By Nate Leveille
With so many uncertainties heading into the first indoor season in three years we wanted to wait until teams had the opportunity to compete in a few meets before posting the mid season preview. Although we had the outdoor championships to reference, the indoor championships is a different beast with the majority of the team scoring coming on the track since there is only three field events indoors. That being said there are some familiar names a top the leaderboard.
Sprints & Hurdles
On the girls side, Alexis Best of Merrimack looks like she is on a mission this indoor season with the top time in the 55 meter dash of 7.36. She is followed by Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year Soraya Ross of Nashua South and her teammate Iyana Braswell. Lily Jenkins of Portsmouth and Hannah Sippel of Pinkerton have also posted very fast times in both the 55m and 300m at UNH.
In the hurdles, Jordan Wheaton of Pinkerton is looking to continue her hurdling dominance. She is the only girl under 9 seconds. She is followed by Anika Scott of Bedford as well as Morgan Doherty and Katherine Muller of Concord.
In the boys sprints, it is Chris Stevens of Keene with the top time in the dash followed by Mathew Morrison of Pinkerton and Kevin Brooks of Windham. Stevens and Brooks are 1and 3 in the 300m split by Casey Watson of Pinkerton. I expect a lot of movement in the boys seedings when more teams 
have the opportunity to use spikes.
In the hurdles, Christopher Chong of Bedford has the top time followed by Morrison of Pinkerton and Jaden Cote of Bedford. Chong has a lot of experience in the hurdles, but there are some strong newcomers to the event.
Middle Distance
Mikita Barry of Bedford, only a 9th grader, has put all the ladies in the middle distance events on notice with a 1:40.01 600m at UNH! She is followed by Meadow Gregory of Exeter and Isabelle Groulx of Pinkerton. In the 1000, Isabel McIntyre of Dover has the top time of 3:05.78 followed by Gregory of Exeter and Sally Collins of Portsmouth. Many of the top distance girls in Division 1 are just starting to return from an extended cross country season.
On the boys side Jake Haley of Portsmouth has the top time in the 600 meters followed by Gavin Malark and Matt Allen of Exeter. Malark has the top time in the 1000m followed by Jacob Redman of Bedford and Haley of Portsmouth.
Distance
With many of the top distance guys and girls just returning to the track, I anticipate many updates in these events as the season continues. Its typical for individuals that had a long cross country season to start the indoor season after the holidays. That being said, Isabelle Groulx of Pinkerton and Isabel McIntyre of Dover have posted 5:10’s in the 1500. Following them is Contessa Silva of Pinkerton and Shelly Smith of Concord.
In the 3000m Smith has the top time followed by Groulx, Anna Fondakowski of Bishop Guertin and Alyson Bortz of Dover.
On the boys side, Avery Crowell of Portsmouth and Matthew Allen of Exeter have posted 4:13’s in the 1500 to lead the way so far. They are followed by Logan Carter of Windham and Malark of Exeter.
In the 3000m, Ryan Fortin of Londonderry has the top time followed by Josiah Conley of Concord and Carter of Windham.
Relays
The Pinkerton Academy and Nashua South girls had some epic battles in the 4×100 last spring. They remain the top two teams in the 4×160. In the 4×400 is Pinkerton and Concord as the top two teams followed by Exeter and Bedford. Its far too early for the 4×800 as only 4 teams have run one this season. Dover is the top seed.
On the boy’s side Pinkerton and Memorial have the top times in the 4×160 followed by Portsmouth and North. In the 4×400 its Pinkerton and Portsmouth with the top two times followed by Exeter and Keene. Salem is the top seed in the 4×800 and also the only D1 boys team that has run one.
Field Events
In the girls high jump Ella Goulas and Kelley Mikelson both of Concord lead a pack of 5 girls over 5 feet. In the Long Jump Mariam Nada of Portsmouth has the top mark followed by Kailey Dillon of Merrimack and Goulas of Concord. In the Shot Put, Briana Danis of Pinkerton and Madelyn Novak of Nashua North have the top two marks.
On the boys side, Matthew Morrison of Pinkerton, Gavin Suchnecki of Nashua North, Jack Conrad of Windham, and Malik Ogbunamiri of BG are leading the
pack with 5’8” clearance in the high jump. In the Long Jump, Michael Dettore of Exeter is the top seed with an early season 21’7” bomb. He is followed by Dom Buono of Portsmouth. In the Shot Put, Nashua North is dominating the early season performance list with the top two seeds in Toby Brown (52’0.5”) and Darius Smith (46’11”).
Girls Teams
Pinkerton and Concord return a number of point scorers from the spring and looks to be in the early season driver’s seat but don’t sleep on teams like Nashua South, Merrimack, and Bedford who all have the star power to put up big points in bunches.
Boys Teams
Pinkerton has flexed its early season muscle with point scorers across many events. After Pinkerton there are a lot of teams like Exeter, Keene, Nashua North, and Portsmouth positioning themselves to have a shot at a podium finish.
