With the sun shining and the smell of sunscreen in the air, the MIAA Unified Track & Field State Championship always serves as a kickstart to summer. On Tuesday, May 28th about 500 athletes from 55 schools across the Commonwealth took to the field at Natick High School to compete in the season-ending tournament and try their hand at earning an MIAA title.
The day started like all Special Olympics MA events do—with Opening Ceremonies that include the National Anthem, sung by Wilson Middle School’s Eliana Aliprantis, and the Athletes & Coaches Oaths. Also during the Opening Ceremony, the MIAA presented two 2024 Sportsmanship Awards to one Division 1 and one Division 2 team.
Franklin High School took the honor for D1, acknowledging that supporting everyone is what Unified sports is all about.
“I really just couldn’t be prouder of them and everything they give to this program and the friendships they make,” said Franklin Coach, Lisa Burger. “To me, that’s what this is all about.”
D2 recipient, Chicopee High School, echoed Burger’s sentiment and reflected on how receiving this honor early in the day propelled her athletes to success on the field.
“It was really exciting, receiving it definitely helped motivate us to want to try our best and really work together as a team, knowing how hard we worked all season,” said Chicopee Assistant Coach, Melissa McDonald.
When it was time for the competition to officially begin, schools dispersed throughout the venue, with D1 starting on the track and D2 starting with field events (including Javelin, Shotput, and Long Jump).
Of note, Nolan Yates from Hudson Unified absolutely smashed the Long Jump, earning a score of 17.7 with the next highest score in the division being a 15.7.
When it came to the track, Lorenzo Rabasto pounded the pavement for Milford High School in the 100M race, earning him the gold-medal spot.
At the end of the day, hosts Natick High School earned the MIAA D1 Title for the second year in a row with 264 points, followed by finalists Wahconah High School with 112 points.
“We had a good day. We emphasized to our kids that it doesn’t necessarily matter if you get first, second or third, but we wanted to get a lot of points down low. So, we tried to emphasize that no matter if you’re winning the race or you’re not doing the best in the competition, still scoring points at the bottom is really important. We had a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th place finishes and all of that add up,” said Natick Coach, Nick DiAntonio. “Our kids had a great time, they had a great experience with our partners and athletes working together, which is the most important part.
The competition for Division 2 was a nail-biter. In the end, Wareham walked away with the MIAA D2 title, beating out Sandwich by just 2 points.
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