Marblehead's Nate Assa tracks down a sixth in 5,000 meters at New Balance Nationals
The boys' and girls' 5k races were among the six championship events held on Thursday, which was the first of four days of competition at The Track at New Balance in Brighton.
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Assa's 5k effort capped an incredible indoor track campaign, which included a 19-second personal best in his 2-mile victory at the Meet of Champions (9:05.3) and a subsequent 2-mile victory at the New England Championships (9:04.6).
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The progression for Assa has been even more remarkable considering as a sophomore two years ago,
'After the Meet of Champions when I ran my PR, and I was like, 'alright I'm in a different field. Now I'm more looking at national rankings rather than state rankings,'' Assa said. 'So I was just super excited to be able to get out here and get a chance to run at New Balance. Doing this well just makes it more surreal.'
The disappointment of the evening was that Westford senior Jack Graffeo scratched shortly before race time. Graffeo, who finished third at Foot Locker Cross-Country nationals back in December, broke the boys' indoor 5k state record earlier this season (14:06.49) and was the favorite to win Thursday's event.
Other notable Bay State finishes on Thursday included Lexington's girls' 4x800 squad of sophomore Callie Glenn, freshman Mackenzie Callahan, freshman Cecilia Kvaal, and freshman Amelia Whorton placing 12th (9:20.66), and Lowell's all-senior boys' 4x800 squad of Jovani Ubri, Raymond Dafe, Abdul Jalloh, and Alex Rodgers finishing 15th (7:52.32).
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Matty Wasserman can be reached at
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