Indoor track team has memorable night at D3 meet
By Mike BergerCHS indoor track coach Dan Ashman called last Thursday’s Division 3 championship meet a “phenomenal night for Canton track” as several members of both the boys’ and girls’ teams posted personal-best times at the Reggie Lewis Track Center in Boston.
Mellyn Costello, Lauren Berman, Obi Nwankwo, and the boys’ 4×400 relay team will advance to the All-State meet, scheduled for Sunday, February 24, also at the Reggie Lewis Track Center.
Costello, seeded 10th in the 55-meter hurdles, finished fifth in the preliminaries with a personal-best time of 9.20 seconds, and then she shocked everybody — her coaches included — by finishing second in the finals with a blazing time of 8.92.
“This kind of thing just does not happen,” said Ashman. “Credit should be split between an awesome kid who works so hard every single day and a great hurdling coach, Brandon Beloin.”
Berman, seeded fourth in the mile, placed third with a personal-best time of 5:10.14. “She ran a really smart race, listened to her distance coach (Joe Cusack), and it all paid off,” said Ashman. “Her third-place finish earned her an automatic trip to the All-State meet, where we fully expect her to run even faster.”
The girls’ 4×800 relay team, consisting of Berman, Catherine Song, Michaela Kelly, and Eleni Papadopoulos, finished sixth in 10:13.82 and just missed qualifying for All-States.
Nwankwo placed third in the 600 at 1:23.98, also a personal-best time and a half second from a state title. He then came back with a great lead leg in the 4×400 relay, giving Canton a huge lead. The team went on to place second in 3:35.10 behind Ian Mills, Somto Ofonagoro, and Craig Mills, improving by a full two seconds and “looking great in the process,” according to Ashman.
Other solid performances were turned in by Craig Mills, who finished 15th in the 600; Ian Mills, 17th in the 1,000; Kelly, 15th in the 600; Papadopoulos, 28th in the 1,000; and Amanda Eagles, 16th in the two-mile.
The Hockomock League has rescheduled its championship meet for Tuesday, February 19, and all team members will be participating.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=19149
Posted by Mike Berger
on Feb 21 2013. Filed under High School, Sports.
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