Relay gives Central a lift

In the end, the MIAA Division 2 girls' indoor track and field championship took the form of a baton in the hands of Central Catholic junior Sara Missert. And with the Raiders gunning for their third straight state title, there was nowhere they would rather have it.

"I'd trust my life to this girl," said Central Catholic captain Kristen Martin. "She's perfect, every time."

Missert was again yesterday at the Reggie Lewis Center, anchoring Central Catholic's 4x400 relay team to a second-place finish (4:07.82) in the final event, ensuring the Raiders would come from behind to edge Belmont, 41.6-36. The relay squad was seeded fourth in the race, and needed to finish fourth or better for Central to win.

Coach Rob Benedetto said it was the most rewarding of the team's three titles because this team lacked the star power of its predecessors. To top that, four Raiders' runners didn't show up because of an illness .

"I told them, 'A champion adapts,' " Benedetto said. "The girls understand what it takes to win, and they're willing to sacrifice that.

"The younger girls see, 'This is what it takes to win,' and they're hungry to keep it going."

The Raiders also got standout performances from Katie O'Donnell, who won the long jump (16 feet 11 1/2 inches); Danielle Diodati, who earned points in the 55-meter dash and the long jump; and Missert, who took second in the 300 (42.13) and placed fifth (in a five-way tie) in the high jump.

For Belmont, Grace Watson (first in high jump, 5-7) and Anika Reynolds (second in the long jump and 55) were the standouts. Franklin finished third with 34 points, led by meet-record-setting sophomore Kathleen Ryan (3:00.09 in the 1,000).

There was also a repeat champion on the boys' side -- Mansfield won its second straight title, 59-49, over Woburn, despite racing the entire season without junior Powell Simpson. Simpson earned 20 points in last year's meet by winning the 300 and the long jump, but was shelved this year with a severe bone bruise in his knee.

Illness was also a factor for the Hornets, who were still heavy favorites, but had three point-getters fighting various ailments during the meet. Shot put winner Dan Glavin (52-9) was at the end of a stomach bug; 55 hurdles champ Matt Callanan (7.64 seconds) had a sinus infection; and the third-place finisher in the 1,000, John Lutkevich, may have won the race if not for pneumonia.

"I think it affected me more than them," said coach Julie Collins. "I was very concerned with their health."

But the most impressive performance may have come from Collins's son, Ryan, a senior who won the All-State title in cross-country last fall. On a kick of confidence from the fall season, he's shaved about 15 seconds off his personal best in the 2 mile over the past two weeks, and yesterday he put up the third-best time nationally this indoor season (9:15.58) en route to victory.

Catholic Memorial's Paul Corcoran, who has the fourth-best time in the country (9:16.09), was with him every step of the way.

"He was a huge part of it," said Ryan Collins, who was seeded 20 seconds above the next-best time. "I tried to drop people as soon as I could, but he stuck on me."

Woburn stuck with Mansfield as long as it could, led by high jump champ Matt Pereira, who was also part of the Tanners' 4x200 relay team that set a meet record by three- 100ths of a second (1:31.91).

Two other relay teams shot down records in the 4x800 -- Gloucester's boys (8:12.33) and the Marlboro girls (9:49.23).