On Day 1, Canton girls make a strong run to first at Division 3 track championships

Day 1 of the MIAA Division 3 track & field championship meet belonged to the Canton girls, who earned three first-place finishes to secure the early lead.

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With eight of 19 girls’ events and seven of 19 boys’ events completed Thursday at Merrimack College in North Andover, Canton (37 points) leads second-place Chicopee (24.5 points) in the girls’ competition and defending champion Walpole (44 points) sits above Longmeadow (42 points) on the boys’ side.

Canton junior Lauren Raffetto rolled to a five-second win with a personal best in the 800 meters (2 minutes, 13.69 seconds), and was complemented by wins from sophomore Adileh Azar in the 2-mile (11:15.29) and senior Chloe Dubuisson in the 400 hurdles (1:30.90).

The Walpole boys racked up 18 points in the pentathlon, led by a victory and massive personal best from senior Sawyer Regan (3,290 points). Regan, whose previous personal best was 3,002, won the pentathlon high jump (6 feet, 0.75 inches) and placed in the top seven of all five events.

Walpole also received contributions from senior Luke Zahurak, who placed second in the 2-mile (9:24.63), and senior Nicholas Demelo, who was the runner-up in discus (145-06).

Division 4 —After capturing the Division 4 state relay meet earlier this month, the Newburyport boys put their depth on display.

Through seven boys’ events and eight for girls, at Bridgewater-Raynham, the Clippers (31 points) hold a small lead over second-place Wakefield (24 points) in the boys’ competition.

The headliner event was the boys’ 800, where Newburyport senior Michael Mohoric (1:51.99) shattered the meet record (1:54.44) that had stood since 2001. Clippers senior Kyle Lisauskas (55.80) added a victory in the 400 hurdles.

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On the girls’ side, Foxborough compiled 25 points to open a slight lead over Dracut (23 points).

The Warriors were led by a twin duo, with senior Faith Bober placing second in the pentathlon (2,745 points) and senior Lauren Bober earning a runner-up result in the 200 (25.30).

Division 6 —At Westfield State, the team leaderboard mirrors the state relay results: Ayer-Shirley at the top.

The Panthers girls’ squad racked up 33 points to build a lead over second-place Advanced Math & Science (24.5 points), and their boys’ squad collected 26 points to secure a tie for the lead with South Hadley.

On the girls’ side, A-S was led by first-place finishes in the 400 hurdles by senior Lorelai Levy (1:04.86) and the 200 by freshman Roxane McKenzie (25.80). The boys’ team was led by a runner-up finish from senior Mathias Paillard (168-10) in discus.

The most dominant individual performance came from Cohasset junior Nicholas Askjaer, who set a personal best and the state’s top mark this season in discus (182-04).

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