After four laps on the Reggie Lewis Center track at the all-states in Boston this past weekend, Peabody High girls track standout Catarina Rocha started to pull away from the competition in the mile, her coach and father, Joe Rocha, said.When Catarina Rocha crossed the finish line after the eighth and final lap, not only had she won the mile, but she set a meet record of 4:50.28.”Her goal was just to win,” Coach Rocha said. “The record was just a plus.”The previous record stood at 4:52.98.”She had to run fast,” Coach Rocha said. “The competition was right there. She ran from the gun. She had to push the pace.”That’s because the second-place finisher, from Foxboro, wound up with a 4:55, a personal best by seven seconds.Other members of the Peabody girls team whom Coach Rocha mentioned were Pamela Zabala, who placed 10th in the shot put (34-3); and Heather McLean, who ran a 43.73 to finish 15th in the 300.Meanwhile, Catarina Rocha is done for the season. Coach Rocha said she will take some time off to prep for outdoor track. The coach also took a moment to reflect on her performance.”It’s incredible to run a 4:50 by yourself,” he said.Saffi Bangura of Lynn Classical ran the 55 meters in 7.52 seconds to finish in 10th place.”She was proud,” coach Lauren Phelps said. “She did very well. She had a very good year.”Also in girls competition, Lexi Buonfiglio of Lynnfield completed the 1,000 in 3:02.04 to finish ninth.BOYS TRACKSaugus’ Olisa Obiefuna won the long jump (22-6) and drew praise from his coach, Chris Tarrentino.”He was the number one seed and took care of business,” Tarrentino said.Next up for Obiefuna are the New Englands, also at the Reggie Lewis Center, on Friday night, and the nationals in two weeks at the New York City Armory.Swampscott’s Peter Hale completed 16 laps around the track in 9:23 to finish third in the 2-mile.”He did an amazing job,” saluted coach Joe Tenney. “He worked hard. The distance coach, Jeff Bartlett, did an amazing job with him.”Marblehead’s Nolan Raimo finished second overall in the 55-meter hurdles with a 7.71, which coach Brian Crowley said is “an all-time best for us, a school record by a long shot.”Raimo also ran the anchor leg of the 4×200 relay with Tyree Williams, Josh Beloff and Connor Green. The relay team finished in 1:34.69.Raimo will be back for the New Englands Friday.St. John’s Prep saw two Eagles place in the top eight in their respective events: Bryan Browne, who finished fourth in the 300-meter in 35.59 seconds; and Deklan Robinson, who placed seventh in the high jump with a 6-4.Prep coach Ray Carey said that Browne’s time was the second-fastest of his career, and that while Robinson has been a bit under the weather lately, he turned in “a really strong performance.”Carey described the states themselves as “the climax of the season for a lot of kids.”Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].
