticket to All-States as well! Team members were: Austin Carroll, Thomas Bingel, Pat Bingel, & DJ Nihill! 


DJ Nihill, Pat Bingel, Thomas Bingel, & Austin Carroll Place 2nd Overall at D3 State Championship in the 4x800! 
The final point-getters at the state meet were freshman Bella Pietrasiewicz who placed 6th overall in  the 800 meters in easily the most stacked race of the day at States in a very patient and smart race with a 2:21.16! She also helped the girls 4x800 medal and place 6th overall in a very close race with the second fastest 4x800 run in school history of 9:58.36 with senior captain teammates Julia Palin, Katie Bradley, & Mary Diestel! 

The Protege & Her Apprentice: Julia Palin & Bella Pietrasiewicz 

Norton Girls 4x800 Medals in 6th Place with Mary Diestel, Katie Bradley, Bella Pietrasiewicz, & Julia Palin. 
4x800 Girls Exchanges
The other qualfiers for the D3 State Meet placed as follows: 

9th Overall - Mary Diestel - 400 Hurdles: 68.87 

9th Overall - Paul Wisnaskas - 110 Hurdles: 16.06 

9th Overall: Corey Stalters - Javelin: 141' 9"

12th Overall - Kirsten  Loring - 200 Meters: 27.68* SEASON BEST!

12th Overall - Julia Newell, Lex Sousa-Shumosic, Kirsten Loring, & Heather Kurland - 4 x 100 Relay: 51.84* SEASON BEST!

14th Overall - Kylie Dion - 400 Meters: 62.68* SEASON BEST! 

15th Overall - Sam McGrath, Peter Rivard, Ian Pereira, & Paul Wisnaskas: 45.47* SEASON BEST!

19th Overall - Michaela Whiteside - Shotput: 30' 6"

19th Overall - Ian Pereira, Aiden Lerner, Peter Rivard, & Ethan Tetrault - 4 x 400: 3:45.30

20th Overall - Julia Newell - 100 Meters: 13.66 

Boys 4x100 of Iceman, Peter Rivard, Ian Pereira, & Sam McGrath Get a Season PR at D3 States!

Girls 4x100 of Kirsten Loring, Heather Kurland, Lex Sousa-Shumosic, & Julia Newell Move Up in Rankings with a Season PR!  All of these phenoms return next year!!
Mary Diestel Running the 400 Hurdles



Kirsten Loring Starting the 200 Meters 

Family Squad Pic at Base Camp
Freshman Heather Kurland Anchoring the 4x100 and Winning Her Heat!



Chris Liebherr & Fans! Thanks for all your help today Chris!  
So as you can see, it was an incredible day for the Lancer squad! Congrats to all the athletes who qualified for the meet and competed! 

We are looking forward to next week as NINE Lancers qualified to compete at Fitchburg State University at the MIAA ALL-STATE MEET which starts at 3:00 in the afternoon! The following athletes have qualified: 

Julia Palin - 2 Mile (4:30 PM) 

Paul Wisnaskas - 400 Hurdles (~4:55 PM) 

Meg Nichols - Shotput (~5:30 PM)

Ian Pereira - 400 Meters (7:15 PM) 

Austin Carroll, Thomas Bingel, Pat Bingel, & DJ Nihill - 4 x 800 Relay (~7:50 PM)

Mary Diestel - Pentathlon  (Held Thursday at FSU starting at 2:00 PM) 

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