By Coach Nate Leveille – Exeter High
Merrimack High School will host their first of many big meets on their newly resurfaced track which now features an 8 lane straight away. They are also hosting Division 1 State Championships and the Meet of Champions.
Athletes to watch on the boys side include Pinkerton’s big two of Nico Buccieri and Jadyn Ruimwijk in the 100 and 200 meters. While
the 1600 poses Division 1 favorite Noah Bellomo of Alvirne v. D2 Favorite Zach Richards of Coe-Brown, the 800 meters should be the race of the meet with the potential for 7 boys to break 2 minutes led by top seeds Richards of Coe-Brown and Chris Zaino of Londonderry.
In the field events, Terrell Lewis of South is the top seed in both the High Jump and Hurdles, but the triple jump is exceptionally strong in the state of New Hampshire this year. Lots of boys will be over 40 feet including the two favorites Jordan Buckmire and Triston Delicema both of Nashua North. Colin Bigelow of Pinkerton will look to get into big meet form in the Javelin.
Athletes to watch on the girls side include Concord star Grace Devanny, fresh off her Salem Kiwanis win in the 400 meters this past weekend, tackling the 200 meter and 400 meter double. Her main competition in the 400, Amelia Graves of Pinkerton is the top seed in the 400 meters and 2nd seed in the javelin. Siaoli Wright of Merrimack will look for the 
win on her home track in a very good field of 300 meter hurdlers.
In the distance events, Brittany Johnson of Pinkerton will attempt the 1600 meter and 800 meter double although I’m sure she will also anchor the top seeded 4×400 meter relay as well. Could be a battle in the 3200 as Concord’s Jennika Mannesto and Coe-Brown’s Alli Pratt are the top 2 seeds separated by only a couple of seconds.
The girls throws are loaded with talented athletes including Kathleen Collins of Coe-Brown in the discus, Sarah Williams of Dover in the shot put, and Stephanie Oberg of Concord in the javelin. Good luck to all! NHTF will be there recording the entire meet, conducting interviews and snapping pics! All will be uploaded to the meet hub!
