NHIAA State Division Championship Meet Hub
Running Events Program – Courtesy of Lancer Timing
Field Events Program
By Mike Smith
The Division 3 Championships are slated to take place this coming Wednesday, May 24th at Sanborn High School. Athletes are tuned up, ready to test
themselves for what they’ve been preparing for all season. Let’s dig into it.
As far as the girls team battle goes, it appears on paper that this is the Newfound Bears to lose. With scorers peppered across all disciplines, Wednesday could be a big day for the girls from Bristol. Newmarket has a lot of projected top scorers as well, and they snuck into the runner up spot in indoor. I expect them to give chase. And the Hopkinton Hawks have assembled a squad that is looking to pick up points all over the place and shouldn’t be ignored. If I were to pick a dark horse it might be Kearsarge with athletes teaming up in events, snagging valuable bunches of points here and there.
For the boys, it looks to be a battle between Gilford and Pelham. The Golden Eagles will be carried by Patrick Gandini and Isaiah Reese, which should account for the majority of their points. But they have other scorers throughout the meet that will contribute as well. Pelham has alot of the events covered as well, with quite a number of guys spread around the anticipated scoring.
However things don’t always go according to the form charts which is why we run the races so let’s look at the events.
Girls
Sprints & Hurdles
Newfound’s Elle MacDonald is the top seed in the 100 and 200, where she enjoys a half second advantage in the 200. Looking to challenge in the 100 is Kearsarge’s Juliet Faria and Pelham’s Samantha Tetreault, both under the 14 second barrier. In the 200, Newport’s Maddox Lovely, Newmarket’s Kaitlin Bussell, Belmont’s Ava Lacasse, Kearsarge’s Faria, Portsmouth Christian’s Catarina Hutt and Campbell’s Ava Houle will be looking to battle MacDonald as the athletes that have all run under 28 seconds.
Newport’s Lovely is back as the top seed in the 100 hurdles. Pelham’s Reece Nicolosi and Chloe Crear sit in 2-4 sandwiching Newmarket’s Bussell, all under the 17 second mark. Crear and Nicolosi of Pelham are the top seeds in the 300 hurdles, with Lovely sitting in third and all under 50 seconds.
Mid-Distance
Newmarket’s Alanna Hagen and Allison Burke are 1-2 in the seedings, having run 60.23 and 61.48. Kearsarge’s Amelia Lefevrbe is the only other athlete under 62 seconds. Just as a side note, this year’s 400 meter event is one of the strongest ever in D3. Many athletes with fast times pulled from the 400 to concentrate on other events.
The overwhelming favorite in the 800 is PCA’s Brianna Malone. D3 superstar from the beginning, Malone has elected to put all her eggs in the 800 basket so I hope to see something special here. Newmarket’s Hagen is slotted in second and could be coming off a successful 400 with nothing to lose so this could be interesting. Hopkinton’s Shaylee Murdough sits in third and is the only other competitor under 2:30.
Distance
There’s a great battle brewing in the girls 1600, with three athletes seeded between 5:20 and 5:30. Kearsarge’s Molly Ellison leads the field with teammate Maelle Jacques right behind. Hopkinton’s Hannah Bennett will be looking to spoil the Cougar party and soar away with the title.
In the 3200, Bennett and Ellison are back, where Bennett enjoys more than a 12 second advantage. I’ll be watching this race where two big guns battle in both the 16 and the 32. Moultonborough’s Adah Chapman has thrown all her chips into this one and will be the lone fresh athlete at the top of the leaderboard.
Jumps
In high jump, Somersworth’s Sya Mackay and Kearsarge’s Jaqcues lead the field with 5-3. Somersworth’s Savanna Comeau, Sunapee’s Olive Jennings, Kearsarge’s Amelia Lefevrbe and Newfound’s Gretchen Reynolds all sit at 5-0. In pole vault, Newfound’s Taylor Mooney enjoys a 2 foot advantage over teammate Mikayla Ulwick, Winnisquam’s Jordan Boelig and Conant’s Bella Nero back at 8-0.
In long jump and triple jump, Hopkinton’s Grace Hall is back on top, having won both at D3s as a freshman. Can she hold onto both? She will be challenged in the long jump by Campbell’s Houle, Belmont’s Emma Winslow and Newfound’s Malina Bohlmann, all who have broken 16 feet. In the Triple Jump Hall enjoys almost a two foot advantage over Somersworth’s McKay, along with Belmont’s Adeline Tankantjas, Campbell’s Houle and Sunapee’s Ana Castillo who have all broken the 32 foot barrier.
