Maine dominates the distance races

Brockton’s Vanessa Clerveaux was never shy this spring in stating that her goal in the 100-meter hurdles was to dip under the 14-second barrier. It didn’t happen at Tuesday’s state championship where she banged a hurdle mid race and held off a charging Kayla Wong of Newton North for the win.

At Sunday’s 67^th New England Interscholastic Track Championships, Clerveaux’s performance on the Thornton Academy track couldn’t have been more different.The Boxer senior was the second seed to New Hampshire state champion Betsy Garnick of Bishop Guertin coming out of the heats and got off to a career start in the final to pull away from Garnick to defend her title and break the meet record with a scalding 13.96. The time makes Clerveaux the fastest female hurdler in Massachusetts history, while Garnick lowered her state record time to 14.09 to take second.“Indoor I said sub 8 (for 55 hurdles) and I did it the last two meets,” said an emotional Clerveaux. “Outdoors I said sub 14 and I did it in the last meet.” Garnick gave Clerveaux credit for her personal best. “I think she had me by a little bit,” said Garnick. “I felt great. I’m excited to have dropped my time by that much. It helps to have someone else.”

Dan Santalla of Northwestern (CT) kept his poise through a tough 110 hurdle title to capture the event in 14.62. As perfect as Clerveaux was in her victory, Santalla was less sharp. “Today wasn’t about time, it was about who wanted it the most,” said Santalla. “It felt like a good start. I tried to stay strong. It’s very hard to have the perfect race. That race came down to the lean.”

Shellyann Lindo of Brien (CT) shattered her personal best thanks to a near-perfect start. She surged across the finish line to finish with a scalding 11.75. “It was one of my best starts ever,” said Lindo. “The start told me I was having a good race. I didn’t expect it to be that fast. My start was pretty powerful. I wanted to make the final and run under 12 (seconds).”

Bethanie Brown didn’t let the wind get in the way of winning the 1600 and establishing a new personal best. The Waterville (ME) standout held of a charging Ellie Purrier of Richford (VT) to win with a quick 4:50.39. Purrier was a step back in 4:50.45.“The wind was a little tough on the corner, but it wasn’t a big deal,” said the Maine state champion. “I felt confident, maybe a little too confident because she almost caught me. When I looked at the original seeds I was sixth, but when the final ones came out, I was seeded third.”

Mansfield’s Jen Esposito defended her New England title after capturing her first state title earlier in the week. Esposito slammed the first hurdle after the gun, but recovered quickly to run away with the 300 hurdles in 43.59.

“I was hoping to run a little faster,” said Esposito. “It was really windy and I hit the first hurdle really hard. I really wanted to come here and win again.”

Norwell’s Nikki Dempsey finished sixth against a deep field in the state meet heading into her win in the long jump. Seeded at No. 14,^, Dempsey leaped to a personal best of 18-00 to claim New England gold. “I really worked on my height after states,” said Dempsey. “That’s my big thing. I felt good. My mark was on, which is good.”

North Attleboro’s Eric Beckwith led a 1-2-3 Massachusetts sweep in the shot put with his winning hurl of 57-8-3/4. The state champion finished ahead of Newton North’s Swardick Mayanja (54-11-3/4) and Steve St. Jean of Auburn (52-10). “The state meet was only a couple of days ago, but it was hard to get back into it,” said Beckwith. “My mechanics felt great, the best they’ve felt all season.”

The win was a huge shot of confidence for Beckwith, who was seeded first in the Massachusetts state but failed to place and advance. “It feels good to win states and New Englands and prove I can win perform well in big meets.”

Elijah Doerfler didn’t have his best day throwing the javelin, but it was a huge effort that garnered him the gold medal. The St. Johnsbury (VT) talent got off a heave of 185-10 to defeat Algonquin’s Jordan Entwistle by more than a foot (184-9).

While the wind wasn’t a huge factor in the competition, it did present a challenge. “It wasn’t the best conditions,” Doerfler said. “The wind was on and off. I felt really good. Nothing hurt. I had more adrenaline than usual. I was definitely aiming for the win.”

Shellyann Lindo of Brien (CT) was a surprisingly easy winner in the 100 with a personal best of 11.7 5 after capturing the state title. “It was one of my best starts ever,” Lindo said. “The start told me I was having a good race. I didn’t expect it to be that fast. My start was pretty powerful. I wanted to make the final and run under 12 (seconds).”

Pole vaulter Jacilyn Briggs of Keene (NH) studied the strength of the wind by watching the flag at her end of the track. Briggs’ awareness was part of the reason she improved on her state-record vault of 12-9. Runner-up Lauren O’Connell of Newtown (CT) also bettered the meet record with her 12-3 jump.

“It’s been really rainy, but today was nice and there was a lot of adrenaline,” said Briggs. “When you’re running it (wind) will sweep your pole to the side.”

Briggs had three solid attempts, but failed to clear 13-1. She was hardly disappointed with her efforts, though. “They were very close and I’m hoping to get to 13-7,” said the Northeastern University-bound Briggs. “I’m hoping to get to 13-7.”

Jaimee Dorsey of East Greenwich (RI) powered her way down the last straightaway to take the 400 in a swift 55.69. South Burlington (VT ’s) Kayla Gilding was a strong second in 56.49, followed by Catherine Voelpel of Berlin (CT) in 56.52.

“I was pretty nervous and excited at the same time,” said Dorsey. “I was dying after the first 200, but I pushed through it.”

Princeton-bound Jake Scinto of Chesire (CT) was a winner in two events, taking gold in the high jump (6-11) and long jump (22-9). His leap in the high jump with a personal best by an inch. “It’s always a little tougher to jump in the win, but you just find a spot when it dies down,” said Scinto.

Waltham’s Nathan PierreLouis didn’t make the mistake he made in the state meet by going out too fast and leaving nothing for the final 200. PIerreLouis had company for the first 300 meters, but used his straightaway speed to pull ahead for the sterling 48.28 win. Jose Ortiz of Central (RI) was second in 48.84, followed by Acton Boxboro’s Brian Sommers in 49.02.

“I felt tired, but I felt good,” said PierreLouis. “I went out too fast (at the state meet). Today I paced myself and kicked.

Massachusetts 2 mile champion, Colin Bennie of Wachusett, anchored the squad to a 7:54.36 win in the 4x800 relay in the opening event of the meet. Brian Cusack, Jeremy Bennie and Hayden Frechette-McCall ran the first three legs.

“They set me up perfectly,” said Bennie of his teammates. “They’re the reason we were in that position.”

Massachusetts 2 mile champion, Colin Bennie of Wachusett, anchored the squad to a 7:54.36 win in the 4x800 relay in the opening event of the meet. Brian Cusack, Jeremy Bennie and Hayden Frechette-McCall ran the first three legs.

“They set me up perfectly,” said Bennie of his teammates. “They’re the reason we were in that position. I didn’t want to just win it for me, I wanted to do it for the team. I just thought about how hard they worked.”

Hope (RI’s) Katja Neves dueled with Brianna Davis of Cambridge to take the discus in 136-4. Davis’s heave of 135-8 was good for a strong second place. Daniel Jamieson of Windsor (CT) clocked a strong 10.47 to capture the 100 and followed it up with a 21.17 for a win in the 200. BriMan Poirier of NW Catholic (CT) edged away from the pack just enough to take the 800 in 1:55.13. Henry Wynne of Staples (CT) ran 4:13.33 to win the 800 and Matt McClintock of Madison (ME) won the 3200 in 9:06.24.