The best distance runner in the entire state this year?
Yeah, it’d be hard to argue for anyone other than Michael Mohoric.
The successes of the Newburyport senior this spring — and, really, this entire school year — have been well-chronicaled here. But against the very best across the entire commonwealth at Meet of Champions this weekend, held at nearby Merrimack College, Mohoric of course made his presence felt.
And in a big way.
It started on the opening Thursday, when Mohoric raced to second in the 800 (1:52.41) behind only Harry Flint of Brookline (1:50.33). While it wasn’t his best finish in the event this year, he still has the second-fast time in the entire state in the 800 (1:51.99) — which is also a Newburyport record.
Mohoric would then come back on Saturday, and nearly improve upon his already-fastest time in the state to win the Mile (4:07.37). He then finished up by running the anchor leg on the 12th-place 4×800 relay team alongsige Will Downs, John DeJordy and Nordeen Fadil (8:06.50). So, in total, this is what Mohoric did in the three distance events this spring.
800: 1:51.99, second-fastest in the entire state (Newburyport record).
Mile: 4:05.77, fastest in the entire state (Newburyport record).
2-Mile: 9:01.75, fastest in the entire state (Newburyport record).
Not bad, huh?
But a Newburyport record did fall at Meet of Champions this weekend.
And it came from the team’s other senior superstar, Kyle Lisauskas, who beat his own school record while racing to third in the 400 hurdles (54.85). The double-event placer also reached the finals and finished seventh in the 110 hurdles (14.80), then joined John Murray, David Walker and brother Tyler Lisauskas on the 19th-place 4×400 team (3:28.68).
Newburyport was our local school with the most Meet of Champions qualifiers, and elsewhere for the boys, David Walker was 12th in the 400 hurdles (56.41) while Tyler Lisauskas was right behind him in 19th (56.93). Finally, for the girls, Margaux Dupuis raced to 23rd in the 100 hurdles (15.87).
OTHER LOCALS: Choma high jumps to 2nd, while Wisniewski break own 800 record
This Pentucket junior duo is pretty special.
A week ago, Holden Choma cleared 6-foot-6 in the high jump to be crowned the Division 5 State Champion in the event. Flash forward to this weekend, and he once again took down 6-6 to place second at Meet of Champions — only behind Cooper Calvert of Wahconah Regional (6-8).
Then not to be outdone, Susan Wisniewski broke her own Pentucket record in the 800 while racing to 18th (2:16.42). That was on the opening Thursday, and the junior would then come back on Saturday and also finish 21st in the Mile (5:09.34).
What will the two be able to accomplish as seniors next year?
Pentucket then had a few more athletes qualify to compete, with Grayden Wright finishing 23rd in the 400 (50.63) before joining Rowan Weinberg, Grayson Shikes and Zack Hannula on the 19th-place 4×800 relay team (8:11.77). Elsewhere, Amesbury had a pair of athletes qualify, with Marcus Colon taking 19th in the discus (139-11) while Katie Bigos was 23rd in the high jump (5-0). Finally, Triton saw Colleen Johnson finish 32nd in the 100 hurdles (16.47).