Lexington’s Ainsley Cuthbertson leads impressive display by Massachusetts athletes at New Balance Nationals Outdoor

For Lexington senior Ainsley Cuthbertson, a whirlwind 24 hours culminated in the “cherry on top” of her decorated high school career.

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On Friday morning, Cuthbertson competed in hammer throw at the under-20 US outdoor championships in Eugene, Ore., where she smashed her own state record (179 feet, 0 inches) in a sixth-place finish.

Then, after flying across the country and arriving at her Philadelphia hotel at 3 a.m. Saturday, she returned to action at New Balance Nationals Outdoor at 11:30 a.m. and won a high school national title, improving on her state record.

Cuthbertson delivered her winning throw of 180 feet, 4 inches on her fifth attempt, to handily top runner-up Avery Brunner of Pittsford, N.Y. (177-5).

It was one of three victories from Massachusetts athletes at the New Balance meet, which was held Thursday-Sunday at the University of Pennsylvania.

“It just feels so satisfying to have all your work pay off,” said Cuthbertson. “My goals for the season were to be a national champion and qualify and compete at U-20s. So I just [knew] I had to make it work some way.”

▪ Catholic Memorial junior Amar Skeete claimed the triple jump title Saturday with a leap of 50-7¼ inches, edging Ashton Thomas of Webster, N.Y. (49-8½).

The win completed Skeete’s undefeated season, though his top jump remained the state-record mark of 51-2 he produced at the MIAA Meet of Champions.

▪ Massachusetts had a dominant showing Friday in the boys’ shot put, with Cohasset junior Nicholas Askjaer (64-1) winning on his final toss and Oliver Ames junior Mitchell Callender (62-8½) taking second.

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It was Askjaer’s second strong showing of the weekend, after he finished fifth in the discus Thursday in a 9-foot personal best (196-6).

▪ In an exciting girls’ mile Saturday, Westford senior Abby Hennessy went in front at the halfway mark and dueled with Mallory Weller of Fort Wayne, Ind., on the final lap before finishing second. Both Weller (4 minutes, 31.78 seconds) and Hennessy (4:33.18) eclipsed the meet record (4:33.67).

The performance improved upon Hennessy’s previous state-record time of 4:34.69, which she set in a third-place finish at last year’s New Balance Nationals Outdoor.

▪ After logging an unbeaten MIAA season in the 4oo hurdles, Abington junior Aiden Calcano Da Silva placed third in a personal-best 51.96 Friday.

Other top individual placements included Newburyport senior Michael Mohoric, who placed fourth Saturday in the boys’ mile (4:04.55) after leading the early portion of the race, and Wayland senior Ryan McCormack, who was fifth in the decathlon (6,643 points) when it completed Friday.

▪ Two Massachusetts relay squads set state records. In the girls’ distance medley Sunday, Westford seniors Hennessy and Emily Wedlake and sophomores Emily Deeks and Diya Shrestha placed second in 11:36.71 to shatter a 16-year-old mark (11:44.77).

On Thursday, Lexington junior Callie Glenn and sophomores Janie Conrad, Ella Tyson, and Amelia Whorton placed fourth in the girls’ mile relay (20:20.53) to top a 17-year-old record (20:23.20).

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