Mark Amirault, Xaverian  MILE
		‘‘El es uno de los mejores corredores del estado.’’ It’s OK if you can’t tell that’s Spanish for ‘‘He is one of the best runners in the state.’’ Amirault, a Spanish National Honor Society member, can read it just fine. But even the keenest foreign language skills can’t top Amirault’s running prowess. A bona fide long distance titan, Amirault followed up his cross-country state title last fall with indoor championships in the Division 1 EMass finals (4:13.56) and All-States (4:11.94). A member of the Hawks’ celebrated 4.x.800 team, Amirault enjoyed a tremendous indoor season all-around, finishing second at the Millrose Mile in New York City.

Timothy Mann, Brookline  DIVISION 1
		The Warriors captured their first state title since 1996 this season, edging Bay State League rival and two-time reigning state champ Newton North by a score of 23-22. The fact that Mann is a Brookline High graduate (1987) and a former New England long jump champion for the Warriors (’87) made the championship especially satisfying. Mann, an 11-year coaching veteran, formerly headed Foxboro, where his team won the Hockomock League title and earned Coach of the Year honors in 2002. As a junior at Bridgewater State College in 1991, Mann captured the long jump, 100-yard dash, and 200-yard dash championships. Mann enjoys being a DJ, working with computers, and working out in his spare time.

Kevin Black, Whitman-Hanson  DIVISION 2
		A 28-year coaching juggernaut, Black (cross-country, indoor and outdoor track) won his 39th league championship this winter with the Panthers, who went 7-0 in dual meets and won the Atlantic Coast League title while breaking 12 school records. The UMass-Amherst grad (1974) also led Whitman-Hanson to a co-championship in the Division 2 relays and a runner-up performance at the Division 2 meet, where the Panthers finishedwith seven top-six placements. Black is a 1970 graduate of Scituate High, where he captained the wrestling team and played football and baseball. His outstanding career at Whitman-Hanson (427-59-3) has earned him several awards, including the Globe 1995 cross-country Coach of the Year.

Fred Jewett, Hingham  DIVISION 3
		It was a magical run for the Patriot League champion Harbormen, who won the program’s first Division 3 state championship on the same day the girls’ team accomplished the same feat. Jewett called this ‘‘the best team I have ever coached; they practice hard, have fun, and love to compete.’’ Jewett’s team also earned the Patriot League Sportsmanship award. The Harbormen’s team-first attitude helped them capture the Division 3 relay championship Jan. 22. A football coach for 32 years, Jewett has been coaching track for 13 years and has led Hingham to a 17-1 record over the last two years, in the indoor and spring track seasons. An Archbishop Williams and Boston State College grad, Jewett enjoys photography, skiing, and running.

Jeff Tracey, Seekonk  DIVISION 4
		After finishing fifth at the Division 4 finals last season, the Warriors came out this year with six top-six placements, including a gold medal (Mark Mariano, 600) as they edged Newburyport by 1 point to bring home the championship. This, after an undefeated regular-season campaign (9-0) in which they captured the South Coast Conference title for the second straight year and pushed their win streak to 18. Tracey, who doubles as coach of the girls’ team and boasts 71 straight victories and eight consecutive league titles with the girls, is a former SCC All-Star in both football and track with Dighton-Rehoboth. He graduated from UMass-Amherst in 1997 and cites golf and landscaping as his chief hobbies.

Donte Brown, B-R  55 HURDLES
		After sweeping the Division 1 finals (7.70 seconds) and All-States (7.69), Brown dug even deeper for the New England meet, improving his time by more than 1/10th of a second to edge Devin Belanger (Biddeford, Maine) and take home the gold with a personal record of 7.56. A multi-faceted athlete, the three-time Old Colony League hurdles champ also won the OCL long jump title this year, and was a member of the Trojans 4.x.200 relay team that captured OCL gold. He was first in hurdles at the Coaches Elite meet and second in the long jump at the Coaches Invitational. The 6-foot senior who doubles as a soccer player wants to study athletic training in college.

Matt Dewey, Catholic Memorial  2-MILE
		This junior was the best distance runner in the state this season. He overwhelmed the competition at the Division 2 EMass meet, finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of Mansfield’s Ryan Collins to take gold. At the All-States, Dewey beat Brookline’s Robert Gibson by almost 10 seconds to win it all in 9:20.74. At New Englands, Dewey finished second to Jay Kolosues (Guilford, Conn.). Dewey claimed titles at the State Coaches Elite meet and Tri-County League championships (1-mile). The two-time all-conference runner in cross-country earned that honor for the first time in indoor track. A National Honor Society member, he also loves basketball.

David Lint, Foxboro  300
		An intense and dedicated competitor, Lint stormed through a senior season in which he swept through everything short of a team state championship. The New England and All-State champion in the 300-meter run, Lint set records at the Elite Coaches Invitational (35.04) and Division 3 EMass finals (34.98), where he was also the anchor leg of the Warriors’ record-setting 4.x.400 relay team that ran 34.98. Lint’s focus and passion carries into the classroom, where he is in the National Honor Society and has honor roll status. He enters the spring season as the reigning Hockomock League MVP and will attend the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeff Moriarty, Westwood  1,000
		The junior only got better at the Reggie Lewis Center, following up his championship performance in the Division 4 EMass finals (2:37.06) by running nearly five seconds faster the next week as he captured the gold at All-States in 2:32.85. The Tri-Valley League 1-mile and 600-meter champion earned MVP honors for his efforts. A guitar, skiing, and sailing enthusiast, Moriarty hopes to run at a Div. 1 college. He enters the outdoor season as the defending 200-meter champion.

