Westford Academy Claims 2011 MIAA Pole Vaulting Championship

Westford Academy sent four athletes to the 2011 MIAA All-State Outdoor Track and Field Championships last weekend, but in the end all eyes were on one unforgettable performance.

Junior Brendan Sullivan completely demolished the competition in his path to earning a state championship in the pole vault with a final result of 15”00.00, outdoing Central Catholic’s Cam Walsh by six inches, and beating the next closest competitor by more than a foot.

His leap was the best among any high school athlete at any MIAA meet in all parts of the state during the 2011 outdoor track and field season and was only a quarter inch short from beating last year’s state championship mark set by Andover’s Mark Vetere.

Sullivan was joined on the male side by senior Adonis Carasco, whose 6”00.00 high jump was good enough for bragging rights as the 20^th best in Massachusetts for 2011, a mark he shared with Pioneer Valley Regional junior Cody Battistoni.

On the girls’ side, senior Emily Raczelowski made a valiant effort in the 1 kilogram discus, but ended up just short with a final mark of 122”04, good enough for second place.

The throw was just over four feet better than the third place mark set by Newton North senior Tatiana Froehlich, but was ultimately four feet shorter than the winning result from the JD O’Bryant School of Math and Science’s only competitor in the All-State competition, junior Adrienne Thornton.