FITCHBURG — In a meet that featured the best of the best – hence the Meet of Champions title – Marblehead’s Nate Assa ran away with the gold, then walked away calmly from Fitchburg State University victorious.
Assa placed first in the 2-mile race, clocking a time of 9:14.52. He also finished fifth in the 1-mile race with a time of 4:13.55.
“I knew everyone was going to be, kind of, sluggish because of the heat, but I was hoping to go fast off the gun,” said a tired, but still smiling Assa post-race. “I knew there were some strong kickers in the field . . . but I was able to hold them off for the win in 9:14.”
Marblehead Coach Nolan Raimo couldn’t have been happier for his top runner.
“We are witnessing an all-time great track season by Nate Assa. He has dominated the conference, state, and region,” Raimo said. “He claimed an All-American title running against the best of the best, and I think he’s going to get faster this season and throughout his college career at Purdue. Nate Assa is making distance running cool.”
Behind Assa in the mile, but still recording a strong time, was Will Cerrutti with a time of 4:26.52.
On the girls’ side, Lucy Flynn of the Magicians impressed in the 200-meter race prelims with a time of 25.89.
Noah Kabel (400-meter hurdles: 56.13), of St. John’s Prep, also caught eyes alongside teammate Kye McClory, who took fourth in the javelin throw with a heave of 182-04.
