Keeping the Streaks Going - Winning is a Tradition at Mansfield
Girls win Hocks with 87 well earned points.The meet was a difficult undertaking as there were lots of question marks as to who was ready and who was not. Defending last year's title put a lot of pressure on a team that was missing all-state champ Emily Broyles and had a number of key personnel sick. But the bus was full as it took off for the Reggie Lewis Center, with everyone anticipating a hard fight for another title. The meet started off fast and furious as Kristen McDonagh, Paige Grimes and Dana Foley qualified for the 55 meter hurdle finals in quick succession. That was followed by Kayla Comer and Brianna Chiusano also qualifying in the 55 meters. Lauren Columbare, under the weather, after making an almost full recovery from her late season cross country injury, ran a superb race in the mile to defeat Shannon Hickey of Oliver Ames. Finishing a hard fought 5th and adding two important points was Jess Grainger, who recorded a personal best for herself. Then it was back to the hurdles with McDonagh (2nd), Grimes (3rd) and Foley (4th) picking up 18 points to go along with the 12 points from the mile. So, with two events up on the board, Mansfield was off and "running" with 30 points. McDonagh went on to easily win the high jump (5-4). Freshman Caitlin Finnerty just finished out of the money, but jumped a personal best of 4-8. Kayla Comer, who was out most of the week doing rehearsals for the Mansfield Cabaret Show, won the 55 meter dash for another 10 points. The 600 meters was a tough event as Kendal Knous and Jade Paul had a really competitive encounter that was not determined until Knous (also ill last week), pulled it out in the last 150 meters. For Mansfield, Brittany Greene set a personal record and scored a point with a time of 1:45.78. The 300 meters was supposed to be a solid point getter for Mansfield as favorite Jen Esposito was second in the state. But Espo was under the weather, unable to speak, and didn't look as if she would even be able to get around the track. She did whisper to her coach that "Of course, I am going to run". And run, she did, holding off a fast closing Samantha Kroll. Julia Jones, sick last week, surprised even herself as she ran a personal best by 2 seconds to sneak in for a solid third place finish. Jess Verbic finished up the scoring for the Hornets with a sixth place spot and a total of 17 more points to add the the Hornets' total. Although the distance crew had come along quite well during the winter, expectations were not that high, as most had not accomplished Hock League times during the season. The 1000 meters was one of those events where the hope was to pick up a possible point or two. Megan Cole, after starting off very slowly, managed to move through a lot of traffic and end up placing a solid 4th overall with a personal best time of 3:18.11, 4 seconds faster than her previous best. Freshman Sami Carey also ran a super race, recording a time of 3:21.98 for 7th, while Laura Burnham clocked a 3:24.73. Both Carey and Burnham qualified for the state meet with those times. The two mile was a given win for Megan Ross of Franklin, who had been running up a storm the entire indoor season. But hard working Katie Dempsey was hoping to score in this event, as she was improving week by week. Dempsey ran a personal best of 12:25.05, which was good for third place overall. Another nice job by the distance crew, for sure. The 4x400 relay team of Brittany Greene, (63.2), Jen Esposito (60.0), Amanda Zieselman (64.1) and Julia Jones (60.1), set a seasonal best of 4:08.18 in winning over a tough Franklin squad. The final team scores was a joy to see: 87 Mansfield 47 Franklin 43 Oliver Ames 23 Canton 22 Attleboro 21 North Attleboro 20 Sharon 17 Stoughton 16 King Philip 14 Foxboro | Boys overwhelm rest of league with win and 10th straight indoor titleThe only question that awaited the boys team when entering the track and field facility at Reggie Lewis Center was, could the team break the 100 point barrier? It didn't take long to figure out that Mansfield was going to be on a roll