Dartmouth Relays Preview

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Dartmouth Relays
January 9-10, 2015 @ Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH

Shannon Murdock (Exeter, NH) will fight in the Girls Seeded Mile for an auto qualifier to the New Balance Grand Prix High School Mile.

Boys Seeded Mile Of particular note at this meet are the Boys and Girls Seeded Mile races, as winners will automatically qualify for the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix High School Mile in Boston on February 7, 2015. On the boys side, Jeremy Spiezio (Greenwich Central, NY) enters as the top seed with his US #11, NY #2 4:21.94. He ran 4:10.6 outdoors for 1,600m. Look for Randall Neish (Glastonbury, CT), a 4:16.29 outdoor miler, and Jack Salisbury (La Salle, RI), the Rhode Island State champion and 4:12.97 outdoor 1,600m performer, to challenge.

Girls Seeded Mile Fighting for the top spot in the Girls Seeded Mile are three ladies who qualified for last year’s New Balance Grand Prix. Shannon Murdock (Exeter, NH) is the top returner from the Boston race, finishing third in 4:56.94 last year. She ran 5:14.98 to open her season at the Rhode Island Classic (12/27). Eliza Rego (La Salle, RI) was third at the Classic (5:08.78) and boasts 2:12 800m/4:29 1,500m speed, though she finished eighth in 5:01.08 behind Murdock at the 2014 Grand Prix. Alex Cooper (Rush-Henrietta, NY), 10th at New Balance Grand Prix last year in 5:02.12, has run 3:07.55 1k/4:57.89 1,500m.

Boys Seeded 2 Mile Three sub-9 3k performers will face off in the Boys Seeded 2 Mile, led by current US #4 8:46.53 performer Matt Bouthilette (La Salle, RI). Teammate Jake Grundy (US #9 8:55.95) and Bishop Hendricken’s Tom Grizzetti (US #12 8:59.73) will be right in the mix, as will Jeff Reddy (US #15 9:02.4) of Pinkerton, NH.

Girls Seeded 2 Mile Headlining the Girls Seeded 2 Mile is Morgan Sansing (Pinkerton, NH), an 11-minute two-miler in the spring. Siobhan Quinn (Rush-Heinrietta, NY) has run a 10:58.28 3k this season. Doubling back from the Seeded Mile is Sheridan Wilbur (La Salle, RI), who ran 4:56.5 Mile/10:31.71 3,200m in 2013. She did not show that form last season, but the senior did qualify for Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) this fall. Her sole race this season was a 5:19.32 mile for sixth place at the Rhode Island Classic. 

Boys 55m Five-time New Hampshire DI State Champion and NH #2 6.69 55m performer Zakari Jenkins (Nashua North, NH) will square off against NH #3 6.7 performer Christian Seaver (Dover).

Boys 300m Jenkins returns to the 300m as the No. 2 seed behind Jake Dixon (Cheverus, ME). Jenkins is currently NH #1 36.71 in the event, while Dixon has yet to race at the event this season but ran 35.63 in 2014. Jenkins’ personal best is 35.45.

Boys 400m 6-2 high jumperJustin Liechty (Saranac, NY) is the top seed, entering with a personal best of 51.4 for the quarter. His sole indoor race this year is a 37.84 300m. Justin Meyer (River Dell, NJ) has run 51.73 for the 400m outdoors and looks to be the top challenger.

Boys 600m Jake Johnson (Colonie, NY) will test his legs at a shorter distance (600m), one year after winning the 1k at this meet last year. The junior is the US #7 and NY #3 returner at the 1k with a personal best of 2:28.48. He’s run 2:34.9 so far this season and will have his hands full coming down in distance with Hany Ramadan (Deering, ME) in the field, a sprinter by trade who ran 23.1 for 200m and 36.84 for 300m in December. 

Boys 800m It’s a shame that Canadian William Labrèche is traveling all the way from Quebec and won’t join Johnson and Ramadan in the 600m. The sophomore ran 1:22.73 in December, which would rank US #8 if he were American. He will compete in what might be his best event anyway, the 800m, in which he ran 1:53.44 this spring. Stateside 1:55.55 performer Brett Hoerner (Manc Memorial, NH) will challenge for top honors.

Boys 1k La Salle Academy (RI) has another standout in James Placco, currently RI #1 2:38.42. He will take on 4:21 miler Chris Skelly (North Middlesex Regional, MA), whose best at the distance is 2:40.39 this season but ran 2:37.21 in 2014.

