Amaya, Hagen Finish Well at All-States.

And they're off!

Qualifying for the All-State Championships is a pretty tall order and no Needham Boys' team has done so since 1984.  But this fall, two individuals accomplished the feat becoming just the 5th and 6th Needham athletes to toe the line at the state meet in the 21st century!  After finishing 2nd and 12th at divisionals, Adrian Amaya and Tyler Hagen competed in the first All-State meet of their high school careers and represented the Rocket program well.

Amaya finishes strong.

Hagen runs tough.

As the gun sounded, 179 of the state's best sprinted toward the bottom of the mountain.  After a conservative first 1,000 meters that saw all runners pack it in with no one wanting to overly exert themselves on the tactical Northfield course, Jonathon Green of Saint John's Shrewsbury took a commanding lead.  Green would run uncontested to the finish line smashing the five year old course record in impressive fashion recording a time of 15:29.  Behind the leader, Amaya and Hagen settled into top 30 positions.  Throughout the race, the Needham athletes stayed aggressive and worked hard to maintain their positions.  Coming off the final bend, both Amaya and Hagen sprinted hard for the line finishing in 24th (16:44) and 36th (16:57) respectively.

Many times an athlete begins a season with a set of goals in mind and sometimes the athlete not only meets those goals but exceeds them and is faced with a quick reevaluation.  It was a true testament to Adrian Amaya's and Tyler Hagen's mental flexibility and strength that they rose to the challenge of a new goal and tackled it with confidence and poise.

Full results can be found at: http://www.mstca.org/Fall_Season/Fall%202012/Results%20div%201%20boys%2011.17.12.htm.