Stoughton High’s Greg Boursiquot Does it Again: Indoor Track Standout Defends State Title

If you’re Greg Boursiquot, how could you top record setting performance?

Simple, you beat your own record.

After finishing the 55-meter hurdles event in at last Saturday’s Division 2 MIAA Indoor Track & Field Championship, a time that shattered the Division 2 championship meet record (7.48), Boursiquot ran a 7.36 in the preliminary round of the same event at the All-State Indoor Track Championships yesterday (February 26).

The 7.36 seconds is the new record for the All-State meet (previously 7.45 set in 2001).

Boursiquot finished the finals in 7.53 seconds, not record breaking, but enough to get the job done and win the championship.

“The [preliminaries] I was pleased because my time is still going down, but in the finals, I understand I’m not going to have a perfect race everyday,” Boursiquot, a senior, said.

He is now the two-time defending Hockomock League, Division 2 and All-State champion.

He’ll look to defend his New England title this upcoming Friday at the Reggie Lewis Center, and with it earn a return trip to Nationals.

“I thought Greg was excellent today,” Stoughton High boys’ track coach Harvey Blonder said. “He is the defending champion and as such faces different pressures than last year. It is not easy to come into each championship and face a new challenger even though at times it appears Greg is just toying with the rest of the field.”

Blonder said there is some question as to whether Boursiquot is the official overall state record holder in the 55-meter hurdles event, as was reported last week.

“One list had it at 7.38. This week someone pointed out the record board at Reggie Lewis Center showing it as 7.35,” Blonder explained. Boursiquot’s 7.37 and 7.36 fall right in the middle.

“I do think that Greg was trying a bit too hard to eliminate that question mark in the final and as a result pressed too hard and was not in his best form,” Blonder said.

However, there is no question that Boursiquot is the record holder for both the Division 2 and All-State championships, and as he pointed out, his time is still improving.

In a race that is over in less than eight seconds, Boursiquot can’t afford to keep track of what the competition is doing.

“I’m just trying to focus on my own lane the whole race because if you start to play off them, you’ll try to play catch-up and you might hit hurdles,” he said.

Boursiquot said his goal for next Friday was simple: defend his New England title.

Added Blonder: “I have always stressed the importance of competing to Greg and not worrying about the time. I still believe that athletes’ best times come from good competition. He can certainly expect that next week and hopefully we will see something special in his last high school meet at the Reggie Lewis Center.”

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On the girls’ side, after coming in third at last Saturday’s Division 2 MIAA Indoor Track & Field Championship in the 600-meter run, Jade Paul came in fifth in the same event at the All-State meet yesterday, qualifying her for the New England Championships.

Paul finished the Division 2 race in one minute, 37.77 seconds, and improved her time at All-States, finishing in 1:36.06, a new personal best.  

Paul’s time at All-States set a new Stoughton High record for the 600-meter event, according to Coach Blonder. 

Her time has been steadily improving over the last few weeks. The junior posted a 1.38.94 at the Hockomock Championships on February 12 and has since shaved almost 3 seconds off that time. 

The New England meet is Friday, March 4 at the Reggie Lewis Center. Nationals are in New York on March 11.