The divisional meet season kicks off on Thursday night at the Reggie, with the DIII Championship pitting some of the state's best talent against itself in what will be an interesting meet to watch, given the affect the recent storm had on training. This class will be, in a sense, the guinea pig for the rest, determining just how much the loss of work impacted the athletes.
DIII Boys
The team title here looks enticingly one-sided, as Hingham has the guns to score upwards of 70 points, with Andrew Bolze appearing to be the next big thing to come onto the scene. Bolze, the top seed in both the 300 and long jump, should also come back to anchor a winning 4x200. Chris McDowell ought to help in the hurdles, and there are other pieces to steal points throughout. What makes Hingham so dangerous is its depth. A bunch of guys whose names you won't hear will make up the three relays, each of which could win, all of which could win. The other thing that makes them tough is the fact that they have so many safe points, and it would take a major slip to see them too far behind 60 points.
Hingham's closest competition comes from Pembroke, who could take the top two spots in the mile (John Valeri and Pat Cunningham), win the 1000 (Christian Stafford) and the 4x800. The wildcard with this team is Billy Stafford, who is seeded 17th in the 1000, but has gone under 2:00 for 800 meters several times, and could be a threat to win out of the unseeded section. Danvers, featuring top dasher John Thomas, top shot putter Joe Manson, and mid-distance stalwart Drew Piazza, has some big point bucks, but will struggle to get too far above 40, making Hingham a touch out of their reach. As always, look out for Bishop Feehan, who has been eerily quiet, but always puts on a show this time of year.
Some of the better individual matchups throughout the day will include the 600 meters, where four seniors are seeded within .15 seconds, and where no favorite exists. Canton's Obi Nwankwo, Westwood's David McDonald, Piazza, and Burlington's Ian Rush are in a dead-heat, but look for someone to come out of the unseeded heat unscathed to put pressure on that group. Expect Burlington's Paul Hogan to give the Stafford twins everything he has in the 1000, although he'll only get to race Christian in the fast section. Assuming Hogan opts for the 1K, that should leave a two-man show in the two mile between Swampscott's Peter Hale and Feehan's Evan Grandfield, with about a half a dozen others lurking in the weeds. Apponequet's Dylan DeMoranville is the top dog in the hurdles, and fellow South Coaster Adam Couitt of Somerset-Berkley should have little trouble winning the high jump, where he will undoubtedly be aiming for 7 feet at some point this month.
DIII Girls
Hingham's girls will have a much tougher task than their male counterparts, as Hopkinton brings quite a bit of firepower at them, and never lets up. But the Harborwomen are ruthless, in that they have a stable of superstars, as well as deep relay fields, to make them the favorite, albeit by a slight margin. The battle of the day will be a Balboa-Drago-esque mile-2 mile double pitting the state's 2nd and 3rd fastest runners, Hingham's Julie McConville and Bishop Feehan's Abby McNulty. If both girls run both, I picture them, three miles into their day, lying on the infield with a referee counting them out. I refuse to predict who wins each race, but part of me hopes they split, because these aren't going to be easy ones, and what either of these tigers has left a week from now could be very much in doubt when the dust clears on Thursday night.
Hingham is far from a one-trick pony either. McConville's XC buddies, Morgan Sullivan and Julia Noble are high seeds in the 600 and 1000, Sierra Irvin and others bring in major sprint points, and long jumper Kate Criscitiello has the pop to place as high as 4th. But what separates Hingham from the field are those relays. It's fathomable that they could score something like 25 relay points, which, coupled with the individual events and the McConville double, makes them tough to beat.
The chase pack will be led by Hopkinton, who will have Jessica Scott try to win both the long jump and 55 dash, and teammate Lindsay Manning win the shot put, and get big days out of 600 runner Leah Holmes and 1000 runner Melissa Lodge, and if all goes well, they will be right there. The Hillies will have scoring potential in all three relays, which ought to make this a down-to-the-wire affair. Anyone who counts out the Shamrocks of Bishop Feehan is forgetful of their dominance in XC, and McNulty has the chops to run the double distance to close to 20 points. From there, a winning 4x800, a talented 4x200, and a deep stable of distance runners, led by the underrated Brynna Harum, a darkhorse candidate to win the 1000, makes Feehan as dangerous as always.
There will be a number of great individual races to watch for as well. Melrose has the top seed in the 300 in Bionca St. Fleur, and the 600 and high jump (along with Westwood's Rachel Morrison) in Olivia Downey, but St. Fleur, one of the best long jumpers in the state, is oddly missing from that event. D-Y's Kayla Ralston will battle with Scott for long jump supremacy. Milton's dynamic duo of Andriana Higgins and Molly Dempsey will try for a 1-2 punch in the hurdles. Medfield's Taylor Worthy will try to prove she is against Lodge in the 1000, and a great battle will emerge during the 4x400, the meet's final event, where Northampton will try to play the spoiler role against Hingham, if not steal the whole meet themselves.
Valentine's Day will tell us a great deal of things. In the end, will the father-son Jewitt tandem come away victorious? I wouldn't bet against it.