Amirault holds own in 2-mile
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Xaverian junior Mark Amirault got a taste of the big time last night. Even though he ran a personal-best time of 8 minutes 59.82 seconds in the 2-mile run, the 18-year-old finished in ninth place in a race that was billed as the deepest prep 2-mile field ever at the
Amirault, the state cross-country, indoor 1,600-meter, and outdoor 3,200-meter champion, toed the line with 11 runners who had bettered nine minutes. A tight pack went through the first mile in about 4:25, but the pace stayed fast as A.J. Acosta, a senior from El Camino, Calif., won in 8:46.32.
``It didn't feel good today," Amirault said. ``I broke nine minutes, but I was looking for low 8:50s. My legs just weren't there today."
Amirault, who beat his previous best time of 9:01.64, set in Hartford May 13, said he wants to come back next year and give it another try.
``I'll be training hard over the summer because of this," he said. ``I got a little taste of it."
In other boys' action, the Methuen team of Ryan Baldera, Erik Gonzalez, Claude Johnson, and Jeffrey Hajj finished 10th in the 1,600-meter sprint medley in 3:34.62. The Methuen team of Chris Forbes, Gonzalez, Duncan Mischo, and Adam Hanley finished 11th in the 3,200-meter relay in 7:53.24. Donte Brown of Bridgewater failed to reach the finals of the 110-meter high hurdles, finishing third in his heat and 11th overall with a time of 14.39. In the triple jump, Ugo Nduaguba of O'Bryant failed to advance to the final, finishing 18th with a leap of 45 feet 4 1/4 inches.