Cory Murray, Methuen  SHOT PUT
		Murray, the Merrimack Valley Conference champion (56 feet 0.75 inches), was one of 8 Methuen individuals to finish in the top 6 as the Rangers edged a game Andover team in its own gym Feb. 11 to capture the MVC team title. The fun was just beginning for Murray, who went on to win the Div. 1 shot put crown (57-00.25) and finish third at the All States (51-08.25). Murray, who enjoys the finer things in life—football and hanging out with friends—is looking at UMass-Lowell, UMass-Amherst, Bentley and Bridgewater St. for potential collegiate suitors.

Sam Pegram, Wayland  LONG JUMP
		Pegram’s most outstanding day came at the Div. 3 finals Feb. 18. Against the best in the class, he executed a 22-feet 5.5-inch jump, earning the gold medal while establishing meet and Wayland school records. That same day, Pegram was a part of the Warriors’ 4x200 relay team that set a meet record in 1:32.89. As if that weren’t enough for a stellar season, Pegram won the championship the following week at All-States (22 feet 0.75 inches) and jumped eight inches further at New England’s (22 feet 8.75 inches) to finish second. The guitarist enjoys skiing and fishing and is headed to Hartford in the fall to attend Trinity College.

Cailean Robinson, Newton North  55 DASH
		While the defending state champion Tigers fell just short of a third straight title, Robinson did his part to give them a fighting chance. Robinson beat out Lawrence’s Raymond Targbe and Billerica’s Greg Abelli by 2/100s of a second to capture the Div. 1 title in 6.66. He improved on that time to finish in the runner up position at both the All-State meet (6.64) and New England championships (6.54). The latter performance was nearly 2/10s of a second better than his outing at the Bay State championships, when he placed third behind runner up and teammate Gordon Forbes. A junior, Robinson runs spring track and finished fourth in the 1,000 last spring.

Matt Stewart, Brookline  600
		Stewart was a stalwart for the Division 1 state champion Warriors, also competing in the 1,000-meter run and the 4.x.400 relay team, where his season bests were 2:35 and 50.3 (split), respectively. The All-State champ (1:21.63) was second at the New Englands to St. John’s of Shrewsbury’s Dave Soiles. He was the undefeated Bay State League champ, and won the State Coaches meet (1:22.53) while finishing sixth at the Division 1 EMass championships. An honors student, Stewart plays trumpet in a jazz quartet and aspires to drive a monster truck.

Duane Teixeira, Melrose  HIGH JUMP
		The Cornell-bound senior finished his indoor high school career with a state championship. Teixiera did it by improving one step at a time. He took second place at the Division 3 finals (6 feet 5 inches) and improved on that by 2 inches to prevail over Framingham’s Jordan Maddocks at All-States. He finished second at New Englands to cap a tremendous season that started slowly after a football injury. A National Honor Society member, Teixeira was a second-team Middlesex League All-Star in football and also is a spring track all-star.

4x200  Andover

When Adam Cuomo was injured competing in the 55-meter hurdles at the Div. 1 EMass finals, it appeared as though Andover’s 4x200 team was in trouble. As the anchor leg, Cuomo had helped carry the relay squad through the Warriors’ Merrimack Valley Conference championship season. That’s when fellow senior Jeffrey Belardo came to the rescue. Jason Sheldon, Pierre Hage, Nate Baker, and Belardo finished second to Lexington at Div. 1. The following week at All-States, Andover won only because of a Lexington disqualification, leaving some to wonder if the team was for real. The foursome dispelled nay-sayers at the New England championships, however, edging Minnechaug/Wilbraham by .07 seconds to be crowned best in the region. Sheldon, an all-conference member of Andover’s MVC-champion soccer team, enters the spring a returning all-conference 4x100 competitor, as does Cuomo, the winner of the Unsung Hero award in football. Hage, also a senior, won the Sportsmanship award for soccer last fall and plans on studying biomedics in college.

4x400  St. John’s (Shrewsbury)

You’ll need all five fingers to count the gold medals for Justin Dowd, Nate Saviet, Sean Mitchell, and David Soiles—they swept everything all season. Hailing as champs of the Coaches Invite and the Tri-County League title meet, the foursome also came through when it counted most in postseason play. At the Div. 1 finals, they edged an eager Lincoln-Sudbury squad by 1.10 seconds (3:27.84-3:28.94) to take gold as St. John’s as a team finished fifth. At All-States, Soils was .08 better than Foxboro’s David Lint in a remarkable anchor stretch run before the squad also edged out Foxboro at New England’s (3:27.57-3:27.89). Only Soiles is graduating from this group. The junior Saviet, also a 1,000-meter specialist, was fourth at the Div. 1 finals, sixth at All-States and sixth at New England’s. Dowd, a sophomore, finished second in the Tri-County League championships in the 300-meter run.

4x800  Xaverian

The Hawks were in the top 10 nationally for both 4x800 (9th) and distance medley relay (6th) by DyeStat Elite. On Jan. 21, they stormed through both events at the Class A State Relays as Xaverian finished the day team champs, 52-36 over Newton North. In the 4x800 at the Div. 1 EMass finals, they cruised by Newton North again (8:02.90-8:07.68) as Xaverian as team finished runner up to Lexington (48-42). At All-States, long distance stud Mark Amirault won the mile and Dan Higgins competed in the 2-mile prior to the 4x800 race, which may have led to a “sub par” third-place finish behind Methuen and Peabody. But Alec Bleday, Andrew MacIsaac, Higgins and Amirault got even the following week at New England’s, edging Methuen by 1.36 seconds (7:56.09-7:57.45) to crown the Hawks’ 4x800 team champs of the region for the third straight season. Xaverian captain Bleday, a 4-year honors student and two-time All-Scholastic selection, is the only member of the foursome graduating, giving the Hawks a realistic shot at a fourth straight New England title in ’07.