Senior Emmanuel D’Agostino placed fifth out of twelve in the two-mile race at the 28th New England Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 27. D’Agostino was the only member of the high school track team who qualified to take part in the meet.

D’Agostino was in last place for the first two minutes and seemed destined to lose. However, he revealed after the race that initially keeping behind was all part of the plan to not tire out too soon.

“I decided to stay in the back, listening to my coach on every lap, and just move up from there, ” D’Agostino said.

Two minutes later he sped up his pace, putting himself in ninth place.

Seven minutes and 50 seconds into the race, the average speed of all the competitors increased. He used his coach’s advice and pushed with a final surge of energy. The front group of competitors were neck and neck entering the final lap, and D’Agostino contently crossed the finish line in fifth place.

“The guy who won set a record of nine flat, which is just amazingly fast, and I do know that historically this has been a very fast meet and today proved no exception,” he said.

D’Agostino credits his coach, parents and friends for helping to motivate him throughout the season and particularly during his final race.

“All their support combined with the atmosphere of it being such a fast race helped me pull through,” D’Agostino said.

He finished with a time of 9:24.26, a new personal record.

“I’m very happy with my race today. I ran six seconds faster than I did two weeks ago at the Divisional Championship,” D’Agostino said. “I’m very happy with the results.”

Grace Meyer can be contacted at [email protected]