Nine Bromfield athletes traveled to Norwell for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Outdoor Track All-State meet this past weekend. Athletes needed to place in the top three of their respective events at last weekend’s Central/West Division 2 meet to qualify for the prestigious All-State meet. Unlike most other Massachusetts high school sports tournaments, the All-State meet includes all schools regardless of size, giving Bromfield athletes a chance to prove themselves against the best in the state. Bromfield was represented by individual qualifiers Jordan Colon (100-meter dash), Cole O’Neil (400m), and Hannah Beckman (800m), as well as the boys 4 x 400m relay and the girls 4 x 800m relay teams.
Senior Colon finished off an impressive high school career in his first trip to the All-State meet following a blazing run at the Central/West Division 2 qualifying meet. Colon’s time of 11.58 for the 100m earned him a 24th place finish at the All-State. Colon leaves Bromfield with his name on the record board in two separate events—the indoor 55m dash (6.86) and outdoor 100m dash (11.38), set as a junior and sophomore, respectively. Head coach Greg Bourque said of Colon: “His ‘what are we doing next’ attitude makes him such a great athlete to coach. His race at Central/West in the 100m when he just missed matching his personal record was awesome to watch. He definitely earned his spot at the All-State meet.” Colon will be taking his speedy talents to Brandeis University next year to compete for the Owls.
Cole O’Neil, although a senior, is a relative newcomer to outdoor track, having only competed in indoor track before this year. Just prior to COVID-19 shutting down competition last spring, O’Neil set a school record in the indoor 300m with a time of 37.09 and planned to move up to the 400m outdoors in the spring. One year and one pandemic later, O’Neil raced to 13th place overall in the state with a time of 51.12. Bourque said: “Despite his first spring outdoor track season being canceled last year, O’Neil made up for it with his off-season training and transitioned very well to the outdoor 400m this year. He’s got such natural form, it’s a real joy to watch him run.”
O’Neil also anchored the Trojans boys school record-setting 4 x 400m relay. In addition to O’Neil, the team consisted of senior Jack Yu, freshman Colin Harte, and sophomore Sam Secor. Finishing ninth against schools ranging from two to five times the size of Bromfield, their time of 3:29.47 eclipsed the school record by over 2 seconds. The previous record was set in 2013 by the talented team of Dan Colony, Brendan Beale, Price Day, and Patrick Griffin—all of whom were school record-holders at one point in their primary events. Bourque noted, “Although we are graduating a core group of athletes this year, I am optimistic that the underclassmen can continue the example set by this year’s senior class. The Class of 2021 has shown an exceptional level of leadership and commitment to our sport.”
On the girls’ side of the competition, senior Hannah Beckman recorded the top performance of all Bromfield athletes with a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter race. Beckman’s time of 2:16.97 was not only a personal record but was also the fastest open 800m run by any Bromfield girl since 2011. It has been an exceptional season for Beckman: She succeeded in lowering her personal record all five times that she toed the line for the metric equivalent of the half mile.
Beckman also anchored the girls 4 x 800m relay to a 19th place finish with a time of 10:16.56. She was joined by sophomore Molly Squire and eighth-graders Emma Squire and Isabel Jackson. The young squad qualified for the All-State meet with a stellar performance of 10:01.45 last week at the Central West Division 2 meet.
Marisa Steele is the mid-distance coach of the Bromfield track and field team.
