Williams 'a blur' with New Englands record in the 55

By Mary Albl, for DyeStat

BOSTON, Mass. – For Brooke-Lynn Williams, 6.87 seconds of Sunday afternoon were a blur.

The standout junior from Norton, Mass. doesn't remember the finer details of her record-setting 55 dash at the New England Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center, but that's OK. 

“I know my start, and this whole middle is just … and then the next thing you know, I'm leaning and I'm like, 'What happened'? Get me a video,” the outgoing Williams said. 

Williams' 6.87 second dash set a meet record and now stands as the second-fastest time in the country. 

She said her performance hasn't sunk in yet. She can blame her ultra-focused personality for that. Her eyes are already on the next race.

“I'm like Bill Belichick, focus on the next game,” Williams said with a smile. 

Williams was challenged in the sprint from instate rival Brianna Duncan of Cambridge Rindge and Latin High, who ran 6.94, which is now the eighth-fastest in he nation.

“This week I was calm and I was here to come (and) to do what I'm here to do,” Williams said. “I was really just here to run against the clock.”

For Tyler Gleen of Trumbull (Conn.) the focus for Sunday was all about the finish. In his previous 600 race at the State Open, the junior said his downfall was a slowdown toward the end. Gleen made sure that didn't happen again as he erased a big lead from Burncoat's (Mass.) Rodney Agyare-May and surged ahead at the end to win in 1:19.89. Agyare-May was a close second in 1:19.92.

“My goal was to just be under 1:20 and I did that, and it was amazing,” Gleen said. 

Gleen's time is now second-fastest, right behind Agyare-May's national-leading 1:18.94.

Oyster River's (N.H.) Maegan Doody also used a strong finish to win the 1,000 title over Danae Rivers in 2:49.31. Rivers was second (2:50.68). 

“I just tried to set a comfortable pace and then once Danae passed me, (which was) at the perfect time, because I was really needing a little bit of a push,” Doody said. “Having her in front of me taking the lead, really helped me to just hang onto someone. And once I felt her slowing down a little with a 150 (meters) to go, I just took the opportunity to kick.”

Jack Salisbury of La Salle Academy (R.I.) continued his impressive season, winning the 1,000 title in 2:28.40. Teammate and junior DJ Principe, recorded one of the top highlights of the meet, as he duked it out with Eric van der Els in the 2 mile. Principe was able to distance himself mid-way through and power his way to a meet record and US#2 time of 8:59.05. 

“It's definitely one of the things that I always prefer to do, is just start hitting the splits,” Principe said. “I knew I was going to have Eric with me, but predominately it was going to have to be us two, and I really wanted to come out and start hitting the splits really evenly.” 

In the girls 2 mile, Hannah DeBalsi of Staples High (Conn.) became the first athlete in New England history to win four straight titles in any event, as she cruised to her fourth straight crown in a US#1 time of 10:29.46. 

“I really wanted a four-peat because in cross country I couldn't get it,” she said. “I wanted to have one season where I could get it. So I'm pretty happy with it.”

In the 4x800 relay, the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional (Mass.) girls clocked a US#4 time of 9:10.78. The boys 4x8 team from Danbury (Conn.) comprised of Tim Moore, Trevor Reed, Jake Roberts and Terrell Cunningham overcame a dropped baton to win in a top 10 time of 7:55.28.

“We knew it was our goal to win,” Reed said.

Added Cunningham: “I wanted to win it for my team.”