by John Osborn ·
Friday, February 13, 2026
Abby Wool runs to a first-place finish in the 2-mile race. (Photos by Kate Wool)
Bromfield distance runners collected six gold medals—four for the girls; two for the boys—at last weekend’s Midland-Wachusett D League Championship, held at Fitchburg High School Feb. 7.
Senior Rosie Bradley won gold in the 1000-meter and 1-mile, sophomore Abby Wool in the 2-mile, and sophomore Piper Candon in the 600-meter. The girls 4x800-yard relay team sealed the deal with a first-place finish.
The results (see below) were a demonstration of the team’s “depth in distance events,” Coach Marisa Steele wrote the Press. The girls placed 1-2-3 in the mile, 1-2 in the 2-mile, 1-2-4 in the 600-meter and 1-3-5 in the 1000-meter. ”It’s been a tough winter for training but the girls have never complained about running in the cold or the snow,” Steele said. “Their efforts definitely paid off.”
The boys 4x800-yard relay team easily won its race, and Kai Kemeza was victorious in the boys 1 mile. “Kai is peaking nicely, and I expect him to fare well at the state meet next week,” said Steele. Kai’s brother, Liam, placed second in the boys 600-meter while his fellow senior Harrison Binnick placed third in the boys 1000-meter. “Both of these guys ran smart races and should also do well at states next week,” Steele said.
The girls performance in distance events earned them second place among the six competing Mid-Wach D teams with 103 points; Ayer Shirley was the league champion with 150. The boys, with fewer athletes, placed fourth with 45 points; Clinton won with 111.
Kai Kameza takes first place in the 1-mile race.
Fitchburg High School was not the venue Steele would have preferred. Originally scheduled for the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston, the Mid-Wach D championships were delayed a week and moved to Fitchburg due to “logistical” problems, according to Steele. The track at Fitchburg is a small one—11 laps to a mile—which is essentially “running around a basketball court,” she wrote the Press. “The kids deserve to be able to race for their league championship on a 200-meter banked track with spikes,” she said. “Times are significantly slower than what would be run at Reggie Lewis Center, which puts our league at a major disadvantage when trying to achieve qualifying times for the state meet.”
That meet, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 State Championship, was scheduled for Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at “the Track” at New Balance in Boston. Bromfield will send five girls and four boys to the event, along with both the girls and boys 4x800-yard relay teams.
Midland-Wachusett D League Indoor Track and Field Championship, Feb. 7
Girls
- 55-meter: Ashley Aftosmis, sixth place, 8.49 seconds
- 300-meter: Aftosmis, eighth, 50.90
- 600-meter: Piper Candon, first, 1:58.20; Gabriella Temps, second, 2:01.09; Yana Li, fourth, 2:02.96
- 1000-meter: Rosie Bradley, first, 3:19.46; Vivienne Cogan, third, 3:53.09; Skylar Van Cleef, fifth, 3:56.57
- 1-mile: Rosie Bradley, first, 5:36; Jacquie Wilkins, second, 6:11.96; Flora Poutasse, third, 6:32.94
- 2-mile: Abby Wool, first, 13:06.32; Christina Kekis, second, 13:11.191
- Shot put: Candon, seventh, 7.78 meters (personal record); Gwyneth Poutasse, eighth, 6.99 meters (personal record)
- 4x220-yard relay: Candon, Phoebe Cole, Gwyneth Poutasse, and Caroline Yang, fifth, 2:19.06
- 4x440-yard relay: Kekis, Wool, Temps, and Wilkins, second, 5:17.26
- 4x880-yard relay: Cogan, Li, Flora Poutasse, and Van Cleef, first, 12:06.55
Boys
- 300-meter: Michael Greene, 10th, 47.23
- 600-meter: Liam Kemeza, second, 1:32.18; Isaac Wiebe, fifth, 1:36.54 (personal record); Micah Wiebe, seventh, 1:39.28
- 1000-meter: Harrison Binnick, third, 2:53.69; Ben Stephan, ninth, 3:30.88
- 1-mile: Kai Kemeza, first, 4:59.10; Duncan Charles, sixth, 5:51.93
- 2-mile: Stephan, fifth, 11:58.73 (personal record)
- 4x400-yard relay: Kai Kemeza, Liam Kemeza, Micah Wiebe, and Jack Curtis, third, 4:13.63
- 4x800-yard relay: Charles, Curtis, Binnick, and Shea Van Cleef, first, 9:55.97