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| Kurland & Wisnaskas get the day started in the Pentathlon! |
Boys
The day started with the Pentathlon running at 8:15 am, with junior Paul Wisnaskas competing for the boys. Opening up in his marquee event, Wisnaskas (8.27) struggled out of the gate in the hurdles and lost his rhythm but still manged to grab fourth out of the field. It didn't cloud his focus, though, as he bounced back quickly and returned to mid-season form in the long jump, reaching 6.23 meters (20'-5.25") on his second jump which tied him for the win in the event.
He followed the momentum into the high jump. Where Wisnaskas struggled with the high jump during the pentathlon in the past, he grabbed a groove early and made key mid-round adjustments to clear the bar comfortably. He found himself comfortably clearing 1.82 meters (5'-11.50") for a pentathlon PR and narrowly missing 1.86m (6'-1.25") which had him grabbing a tie for second in the event.
Unfortunately, the early morning caught up to Wisnaskas in the final two events. He struggled to get power behind his shot put, hitting only 8.54m (28'-0.25") for 11th place while running out of steam in the final lap of the 1,000m to run a strong 2:56.18 for 6th place. Nevertheless, Wisnaskas totaled 3,161 points for second place overall and eclipsing Camden Cleathero's school record of 3,052 points from the 2015-16 season.
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| Wisnaskas 2nd on the podium & 1st in Lancer History |
The Men of Norton had four other athletes compete at the Holiday Challenge. Jack Buchan (18'-0") gained more experience in the long jump on Friday. Though not a season's best, his 38th place finish helped him shape up a more relaxed approach down the runway. Similarly in the 300m, sophomore Danny Tran (41.21) worked through an experienced field to grab a personal best time and a 123rd finish.
In the 1,000m, senior captain Ethan Tetrault (2:54.88) ran a season's best to finish in 44th place as teammate Sean Wynne (2:47.80) reached a personal best in the event and just missed an automatic state-qualifying mark, as he finished in 25th place.
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| Wynne rounding the corner in the 1,000m |
Girls
Joining Wisnaskas in the early-season pentathlon was junior Heather Kurland. Just like Wisnaskas, Kurland (9.58) opened well in one of her strongest events, grabbing a fourth place finish in the 55m hurdles. From there, she went to the cage where her second toss of 6.86m (22'-6.25") was a season's best in the shot put, earning her 10th place in the event.
However, her biggest event was in the vertical jumps. After toying around with her steps, she started hitting heights comfortably. Having cleared failed to clear opening previously the season, Kurland shot up to 1.42m (4'-7.75") for a team and personal best on the season. Her body cleared 1.47m (4'-9.75") before an elbow struck the bar down, forcing her to settle at 1.42m for seventh in the event. Her hops continued into the long jump as she exploded for a season's best 5.12m (16'-9.75"). Her leap improved her state-qualifying mark and earned her second place in the event.
Kurland finished the multi-day in the 800m run. She opened conservatively and came on strong towards the end to get a sixth place finish in 2:49.28 after four other events. That run clinched her 2,591 points, breaking her pentathlon best score, and earning her a fifth place medal from the morning's work.
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| Kurland with her fifth place medal |
In the distance events, the Lancers saw improvement and consistency from the field. Freshman Brooke Dennett (6:13.06) went out hard in the freshman mile in an attempt to PR, earning it by a fraction of a second in her 30th place finish. Junior Isabella Pietrasiewicz (5:17.60) followed the same mentality in the varsity sections, shooting for a sub-5:10 finish. While opening up quick, she faded and fought hard to stay in the pack that featured several sub 5:00-runners. Her time still earned improved her season's best and bettered her state-qualifier as she just finished outside of the podium in seventh place.
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| Pietrasiewicz doubling down in the seeded mile section |
Wrapping up the day came the girls 4x400m relay of Murphy, Dion, Bingel and Pietrasiewicz. Having missed the state-qualifying mark on several occasions, the Lancers faced little pressure as they were in the unseeded out of two sections. A consistent leg from Murphy to open up along with season best legs from Dion and Bingel kept the Lancers in contention for Pietrasiewicz to cut down on Bishop Feehan's lead in section 1. Ultimately, the Lancers finished two seconds behind Feehan, displacing Franklin and Notre Dame Academy to finish sixth overall in a state-qualifying time of 4:21.80.
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| Medalists and state-qualifiers! |
Up Next: The Lancers continue TVL action at Reggie on Friday as they take on Dover-Sherborn. Competition will begin at 7:30 pm while the buses will leave NHS at 5:30 pm.
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