Boys' track
Coach of the Year
Bill Jennings, Brockton
 DIVISION 1 |
||
 |
This 20-year coach has been honored by the Globe as the top Spring track coach four times since 1990, but this is first indoor honor. His Brockton team was undefeated (7-0) in the Big Three Conference nd were winners at the Class A relays. The Boxers finished second to Newton North at both the Division 1 and All-State championships, falling short by slim margins both times. Jennings was captain of both the varsity soccer and track team while attending Boston State. Jennings pointed out the work of long time assistant Joe Lemar and the ``heart, desire, and committment'' of his seniors. | |
Runner of the Year
Marcus Vaughn, N. Attleboro
DIVISION 1 |
||
 |
Vaughn is a superior and versitle athlete. Not only is he a four-time Hockomock League track All-Star, he's also been counted amongst the leauge's best in football and was a key player on the Red Rocketeer's 2002 Super Bowl championship team. Vaughn was the state's best in the 55-meter hurdles (7.55 seconds) and the long jump (21-feet 4-inches) feet and is also his school's record holder in both events. Vaughn was first at state coaches in 55 hurdles, first in Division 2, and third in New Englands. He was also the only boy to win two individual events at All-State meet. After four years at North Attleboro, Vaughn is the school's all-time point scorer. In the Division 2 championships, he was named the Most Outstanding Performer. He has yet to decide on which college to run for, but Syracuse, Northeastern, and UMass-Amherst are at the top of his list. | |
The All-Scholastics
Chris Barnicle, Newton North
MILE |
||
 |
Barnicle will be an All-Scholastic three times this year. In the fall, he was choosen for cross-country and he's a double-honoree this winter for his success in the mile and 4 x 800 meter relay for the All-State and Division 1 champion Newton North Tigers. The 6-foot-1-inch Barnicle finished second at the All-State championships with a meet-record time of 4:11. The running season is year round for Barnicle, he'll run in the outdoor season where he'll look to best his personal best of 9-minutes and four seconds in the two mile. | |
Mat Frankel, Newton North
SHOT PUT |
||
 |
He's 6-foot-4-inches, weighs 255 pounds and can throw a shot put almost 20 yards. But don't think Frankel is just some brute, he's an honor student on his way to Brown University with four years of Ivy League classes and football ahead of him. Frankel, a captain on Newton North's Division 1 and All-State championship team, is a three-year Bay State Conference All Star. In the All-State meet, Frankel threw 56-5 to win the event after throwing 53-3, which placed hiim second to Lowell's Jeison King and went on to finish fifth at the New England meet with a throw of 54-10. The two-time Bay State Conference football all-star will be a defensive lineman next year for the Bears. He counts lifting weights and listening to music among his hobbies. | |
Victor Gras, Belmont
1,000 |
||
 |
Not only is Gras a top flight runner in Massachusetts, but he's also an elite runner on the national stage. Any time the Belmont senior set his spikes on the track, a record was in danger of being broken. He holds the top national time this season in the 800 meters (1:51.7) and his 1,000 time at the All State meet (2:26.1) also ranks near the top nationally. Gras won both the Division 3 (2-minutes 29.82 seconds) and the All-State (2:26.17) meets. He was also a winner in the 600 at the State Coaches meet (1:22.15).Last month, Gras finished second in the mile at the Millrose Games in New York City and was second nationally last season. Gras, an honor roll student, was also was the Division 1 state champion in cross country. | |
Jeison King, Lowell
SHOT PUT |
||
 |
King and Frankel were involved in a season long tete-a-tete which saw them trade victories in Division 1 championship (King) and the All-State championship (Frankel). King, though, holds the trump card. He threw 57-1 feet in Merrimack Valley Conference meet which not only broke the 24-year-old league record by more than two feet, but was also the best mark of the season in New England. In addition to his Division 1 crown (54-5), King finished second at the Dartmouth Relays (55-), third at the New England Championships (56-3) and fourth at the All-State Meet (53-4). King also plays legion baseball and enjoys working out at the gym. King will attend prep school next year. | |
John Lancaster, Foxboro
55 meters |
||
 |
This Division 4 champion was not overmatched when he took on all comers from larger schools. Lancaster shaved .07 seconds off his Division 4 win to take the All-State meet with a time of 6.51 seconds. Lancaster's breakaway speed should come as no surprise, as the feature running back for the Warriors, he rushed for over 1,300 yards in the fall. His sixth-place finish at the New England championships secured him a spot in 60 dash at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York. Lancaster will roam the secondary for the Georgetown Hoyas football team and has said he has not ruled out lacing up his track spikes again in college. | |
