The freshmen competed on Sunday so it was the upperclassmen turn on Saturday as a group of junior and seniors competed at the inaugural MSTCA Northeast Invitational. Teams from across New England came to Reggie for a festival environment which pushed many towards season bests on the year.
Boys
As has been custom, junior Paul Wisnaskas (7.95) took the early lead on the day for the boys. Following up on his TVL leading 8.04 on Wednesday, Wisnaskas thrived in the highly competitive preliminary section without hitting a hurdle to match his school record set at last year's TVL Showcase Meet. In doing so, he earned himself a spot in the event final. In an even stronger field, facing some of the state's best, Wisnaskas (7.94) found just enough to best his school record in a strong fifth place finish. That school record also betters his automatic state-qualifier and TVL #1 position.
A small mid-distance crew took over the 1,000m, with Sean Wynne (2:47.72) leading the way for the purple & black, hitting a near season's best for 16th place in a hectic section. Senior captain Ethan Tetrault (2:53.92) jumped out front out of the barrel early but the field made him work to stay in it, which still produced a season's best for him in 40th place. Thomas Anderson (3:23.87) was the last competitor for the boys and he grinded out a hard effort to just miss his personal best set earlier this year.
Wisnaskas (20'-7.5") wrapped up his day just missing his school record long jump set earlier this winter by only two inches. He stayed consistent throughout all trials and finals and still shined as the fourth farthest jumper on the day.
Girls
Junior Heather Kurland (13'-11") opened up in the seeded long jump. Though she struggled on her first two jumps, she found the board more comfortable on the final jump to grab a mark on the morning. As she jumped, Isabella Pietrasiewicz (5:15.64) kick-started the oval events in the seeded mile. In a frantic first heat, many runners did not know how to pace the race and it forced Pietrasiewicz outside into lane 2 often in order to avoid getting trapped behind slower runners. But she managed to find the right gear and negative-splitted the second half of the race to a season's best time in her sixth place finish.
Following Pietrasiewicz, similar tactics were needed in the girls 1,000m. Senior captain Ashley Schepis (3:25.11) and Destiny McGrath (3:26.70) shared the same section in the 1,000m and used each other to steer clear of trouble and out of harm's way behind slower runners. It results in personal bests for the both of them and 37th and 43rd place finishes, despite coming in seeded in 69th and 70th position.
The long sprints found Kylie Dion (1:51.17) working through a slower 600m section. While she found herself with another gear in the last 55m of the race, she still had plenty left in her tank as she finished just inside the top 25 in 24th place. And wrapping up the morning was senior captain Eve Rodriguez (46.34) and Jocelyn Nardone (52.84) in the 300m run. Slightly off her best from Rodriguez and a personal best by Nardone, the pair gained experience from the competition as the Lancers begin to prep for post-season competition.
Up Next: The Lancers celebrate the Class of 2020 on Senior Night at NHS on Tuesday at 6:00pm, prior to their TVL Finale against Millis at Wheaton at 7:30pm. The girls will look to clinch the TVL Small Division with a win with the boys shooting for a 2-3 finish on the season with a win of their own.
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