Whether an athlete has climbed to the top of the podium before or is doing it for the first time, winning a state championship in your event is a feeling that never gets old.
Three North Shore boys bit down on their gold medals at the MIAA’s Meet of Champions Saturday afternoon. Peabody’s Alex Jackson added two more to his already crowded trophy case while Tanner teammate Evan Bedard and Marblehead’s Nate Assa were also crowned state champs in their events.
Jackson, an All-American committed to the University of Virginia, won two state titles for the second consecutive winter. He threw the shot put 60-feet-7 3/4-inches and tossed the 12-pound weight 65-feet-1 1/2 inches to out-duel both fields. Teammate Areno Saint Victor was sixth in the weight (56-2 1/2) and 12th in the shot (48-8 1/2).
Stonehill-bound Tanner senior Bedard won his first state title in the long jump by leaping 23-feet-1 3/4 inches, the top mark in any meet in Massachusetts this year. Declan Smith also broke the school record and qualified for New England’s in the 1000 by finishing fifth in 2:32.50.
Peabody’s 4×200 relay of Bedard, Henry Sawyer, Michael Murphy and Tyler Rappold broke the school record and finished ninth in 1:32.50. The 4×400 also placed 11th (3:30.75).
Assa ran one of the fastest 2-mile races in recent memory on the North Shore, an amazing 9:05.30 that now ranks within the top ten in the country this winter. It’s a meet record in the short-lived Meet of Champions record book and 15 seconds off the All-State meet mark (8:49) set by Lynn Tech’s Franklin Sanchez in 1999.
In that same 2-mile race, Danvers’ Will Conklin ran 9:44 to finish in 15th place. Classmate and fellow future UMass Lowell River Hawks JJ Rooney ran one of the top 25 mile times in the state this year, a 4:24.87, for 11th place.
Senior Jacob Szalewicz also took home a medal for Marblehead with a top ten time in the nation, earning second in the 1000 in 2:31.12.
For the Magician girls, Elise Burchfield had the best showing at ninth in the long jump (17-6 3/4) as well as 15th in the high jump, tied with teammate Paige Treadwell (12th) at 5-foot-2. Treadwell was also 15th in the hurdles.
Makayla Kokozenis placed eighth in the high jump for the Peabody girls, clearing the bar at 5-foot-2.
Masconomet’s boys 4×400 relay of Tim Lull, Abri Halilaj, Adam Staffier and Nico Ceffalo earned an eighth place medal in 3:28.40. Piper Testa was also 12th in the girls 300 at 41.81.
Another silver goes to Spring Street at St. John’s Prep as Andrew Bertucci cleared 6-foot-6 in the high jump to earn second place. Anthony Ragosa picked up seventh in the shot put (50-feet-11 3/4) and Gael Garcia was 15th for the Eagles. Henry McDonnell and Liam Mahoney went 15-16 in the mile (4:30). Doug Clement was 18th in the 300 and the 4×400 also placed 18th.
Out of Beverly, the 4×200 relay team of Evan Wong, Xavier Auk, Floyd White and Ray Kwiatek clocked 1:33.20 for 14th place and senior Jason Provost came in 12th in the 2-mile at 9:36.32.
Essex Tech’s sprinter extraordinaire Nora Kisiel finished ninth in the 300 (41.69) while winding up 16th in the 55 meter prelims (7.47).
Double qualifier Georgia Wilson of Hamilton-Wenham made the finals in the hurdles and placed eighth (8.68) while also finishing 16th in the long jump. Fellow General Ben Rich was 19th in the mile (4:32) and ran a leg of the 24th place 4×800 relay (8:32.20).
Swampscott’s Collette Heil also came in 20th in the girls 2-mile (11:46).