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Northrunning.com braved the cold to attend the “meet of the week” at the Franklin Fieldhouse and wasn’t disappointed. Not only was the fieldhouse hot, so was the competition.

On the boys’ side it was a match-up of the last three undefeated teams (NA-KP-MN). For the girls it featured the last undefeated team – North Attleboro – vs. strong competition from Mansfield and King Philip.

The only surprise in the girls’ 50 YD Hurdles was the absence of league leading Allison Cuozzo (she ended up winning the 600M and 300M). That gave clear sailing to NA’s Jen McNamara who cruised in with the easy win – remaining undefeated with one meet left. Just as easily, Marcus Vaughn put NA on top with a convincing win on the boys’ side. Neither KP nor NA could double up on Mansfield so the pre-meet favorite wasn’t ready to panic yet.

On to the 50 YD Dash. It wasn’t much of a surprise that Terry Young showed up. Everyone must have expected that if at all possible he’d run at least one event. So when his possible stress fracture was found to be only a contusion - he was given the green light to run. After Marcus Vaughn false started in the dash Terry had a slightly easier time – although Matt Deinegner gave a great effort in a losing cause. On the girls’ side NA’s Adrienne Goldberg had almost more than she could handle from Mansfield’s Lincoln. Each squeezed the others lane and Golberg just nipped her for the victory, with North’s Leah Seward grabbing the third place.

The boys’ mile featured a spirited battle between North Attleboro’s Ian Hobson and Mansfield’s Watson. It wasn’t until the last 200M that Watson asserted his authority – coming home with a 4:52.4 victory over Hobson’s 4:55.7 fieldhouse PR. Mansfield’s Brague and Collins put on a display of superiority in the girls’ mile virtually tying at 5:38.

By now the results of the boy’s shot put were in and much as expected. McCune secured the easy victory for Mansfield with a league-leading 49’10”. Meanwhile, over in the girls’ high jump Mansfield’s Oberlander was in a battle with NA’s talented novice – Ty Lynn Graham. Graham was well over the bar on her third attempt at 5’2” but clipped it on the way down, securing the win for the undefeated Mansfield leaper Oberlander.

The boys’ 600M was impressive. For most of the race it appeared that Mansfield would score the easy 1-2 finish but Mike Lyon put on a furious kick that passed one runner and almost caught the other. The margin of victory was Langton 1:30.9 vs. Lyon 1:31.1. “AC” put the competition into the deep freeze in the girls’ race. Sionne grabbed the second place for Mansfield and NA’s Leah Seward posted a respectable 1:49 in her first attempt at the distance.

The 1000M proved damaging to NA’s chances in both meets as both KP and MN put the hurt on them with stellar times. KP came through with a big victory – Rachel Caine blasting the competition. The Mansfield boys were equally convincing. After going 9-0 against NA and 8-1 against KP there was no doubt they were going to cruise home the winners.

It was little solace that both teams bested Mansfield in the boys’ 300M. “AC” shocked the girls’ competition in the 300M as usual.

In the high jump Terry Young continued to help Mansfield pull away from the competition with a solid win. Now if he only had form! The shot put for girls held little surprise as Mansfield’s Harrison easily out threw the rest.

The two-mile races only solidified Mansfield’s wins and made sure the relays would only be academic. Lauren Brown cruised in first for Mansfield. The boy’s race reflected new PR’s that will be noted in the performance updates.

Although both Mansfield teams had already solidified the win before the relays – the NA/KP 4X4 was destined to provide the greatest drama of the day. North held a slim one-point lead going into the relay and was placing a strong team on the track. Throughout the race they maintained a lead over KP but Mike Lyon put on a ferocious kick over the last 100M to give KP the win. The 4X4 for girls would not effect the outcome and finished in the same order as the meets 1st MN - 2nd KP- 3rd NA.

INDIVIDUAL STARS OF THE MEET

“AC” = Allison Cuozzo = alternating current. It doesn’t matter how the KP coaches run this powerhouse. She lights up the track and still has energy to spare. In this case she walked away with convincing victories in the 600M and 300M. And don’t forget she still has the fastest 50YD hurdle time in the league.

Mike Lyon impressed me with his 600M performance. But his final lap of the 4X4 put him in bionic man category. I wouldn’t want him chasing me down because it’s obvious he wants to win!