Prior Family Sports

The Newton North team was honored for its undefeated season and state open championship (photos, Newton Tab video)

Newton North won the Massachusetts State Open Championship in a dominant fashion, scoring 46 points over runner up Sharon and Lexington’s 24 and Newton South’s 26 ( photos, milesplit coverage, Boston Globe article, Newton Tab article,

Jared in the globe:
““I don’t have words for it. It’s the first state championship I’ve ever won as a captain,” said senior Jared Prior.”

Jared anchored the Newton North 4x100m to a school record 2nd place finish behind Newton South, which broke the meet record. North’s performance reportedly ranks 4th in Massachusetts all-time.

Jared anchored in 10.01:

Jared took 4th in the long jump, narrowly missing 2nd by 1″. He also placed 15th in the 100m.

As a follow up to the championship, The Boston Globe did a feature on Newton North coach Jim Blackburn.

“It is a blessing for this school to have him as a coach not only because of the experience that he brings but also the tradition that he instills in the program,” said Jared Prior, a Bowdoin College-bound captain on the indoor and outdoor track team each of the last two seasons.

An Globe All-Scholastic sprinter and long jumper, he’ll wrap up his high school career at the national championships June 17-19 in Greensboro N.C..

“No grade wants to be the grade to mess up the winning tradition,” he added.

Newton North won a commanding victory in the MIAA Eastern D1 Track Championship yesterday, accumulating 78 points to runner-up St. John’s Prep’s 50 and Lexington’s 48 (globe article, herald article, Newton Tab article, photos, team photos, jump video, 100m final video, 4x100m video). Thanks to our guest videographer!

Jared has his 3rd best career jump with a 22’8 final attempt for 2nd behind cross town rival Anthony DeNitto, who set a meet record with a 24′ 5.5″ jump. Jared now ranks 2nd in Newton and 3rd in New England :-).

Jared contributed 16 points, making him the 2nd highest scorer in the meet on the boy’s side behind Anthony.

In the early morning hours, Jared was featured for a 2nd week in the month on Globe High School page:

Jared set a new personal best in long jump with a 6th round leap of 23′ 3/4″ at the MSTCA Boys Coaches Invitational (Globe feature, Herald feature, milesplit slideshow, photo gallery, 23′ jump video, 4x100m video).

He was in 3rd place after a respectable 21’8″ opener and a series that included two slight fouls. On his last jump he adjusted his mark to adapt to the varying tail wind and got right on the board. He also anchored the 4x100m to a win holding off Smith Charles, the 3rd fastest freshman in the country indoors (Smith won 100m in 10.90). This was an improvement of 9″ over his 22′ 3″ jump on Wednesday at Newton North and a foot over his 22′ “flat-pit” PR from indoors. This pit was perfectly flat but he did have a bit of an aiding tailwind.

The mark qualifies him for a Championship level entry to the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro on June 18th.

Excerpts from Globe and Herald below.

Boston Globe:

Newton North senior Jared Prior knows all too well how to deal with adversity.

Coming off injury-plagued years the past two outdoor seasons, the Bowdoin College-bound Prior proved Saturday during the 41st annual boys’ MSTCA Invitational at BC High why he is still one of the top track athletes in the state.

Prior established a state outdoor season best in the long jump with his mark of 23 feet, ¾ inch, which topped second place by more than a foot.

“I came into this event feeling more in control of my body and my long jump approach than I have since my freshman year,” Prior said. “That last jump was really meaningful for me just to know what I am capable of, or at least finally see that I’m not just making it up when I think I can produce far jumps.”

During the indoor season, Prior said he had worked a lot on his rehabilitation and flexibility to build his strength.

Prior was also the anchor for the 4 x 100-meter relay team (43.51 seconds), which edged Milton (43.53), and was awarded one of the outstanding athlete of the meet plaques.

Boston Herald:

Prior rounded out the elite trio of Tigers with a Best in Field honor after he placed first in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet and three-quarters of an inch and then ran the final leg of the 4×100-meter relay to give the Tigers a narrow win over Milton.

“I was very surprised with 23 feet, but also very happy,” Prior said. “I’ve been wanting this for four years. So, of course, to get an award, to get the win and to get the mark, it all means a lot to me.”

Article ran at top of Globe online high school section (originally with headline “Newton Jorth”)

Globe Print Edition:

Herald Print Editions:

23′ jump:

Full set of jumps:

4x100m relay:

Documented “Flat Pit” 🙂