The former sprinter and outstanding coach Latif Thomas said, the 200 meters “is the Rodney Dangerfield of the sprint events. It gets no respect. When we commonly think of the sprint events, the 100 meter dash gets all the glory and the 400 meter dash gets all the respect.”
But don’t tell Belmont’s Julia Cella and Max Jones that “the Duce” is a race no one loves.
On the Pembroke High School track Saturday, May 31, the freshman Cella and junior Jones both took second in their 200 races at the Eastern Massachusetts Division 3 Track and Field championships.
Cella powered home in 26.09, taking second to Dennis Yarmouth’s sophomore Madison Pawlina who just dipped under 26 seconds (25.98).
Over on the boys’ side, Jones’ 23.05 was only beaten by Falmouth’s Craig Green who easily won the title in 22.59, to go along with his 100-meter championship. Jones also grab a point in the long jump by finishing 8th with a jump of 18 feet, 9 1/2 inches.
But the 200 was just part of a busy day for the 9th grader. Cella took an additional second place, this time in the 100 meters in 12.74, just behind senior Jessica Scott from Hopkinton. Cella was the only freshman to compete in the finals of the 100 and 200. Yet she was not the only Belmont freshman running the 100 Saturday; Marley Williams took 16th in the crowded field.
Cella finally anchored Belmont’s 4 x 100 meter squad – made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores – to third in an outstanding time of 50.74.
By the end of the meet, Cella accounted for 22 of Belmont Girls’ 26 points which placed the Marauders in 11th place, just a point outside of the top 10.
Adding to Belmont’s point total was senior Julia Lenef – who would graduate the next day – who finished 4th in the 800 meters, finishing behind Dracut senior Karina Shepard who broke the Div. 3 record in 2:13.12. Lenef also placed 11th in the triple jump.
And just as busy as Cella, sophomore Samantha Kelts took part in the 100 meter hurdles, high jump and triple jump.
Joining Jones on the scoring table was junior Ari Silverfine who broke the two-minute barrier in the 800 with a 1.59:20 to finish fourth and grab five points. Just missing scoring was junior Thomas Wasserman who finished 9th in the discus.