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I'll start at the beginning and just drift around, hopefully landing at a few conclusions about North's performance today. I'll also highlight some of the other great performances and surprises that are typical of the Hockomock Championships. This will just be about the girls' meet.

First, let me preface. This wasn't the best lead-up week. It was bad enough that the cold snap altered our training routine. It was impossible to follow our traditional patterns of preparation. That, coupled with some unanticipated injuries and team strife, put a damper on Big Red attitude entering the meet. I'll have to admit that I was thrown a little off my game.

55M Hurdle trials

Every top seed made it through except for a North Attleboro flip flop. Running on a sprained ankle, I thought Alix Vandeventer might still make it thru to the next round. When her steps were off at the second hurdle she ended up four-stepping the flight, finishing out of the top-8. Her spot was taken by teammate Christy Deininger who PR'd by .24, going from a 9.59 last week to a 9.35.

50 Dash Trials

When Kathleen Hennessey went down with a knee injury last week things didn't look good. Tooti wouldn't say boo if her leg were falling off. When she couldn't make the call at the Elite Meet for the 4X2 it was a very bad sign. It turned out to be nothing a leg replacement wouldn't fix. As late as Friday she was only given the OK to lightly jog. When she came in today saying she had clearance to run – let's just say if it was anyone else I wouldn't have believed her. But when my senior captain says she can, who am I to say she can't? Braced up she ran 7.73, just .04 off her PR. Chalk up one for NA.

I guess luck balances out. Soph Julianne Cappadona gets better every meet. Today we never found out if she would keep the streak going. If she tied her PR she'd have make it to finals. Instead, she lost her balance in the blocks and was DQ'd without moving a step. I doubt that telling her a story about league-leading hurdler TyLynn doing the same thing in '05 helped make her feel better – but I tried.

55M Hurdle Finals

Christy was nothing short of shocking. Her 9.10 was another .25 improvement and she placed a remarkable 2 nd , just .01 ahead of Franklin's Kat Dixon. There's no doubt she's having a great freshman year, but today's performance was even more than the team could have hoped for. Her brother was also 2 nd in the boys' race. North scored 8 points in the first finals event – a great way to start.

55M Dash Finals

I noticed Tooti took off her brace for the finals. Then I noticed she had a great race. I couldn't believe it – she not only ran well but it looked like she might have won. Everyone stared at the scoreboard looking for the final word. When the results flashed the North crowd erupted. Kathleen edged Beth Muller (the only girl to beat her in dual meets) by .01, with an astounding PR effort of 7.58. There are still miracles and sometimes the good guys still win. I hope that takes nothing away from Beth Muller (another good guy) who has had a great season and also deserved to win. The oddity to the event was that the two OA and Foxboro girls switched places between the semis and finals.

Mile

In one of the most anticipated races of the day Alyse Rocco started fast but settled in with Stephanie McNamara on her shoulder. The relatively slow half of 2:38 allowed other runners to hang on and Julie Binney took full advantage. Alyse surged in lap 5 and Steph was unable to respond. Instead it became a battle for second with Binney and McNamara tied at the hip until the final straightaway when Steph (5:23.06) found enough speed to pull away from Julie (5:23.45). Alyse won in 5:18.25.

600M

In the unseeded race both Katy Flannery (1:47.24) and Caylyn Houde (1:55.16) had big PR's. Based on seeds it looked like Katy might break through to placing.   Unfortunately for her, there were a lot of PR's from the pack chasing eventual winner Kathleen Ryan (1:37.27) and runner-up Amanda Parker (1:40.50). That was Parker's #2 race ever. Katy ended up 7 th , but grabbed her state qualifier (she also has one in the 300M).

This was the second straight race where a Dominesey placed 6 th . Elaina placed in the mile (5:42.72) and Anna ran 1:46.93.

300M

Soph Lauren Goldberg set a PR in the penultimate heat running 45.80. In the seeded heat the track was ablaze. Shannon Cunningham scorched a 41.97 to win. Michelle Sirois and Meghan Clapp followed while NA's Kristen McLoughlin ran a seasonal PR in 43.14 to grab 4 th .

1000M

This was the only track event in which NA didn't place. I miss-spoke when I granted a premature win to Lea Godfrey. Teammate Lindsey Booth edged her at the finish. Still, Franklin got their predicted 22 points to vault into the team scoring lead.

Shot Put

Undefeated Kelsey Achin fell into second place in round three – two inches behind Kate Johnston of Mansfield. In round 5 she regained the lead and improved to her winning 33'0” on the last toss. Liz Malone placed 5 th at 30'1.5” making this North's highest scoring event of the day.

High Jump

There was great drama in this event, just not for the Rocketeers. I didn't hesitate to hold out Kathleen Hennessey from this event. The dash was hard enough on someone with a knee issue, but trying to jump would have assured an early end to her season. Kat Dixon broke up what looked like a sure 1-2 OA finish by jumping a PR 5'1. Laura Weeks won at a PR 5'2 while Katelyn Fortes beat Canton's Sam Smith at 4'11 on the count back.

Long Jump

It counts for nothing at Hocks except the ability to qualify for states. Audra Norvaisa was the sole qualifier winning at 15'4.25”

4 X 400

Sometimes you fall into luck. I'm looking at my 4X400 a half hour before the relay wondering if I can find 4 people to run. There's no doubt that Amanda Parker will be ready. She's the Rock of Gibralter. I find myself contemplating Stephanie McNamara. Steph's been nursing a foot pain of undiagnosed origin for a week. If we're not going to “really bring it!” in the relay there is no reason to put her through it. Flan's nose is running faster than her 300M PR. All day she's been the spokesperson for Kleenex and to tell the truth, she doesn't look or feel ready to run. Outdoor workouts in the cold this week were not kind to her. Kristen McLoughlin has had trouble running back to back races the last few weeks, so I'm actually surprised to hear her say she feels OK. I write down seven names on my clipboard and start to circle them. I can only circle two. This should be fun!

I've warned both Alix Vandeventer and Lauren Goldberg that they may be forced into action and I'm 99% sure that Julianne Cappadona will get her chance to avenge the 55M false start. I'm not sure she finds it funny that I tell her that the only leg I'll never put her in is 1st .

After a little rest they all claim to be recovered but I still send Cappa along when they sign in – just in case. Five minutes later Julianne returns with the message that our top 4 are ready to go. We're both a little disappointed. I'd like to see what she's ready to do and she really wants to run.

For the last two weeks I've considered having Parker mirror Ryan. Based on the last week, there is some question of whether we're ready to challenge Franklin. So I'm not strategizing with them in mind. But as Katy walks to the line I call Amanda over and tell her to switch to second leg. Ryan runs second leg because Coach Travato loves to break the race open early. Kristen jogs over to take her place at anchor leg and asks "Why the change?". When I tell her Amanda wants to race Ryan she says (in a nice way) ”I do too!” It sinks in that this is a team ready to run.

Just before the gun, I found myself at the end of the track with Coach Travato. I think we had as much fun as the girls. Franklin held the lead most of the way but we were never out of the race. McLoughlin gave a Herculean effort on the last leg in an attempt to catch Lindsey Booth but the gap was just a little too great. With one lap left I jump to the rail and nearly elbow a fan. It turns out to be Mr. Booth. Oops!

The result was second place finish in 4:09.33, a full two seconds faster than the school record set at the state relays earlier this year. It was a show!

It will be forever be noted that Franklin (78 points) won the league title and North Attleboro (60 points) was second. I hope my team remembers what a sterling performance they put forth.

I told them on Friday that the league meet is known for great races. I wanted them to forget everything in the past and just go battle. They did – and the performances were memorable!