BOSTON – David Piñero-Jacome honed his kick all season exactly for that moment.

There were 100 meters left in the boys 1,000-meter run at Sunday’s MIAA Division 3 Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Amherst junior ran third on the Reggie Lewis Center track before firing the afterburners.

Piñero-Jacome overtook Oliver Ames’ Aidan Dupill and Walpole’s Sean Kerin to win in 2 minutes, 33.33 seconds, a personal best. He won his first divisional state title.

“I knew the No. 1 seed was super fast, so I was hoping to use that to my advantage and hide and make my move at the end,” Piñero-Jacome said. “My coach and I have been making this kick all season. I knew I had some stuff left in me and put it all in the race.”

Piñero-Jacome also anchored Amherst’s third-place 4x800-meter relay, which finished in 8:28.55. He teamed with Nico Lisle, Kyle Yanko and Diego Lopez to automatically qualify for the Meet of Champions on Saturday back at Reggie Lewis.

The top three finishers in each event qualify for the MOC plus the top nine marks remaining across all five divisions.

Lisle, a freshman, was a late substitution in the 4x8 and 4x4 and helped the Hurricanes to two top-10 finishes. The same crew as the 4x8 took ninth in the 4x4 (3:41.23).

“We’re a small school, so when one of our guys gets hurt, it’s hard to find another option, but Nico stepped up,” Piñero-Jacome said.

Tamar Byl-Brann took seventh in the girls two-mile for the Hurricanes (11:58.7), while her teammate Claire Kennedy placed 23rd (13:25.57).

Amherst’s April Schilling was 11th in the girls 100 (3:11.7).

Logan Alfandari reached the shot put podium in sixth. His best mark was 45 feet, 11 inches.

The Hurricanes’ 4x400 relay of Schilling, Emilia Luetjen, Juliana Shepard and Byl-Brann took 11th (4:25.23).

Amherst’s girls 4x800 relay of Schilling, Kennedy, Bevin Montgomery-Gehrt and Tamar Byl-Brann finished 13th (10:52.3).

Courtnegail Rose tossed the shot put 28-6.5 for the Hurricanes and took 17th.

Owen Platt raced to 23rd in the boys 600 for Amherst (1:30.97).

DIVISION 2 – Francesca Crescentini of Holyoke cleared 4 feet, 9 inches in the girls high jump on Saturday and placed 12th.

The Purple Knights’ 4x200 relay team of Veronica Colon, Crescentini, Siobhan Armstrong and Jaylene Moquin finished 22nd (1:55.47).

Holyoke’s Elijah Quinn was 23rd in the boys mile (4:50.91).

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>