Throws
Steven’s Hailey Knight leads in shot put with 32-11, however Newfound’s Bohlmann and Winnisquam’s Becc Kulengosky are right behind, both having thrown over 32 feet. Newfound’s Isabelle Laplume looks to continue her winning ways, leading the field in disc with almost a ten foot advantage at 107-5. Fall Mountain’s Sierra Proper sits in second at 97-7 and Gilford’s Abby Kenyon is right there with 97-0. In javelin, Newfound’s Bohlmann has almost a fifteen foot advantage, coming in with a 122-7. Moutonborough’s Sadey Sherkanowski is in second with 108-5 and Fall Mountain’s Makenna Knapp is in third with 103-6.
Relays
While I’m not going to try to predict the outcome of the relays, as teams often shuffle their lineups in order to maximize scoring, I will identify the top seeded teams and we’ll go from there. In the 4×800, Hopkinton enjoys a 21 second cushion over Mascenic. Gilford is right behind Mascenic in third. In the 4×100, Belmont has the top time with a 51.72. They should be challenged by Newfound and Newmarket as the only three teams under 53 seconds. In the 4×400, Newmarket holds the top time by three seconds over Kearsarge, with Newfound and Hopkinton chasing.
Boys
Sprints & Hurdles
I’m going to do the boys sprints a little different. Here’s the top five from the seedings of both the 100 and 200 in order: 100 – Josh Gentchos, Brady; Isaiah Reese, Gilford; Brady Ash, Sanborn; Tim Kelm, Portsmouth Christian; Nehemiah Oyaronbi, Trinity; 200 – Ash – Gentchos – Reese – Oyaronbi – Kelm. Enough said. Best group in the state.
Monadnock’s Gavin Lombara leads five guys under 17 second in the 110 hurdles. Gilfords Nicolas Haddocks, Pelham’s Antonio Furtado and Colby Crear, along with Conant’s Jordan Nagle make up the rest of the quintet.
In the 300 hurdles, Conant’s Ben Sawyer leads the field with a 41.74, followed by Gilford’s Aidan Malek and Brady’s Nate Steigmeyer for hurdlers under the 42 second mark. That’s pretty tight for this event.
Middle Distance
Ash of Sanborn has been dominant in those events across all divisions all season long. He has a second and a half on the field, which include DJ Chaundry of Campbell as another sub 52 second quarter miler. In the 800, Gilford’s Patrick Gandini reigns supreme, having run 1:57.71. He’ll be challenged by Pelham’s Tripp Williams who has run 2:01.84 and Hopkinton’s Roman Finlayson whose run 2:02.14. Which leads me to…
Distance
As a sophomore, Gandini set out to do the hardest set of events available in a regular meet by taking on the 1600, the 800, the 3200, and a leg in the 4×400 and won. He did it again as a junior and won again. So he really doesn’t have a choice, but to do it again and he’s signed up as the top individual in all three events as well as is the 3rd seed in the 4×400. This herculean effort will certainly aid in the quest for a team title. Pelham’s Williams and Gavin Macglitchney will take their shot at Gandini in the 1600 while Fall Mountain’s Ben Tetu and Belmont’s Will Riley will look to do the same in the 3200.
Jumps
In high jump, Mount Royal’s Peter Hogan enjoys a one inch advantage over Winnisquam’s Aidan Donohue, 6-2 to 6-1. The next six qualifiers all sit at 6-0. In pole vault, Kearsarge’s August Zock has a six inch advantage over the next three vaulters in White Mountains Elijah Beaulieu, Pelham’s Crear and Newfound’s Dalton Dion, 11-6 to 11-0.
Conant’s Sawyer leads the leapers with a 21-6, almost a foot better than Trinity’s Rere Edokpolo and Anthony DiGantommaso. As the jumpers beyond 20 feet. In triple jump, freshman David Walker of InterLakes leads the field with a 43-7 foot leap. Also beyond the 40 foot mark is Woodsville’s Garrett Emery and Somersworth’s Tayshawn Sheppard.
Throws
There’s a force in the throws from Newport named Kyle Ashley. He leads two fo the three throwing events with a shot of 45-4 and a disc of 148-3, outdistancing the competition by more than 3 feet and 18 feet respectively. If that’s not enough, he has the second best jav throw of 177-3 feet, second only to Gilford’s everything man Reese. These two have a twenty foot advantage on the rest of the field in jav.
Ashley’s closet competition in the shot comes from Sanborn’s Spencer Foley, with Campbell’s Justin Edmonds and Winnisquams Carter Fredette beyond the 40 foot mark. In discus, Fall Mountain’s Tyson Patch will be looking for something big to break out beyond the 130-2 foot range.
Relays
In the 4×800, Pelham enjoys more than a 30 second advantage over New found and Gilford, both sitting at 9:01 to Pelham’s 8:26.72. In the 4×100, Bishop Brady will try to stay on top of the other teams in the sub 45 second club, Trinity, Pelham and Sanborn. And in the final event on the track, Sanborn, behind the strong sprinting of Ash, look to hold back the attack of Pelham and Gilford, just one and two seconds behind them.
