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Concord-Carlisle goes extra mile
Norton's Abu Ceesay (933) powers past Bishop Stang's Garrett Morris (left) and Bishop Feehan's Anthony Delasanta in the 55-meter dash. (winslow townson for the globe)
By Karl Capen
Globe Correspondent

You could feel the energy from the fans standing in applause at the Reggie Lewis Center Saturday as Thomas Ratcliffe made his final lap around the track during the mile run. Ratcliffe finished in first place with a time of 4:06.92 at the All-State Championship, setting the New England record by besting the 18-year-old mark of 4:07.12.

To top off the day, Ratcliffe’s performance helped propel the Concord-Carlisle boys’ indoor track team to the title.

“At minimum I wanted to break the state record,’’ Ratcliffe said pertaining to his mile run. “I thought I was really fit and could definitely improve on my [personal record] . . . I just wanted to run a solid race and see what I could do.’’

Ratcliffe’s first-place finish helped move the Patriots into the top three, where they stayed until the 4?x?800 relay team took over.

The team of Eli Decker, John Kacher, Cole Winstanley, and Ratcliffe finished with a time of 8:04.11, which was just enough to sneak past Lexington (8:04.61) for the 10 points which put them in first.

From there, the Patriots never let go.

“I had said we have a 17 percent chance of winning the state title,’’ Concord-Carlisle coach Steve Lane said jokingly. “There is no margin for error. We had some events that barely went our way and I’m sure the other teams had things they think barely didn’t go their way.’’

Decker also placed second in the 1,000 (2:29.03). Lior Selve placed fourth in the long jump (21-2½), giving the Patriots five huge points.

Rodney Agyare-May of Burncoat set a meet record in the 600 with his time of 1:19.28, beating the record set last year by Joe Luongo of St. John’s Prep (1:19.36).

Anthony Delasanta of Bishop Feehan recorded the fastest 300 time in Massachusetts this year with his mark of 34.63, and Abu Ceesay of Norton continued his hot streak of victories, taking first in the 55 dash (6.40) and the 4?x?200 relay (1:31.05) as the anchor.

Norton (29.5) finished second for the team title. Wellesley (27), Newton North (24), and Needham (22) rounded out the top 5.

BOYS RESULTS

55 — 1. Abu Ceesay, Norton, 6.40; 2. Anthony Delasanta, Bishop Feehan, 6.52; 3. Philip Batler, Newton South, 6.55.

55 hurdles — 1. Eddy Fong, Brockton, 7.71; 2. Erick Duffy, North Andover, 7.80; 3. Hunter Grey, Littleton, 7.91.

Mile — 1. Thomas Ratcliffe, Concord-Carlisle, 4:06.92; Grant Hauver, Wachusett, 4:14.28; Liam Sullivan, Northampton, 4:16.63.

2 mile — 1. Thomas D’Anieri, Wellesley, 9:11.47; 2. Marcelo Rocha, Peabody, 9:14.15; 3. Jake Affanato, Mansfield, 9:19.94.

300 — 1. Anthony Delasanta, Bishop Feehan, 34.63; 2. Nikolas Smith, Northampton, 35.01; 3. Abu Ceesay, Norton, 35.42.

600 — 1. Rodney Agyare-May, Burncoat, 1:19.28; 2. George Papoulis, Haverhill, 1:20.90; 3. Will Ashenfelter, Needham, 1:22.23.

1000 — 1. Esu Alemseged, Cambridge, 2:28.57; 2. Eli Decker, Concord-Carlisle, 2:29.03; 3. Matthew D’Anieri, Wellesley, 2:29.05.

4 x 200 — 1. Norton, 1:31.05; 2. Newton South 1:31.25; 3. Andover 1:31.56.

4 x 400 — 1. Natick, 3:26.23; 2. Needham, 3:27.19; 3. Andover, 3:27.43.

4 x 800 — 1. Concord-Carlisle, 8:04.11; 2. Lexington, 8:04.61; 3. Wellesley 8:06.82.

Shot put — 1. Elmer Acuna, Newton North, 56-3½; 2. Matt Jankowski, Burlington, 53-2; 3. Jacob Hardy, Attleboro, 52-10¾.

Shot put adaptive — 1. Josh Whisper, Old Rochester, 27-0¾.

Long jump — 1. Jericho Sylla, Amherst-Pelham Regional, 21-10½; 2. Jared Prior, Newton North, 21-5½; 3. Freddy Dauphin, Cardinal Spellman, 21-3.

High jump — 1. Alec Reduker, Newburyport, 6-8.; 2. Kevin Hack, Nipmuc, 6-4; 3. Ian Dolaher, Malden Catholic, 6-4.

Team scores — 1. Concord-Carlisle 35; 2. Norton 29.5; 3. Wellesley 27; 4. Newton North 24; 5. Needham 22.