this early frigid morning in the middle of February. Brian Ferreira started things off by placing 4th in the hurdles, followed quickly by Greg Donahue running a personal best of 6.96 to place 4th in the 55 meter dash. Shayne Collins, fresh off a tough race at the New Balance Junior Mile last weekend was in no mood to loose to anyone in the mile. Taking over the lead early in the race, Collins continued to push the pace and pulled away from standout Chris Allen of King Philip by the 1200 meter mark. Andrew Hood of Franklin, however, continued to hold on for one more lap before Collins make one more solid drive to win going away. Although not scoring, Adam Osowski (4:47.00) and Dan Caughey (4:47.76) both recorded personal bests. The 600 meters has been a strong event for the Hornets and that proved to be the case this day, as Ryan Petrella and Griffin Robertson finished 1-2 with excellent marks. Nate Somes, who had been making remarkable improvement throughout the season was literally left in the blocks as he never heard the starters command to "Take your marks". By the time Somes realized what was happening (the race had started) everyone was about 15 meters away from the start. Somes tried to get back into the race, but could only manage a 1:32.34, far below his best time. The 1000 meters was another good showing for the Hornets as state leader Josh Lampron ran away early in the event and cruised to a comfortable 2:30.15 win. Kham Haleudeth ran a very nice race for himself, recording a personal best and 5th place finish. The 300 meters was a big showdown of top sprinters with former state leader Charles Ruffin of King Philip, outdoor 400 leader Jon Radazzo of Oliver Ames and the two Mansfield sprinters, Steve Gannon and Nick King vying for top honors. Ruffin had slightly injured himself at the McIntyre Elite Meet, so Steve Gannon decided to go out very quickly (22.5 for 200 meters), so see if he could "run away" from the fast closing Ruffin. Gannon ran a superb last 100 meters and found himself all alone at the finish line, as Jon Raduazzo and Nick King both managed to move ahead of a struggling Ruffin over the last 30 meters. Upstart junior Alex Kuras sneaked into the scoring with a personal best of 37.58 and 5th place. Gannon's time of 35.53 is a school record, breaking the old record set in 2010 by former Hornet Kyle Kilduff (35.75). The two mile saw Matt Cioe control the race from the get go as he ran even splits all the way through to the end and winning easily with a time of 10:00.57. Mitch Negus and Brendan McCarthy backed up Cioe with 3rd and 4th place, respectively to score some more big points for the Hornets. Bill Giannouloudis continued his consistent throwing, which was good for a 5th place finish, while Patrick Greaney and Brian Ferreira both clearing 6-0 to place 5th and 6th respectively. The 4x400 relay team of Nick King (50.0), Ryan Petrella (51.6), Griffin Robertson (51.4) and Steve Gannon (51.6) ran away with their race, setting a meet record along the way. The final teams scores left little question as to how tough the Hornets were on this day. 103.5 Mansfield 55 North Attleboro 37 Oliver Ames 27 Attleboro 25 Canton 22 Franklin 17 Stoughton 12 King Philip 8 Sharon 3.5 Foxboro  Matt Cioe - Winner of the 2 Mile Run  Andrew Kuras - Personal best in the 300 meters Ryan Petrella and Griffin Robertson - 1-2 600 Meters Adam Osowski - personal best in the mile  Steve Gannon and Nick King going 1-3 in the 300. Photos courtesy of Ed Osowski (thank you very much). |
Keeping the Streaks Going -
Indoor Championship Titles for Mansfield
| Boys Results | Girls Results |
| Year | Team Score | Place | Year | Team Score | Place | |
| 2011 | 103.5 | 1st | 2011 | 85 | 1st | |
| 2010 | 85 | 1st | 2010 | 78 | 1st | |
| 2009 | 87 | 1st | 2009 | 83 | 1st | |
| 2008 | 90 | 1st | 2008 | 60 | 2nd | |
| 2007 | 87 | 1st | 2007 | 37 | 5th | |
| 2006 | 88.33 | 1st | 2006 | 75 | 1st | |
| 2005 | 87 | 1st | 2005 | 77.5 | 1st | |
| 2004 | 82 | 1st | 2004 | 80 | 1st | |
| 2003 | 64 | 1st | 2003 | 39 | 4th | |
| 2002 | 60 | 1st | 2002 | 24 | 7th | |
| 2001 | 50 | 3rd | 2001 | 16 | 7th |