Billerica girls run away with Division 3 track championship behind Nyrah Joseph's three event wins

Boston Globe

3 days ago

'She's unbelievable,' Arsenault said as his team took a 'victory lap' after the championship. 'We're just happy we have her on our team. We're going to nickname her the 'Golden Girl' after this weekend. Scoring 30 points, that's very impressive, and we're going to miss her … It's safe to say she's the heartbeat of the team.'
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'It's the work ethic,' explained Joseph. 'In Billerica, if it's a rainy day, we're still practicing. Being able to persevere through cold practices, hot practices – it helps with our endurance and speed. It's great knowing the work over the years has come to life.'
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Outside of Joseph's dominance, Billerica received a lift from Kylie Donahue, who placed second in both the mile (5:10.59) and the 2-mile (10:58.71). The Indians were runners-up in the 4x800 relay (9:42.68).
On Friday, Sharon's Nina Kyei-Aboagye sprinted to the 200-meter title. Sunday, she blazed to the state's best time (11.74) in winning the 100.
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In the boys' meet, a number of Walpole athletes traded caps and gowns for batons and spikes, skipping graduation to compete in the meet and the Timberwolves worked their way to the title, edging Longmeadow (69 points) and Billerica (52 points).
'It's a huge sacrifice that they made, and also that their families made, to commit to this,' said coach Corey Coogan. 'The guys came in Friday and really set the bar, and from there, we knew we had a chance. We came in today and got the job done.'
Walpole was led by its pentathletes: Sawyer Regan (2,985 points) and Owen Abril (2,974 points) went 1-2 in that competition. Matthew St. Cyr was the best in javelin (197-02), while Austin Feener took the win in the 100 (10.84 seconds).
With a few seniors prioritizing the state meet over graduation, the Walpole boys' track team won the Division 3 state title at Westfield State.
Evan Walsh