Josue Louissaint, Madison Park
HIGH JUMP |
||
 |
Louissaint is what you'd call a ``high-riser.'' He is able to leap over a 6-foot-9-inch bar in a single bound. His season-best 6-9 jump ranks him among the nation's elite this season, and his record in big meets is unparalled: he won the City League, State Coaches (6-feet 6-inches), Division 1 (6-9), All-State (6-5), and New England championships this winter. The 6-foot-1-inch 160-pound senior also runs cross-country and competes in outdoor track when he's not spending free time playing video games. Louissaint, who lives in Roslindale, said that Northeastern, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Emmanuel are potential suitors for his services. | |
Paul Morris, Lexington
2 MILE |
||
 |
Given the chance, Morris would have had a pretty good shot of beating Paul Revere and his horse Brown Beauty to his hometown of Lexington. The prolific distance runner, who was also an All-Scholastic for cross-country for his seventh place finish in the state finals, won the 2-Mile event in both the Division 1 (9 minutes 37.45 seconds) and All-State championships (9:33.57). The 6-foot-1-inch 140-pound junior was a key contributor to Lexington's Middlesex League championship team that finished with an undefeated 9-0 season. He will also run in the outdoor season for Lexington. | |
Robert Simpson, Brockton
300 |
||
 |
Simpson was a vital contributor to Jennings' highly successful Brockton team that finished second to Newton North at both the the Division 1 and All-State championships. He strung together a slew of impressive victories in the 300 this season. He won the 300 at the State Coaches with a hamstring injury (35.67), Division 1 (36.13), and All-State meet (35.71) and was a member of both the Boxers' Division 1 winning 4 x 400 relay and runner-up 4 x 200 team at the New England championships. The 6-foot-1-inch Simpson was also the 300 champion in the Tri-County league. He was a Big 3 All-Star in football. The senior honor roll student is hoping to attend Northeastern next fall. el2a | |
Jon Wofsy, Newton North
600 |
||
 |
Wofsy was Newton North's money man. Besides individual wins in the 600 at the Division 1 (1:23.87) and All-State (1:21.65) meets, it was his gutsy finishes as the anchor of the 4 x 400 relay at those meets that helped the Tigers secure both team championships. The 6-foot-3-inch 172 Wofsy is a Bay State League All-Star and is an All-Scholastic from last year's outdoor track season, where he ran on Newton North's New England Champion 4 x 400 team. He is an honors student and avid baseball fan who is undecided about his collegiate future. Another case where a couple more words or one short sentence kicks this over a line. | |
RELAY TEAMS
Lawrence
4 x 200 |
||
 |
They were clearly the best 4 x 200 team in the state but they fell a dropped baton short of proving they were the best in New England. The foursome of Eric Diaz, Eric Gonzalez, Johan Rafael, and Enrique Cuesta won the McIntyre Relays, Division 1 and All-State championships and last week finished 12th at the Nike Indoor Championships. Gonzalez and Diaz are both graduating, but Rafael and Cuesta should prove to be formidable next year along with whoever replaces the seniors. Rafael, a junior, finished third in the 55 at the New England Championships and Cuesta, a sophomore won the 300 at the Auerbach Freshman/Sophomore championships. | |
Xaverian
4 x 400 |
||
 |
Sporting four upperclassmen, the team of Daniel O'Hara, Doug Hamilton, Ryan Keough and Zack Asack were consistent and solid throughout the season. After finishing 2nd at the Division 1 meet, they rebounded and won the All-State meet and went on to another 2nd place finish, this time at the New England Championships. Asack, the Division 1 55 hurdles winner, and Keough return next season. O'Hara, who was also a three-year soccer player for Xaverian, and Hamilton are graduating but are undecided on their respective college futures'. | |
Newton North
4 x 800 |
||
 |
If you split this team apart and looked at Tom Davis, Chris Barnicle, David Polgar, and Brian Robb as individuals, you'd find four successful solo athletes. Barnicle is individual All-Scholastics, in the mile. Polgar as a sophomore, gained recognition after his record-setting performance in the 1,000 at the Freshman/Sophomore Meet. Robb is a five-time letterman for the Tigers and was also their indoor team captain and Davis is a triple-threat track athlete running in the indoor and outdoor seasons as well as cross-country. They were second-place finishers at the State Coaches, Division 1, and All-State meets. They shaved 20 seconds off their early season time during the season to nearly upset St. John's (S) in the All-State meet, losing by 8-100th of a second with a time of 8 minutes-4.98 seconds. | |
