After successful performances at last weekend’s Central/West Division II Track & Field Championships, the locals will test their mettle against the best in the state as the Massachusetts All-State Track & Field meet begins today at Bridgewater State University. The action begins with field events at 3 p.m. and track events at 4 p.m.
Owen Ortiz returns to the All-State meet after a pair of top 20 showings there a year ago. The senior, who competes for Franklin County Technical School, is seeded 15th in the triple jump after winning the title at the Central/West meet last week. Ortiz is 20th in the long jump rankings, an event he finished 12th in a year ago.
Mohawk Trail Regional High School sophomore Meghan Davis is another returning athlete to the All-State meet. Davis was 13th a year ago in the 2-mile as a freshman, and she enters today’s competition as the 10th-seeded runner in the field (11:21.98 seed time). Natick High School’s Grace Connolly is the top seed at 10:41.79.
Davis’ Mohawk teammate Lilly Wells, fresh off winning the 800 meter run at last week’s Central/West meet, is seeded 11th in the 800 today. Her seed time is 2:17.44, just over three seconds back of top-seeded Rachel Sessa of Tewksbury High School.
The only other local girl who qualified for today’s meet is Frontier Regional School freshman Olivia Vecellio. Seeded fifth a week ago at the Central/West championship, Vecellio topped the 100-foot mark in the discus, capturing the title with a heave of 100-9, five inches clear of runner-up Alyssa LaBrack of Murdock High School. Vecellio enters the meet riding high, and she’ll be seeded 22nd in the discus in her first All-State meet. Dennis-Yarmouth High School’s Chloe Eressy is the top-seeded competitor at 126-2.
Sophomore Mason Barrieau came on strong a week ago, and the Athol High School star was rewarded in the 400-meter hurdles with a championship at the Central/West meet. Barrieau’s time of 57.52 seconds has him seeded 17th in the All-State meet. Brandon Amello of Triton Regional High School is the No. 1 seed with a time of 54.58 seconds.
Rounding out the local individuals is Mahar Regional School’s Nick Sharp, who was the runner-up in the shot put last week and is seeded 25th with a best throw of 45-6½. Newton North High School’s Nathaniel Klein is the top seed at 54-3¼.
Two local relay teams also qualified for today’s action. The Mahar quartet of Aaron Hendry, Hugo Frost, Sebastian Shaw and Ash Shaw, last weekend’s champion in the 4×400 relay (3:32.23), is seeded 24th. The Greenfield boys (Asier Areta-Ortiz, Robert Byrd, Elijah Brown and Connor Joy) are the 28th seed in the 4×100 (45.10).
The top six finishers in each event will earn entry into the 72nd annual New England Interscholastic Outdoor Track & Field Championship, scheduled for June 10 at Norwell High School.