Boys 55H The short hurdles will be a battle between multi-event stars Infinite Tucker (Huntington, NY), US #9 7.72 55H, Starlin Ortiz (Londonderry, NH), who has run 7.8 this year, and Jared Marshall (Gloucester, MA), who has clocked 7.85 thus far.

Boys 4x200m Relay Who will be this year’s Cambridge Rindge & Latin (MA)? Last season at the Dartmouth Relays, the squad of Dashawn Velez, Muna Anosikie, Joseph Kozlowski and Shaquille Anderson — all seniors — demolished the field by three seconds in 1:32.52, good for a new meet record. Huntington (NY) owns the meet’s quickest seed at 1:33.6. Londonderry is the current NH #1 at 1:35.74, with Nashua North (1:37.66) and Merrimack (1:38.01) Nos. 2 and 3 in the state. Rhode Island’s top two squads, Bishop Hendricken (1:35.04) and La Salle (1:35.17), will also be in attendance, as will ME #1 1:35.65 Cheverus.

Boys 4x400m Relay Huntington (NY) again enters as the prohibitive favorite, as their quarter clocked 3:30.18 at the North Shore Invitational (12/26/14). Fellow Empire Staters Hauppauge (3:36.84) will likely look for runner-up honors against CT #4 Danbury (3:37.49) and NH #1 Merrimack (3:40.44).

Boys 4x800m Relay Rhode Island’s top two squads lead the charge in the 4x8, as Bishop Hendricken (8:16.69) and Barrington (8:22.27) enter with a significant gap on the rest of the field. New York’s Hauppauge (8:37.13)and Rush-Henrietta (8:39.37) also enter with sub-8:40 clockings this season.

Boys 1,600m Sprint Medley Relay Pembroke (MA) is the team to watch, as they’ve clocked 3:46.42 this season. Also going sub-3:50 is River Dell (NJ), 3:49.9, while Monsignor Farrell (NY) is right on the cusp with 3:50.9. Amity Regional (CT) has run 3:58.97 this season.

Boys Distance Medley Relay Rhode Island’s La Salle Academy clocked US #2 10:31.8 in winning the Rhode Island Classic (12/27/14), though an untested Port Jefferson (NY) squad boasts sub-4:20 miler James Burke on the anchor. La Salle has an army of talented distance runners, but with three of their top guys challenging for the win in the Seeded Mile and Seeded 2 Mile, it will be interesting to see who runs in which relay.

Boys High Jump US #3 6-8 performer Starlin Ortiz (Londonderry, NH) will take on Philippe St-Hilaire of Quebec, a 6-11 high jumper. Joao Baptista (Somerville, MA), a 6-0 performer this season, has a personal best of 6-6.

Boys Pole Vault Joseph Fogarasi (Windham, CT), the US #13 returner with his 15-4 best last season, headlines the vaulters’ descending order list. He has cleared 14-6 so far this year, as did Trevor Koch (Frontier, NY). Koch’s clearance marked a full foot personal record from last indoor season for the senior. Another big up-and-comer is Sam Rusak (Scarborough, ME), who has already cleared 14-5 this season after a 12-11 best last year.

Boys Long Jump Lee Moses (Bishop Hendricken, RI), the US #9 returner at 23-0.25, will make his indoor debut against Jake Valley (Lancaster, NY), who has lept 21-7 already, and Infinite Tucker (Huntington, NY), who has lept 21-3.5 this season. 

Boys Triple Jump Michael Cuesta (South Portland, ME) leads the field with a 44-7.5 leap this season. This weekend, he’ll aim to hit his personal record of 45-4. Behind him, Odmark Ozit (Somerville, MA) and dark horse Canadian Ivan Nyemeck. Odmark Ozit (Somerville, MA) are faces to watch.

Boys Shot Put Andrew Tummin (River Dell, NJ) has a 57-1 best this season, which is already an indoor personal record by nearly one full foot. Colin Blair (Lancaster, NY) has thrown for 56-3 this year, a record by nearly two and a half feet.

Boys Weight Throw Watch out, because here comes Adam Kelly. The Barrington, RI senior is the class of the field as the defending New Balance Indoor Nationals champion, with an indoor best of 79-1.25. Teammate Bobby Colantonio is no slouch either, as the junior returns with the US #3 throw of 72-6.25.