New Englands Meet Hub
Meet Program
Live Results Link
And here we are! New Englands Week! The 76th edition will be held in Bangor, Maine at the newly renovated Cameron Stadium. It looks absolutely
amazing giving off a strong “If you build it, they will come” vibes. Kudos to Maine for hosting, as they stepped in last minute to do so.
The New England Championships are truly one of its kind. A true historical, regional championship in what we would like to think is the most competitive region in the nation.
We are livestreaming all the action right here on NHTF! In collaboration with the other websites in the State Running Network, we will be bringing all the action right to you if you can’t make it up to Bangor. And as always, this is free of charge thanks in large part to HOKA!!!
One important note – all tickets are sold online! LINK TO ONLINE TICKETS
One of the challenges to this preview is trying to actually pin down who exactly is planning to compete. With the 2 National meets occurring the very next week, many top athletes choose to skip the storied event to focus on nationals. With that said, we will focus this preview on NH athletes and who to watch for where. If you know an athlete is not competing, please comment below! Thanks!
Sprints and Hurdles
As anticipated, Kennett’s Queen of Sprinting, Aida Wheat is NH’s top seed in the 100 and 200. The 100 sees her ranked as #6 in New england courtesy of her 12.20 from the MOCs while the 200 sees her as the 11th ranked entrant. Merrimack’s Alexis Best, Coe-Brown’s Anushka Chavda and Portsmouth’s Lily Jenkins are all ranked in the top 20 at 12th, 16th and 20th respectively.
On the boys’ side of things, NH State Champ Memorial’s AJ Sebastien is ranked #9 in the 100 meters and #13 in the 200. NH has 4 others also ranked in the top 20 as Bishop Brady’s Joshua Gentchos, Keene’s Chris Stevens, Pinkerton’s Caden Michaud and Gilford’s Isaiah Reese are seeded at 12th, 16th, 17th and 18th respectively. In the 200, Windham’s Kevin brooks and Stevens are also ranked in the top 20.
Central’s Harriett Barber is seeded at 11th in the 400, but this is based on her 58.17 victory at the MOCs. She has run 56 and change this season. Look for her to contend. Oyster River’s Ty Dorow is the top seed on the boys side at 50.18. If he can improve to his PR of 49 and change, he can threaten the podium.
In the High Hurdles, NH State Champion, Pinkerton’s Jordan Wheaton is ranked 3rd overall off the strength of her super fast 14.46. North’s Jhanelle Thomas and Oyster River’s Erin Carty are ranked almost as high, 3rd and 4th respectively, in the 300 Hurdles. It seems as if the hurdles are a couple of events which we can see NH’s first podium athletes!
NH state High Hurdle Champ, Bedford’s Christopher Chong is ranked 11th in the High Hurdles on the boys side while his rival, South’s Rory Olsen is poised to podium in the 300 Hurdles as he is ranked 6th. To his credit, Chong is ranked 9th in this event as well.
Mid D/Distance
As always, these events begin with the 1600. Watch for the top seed, NH State Champion, Oyster River’s Haley Kavanagh to move up from her 15th seed. While on the boys side, NH State champion, Patrick Gandini (Gilford) is poised to take a shot not only at the podium but potentially the win as he is ranked 7th with top seed at 4:11. He has simply not been pushed yet for an entire 1600 meters, so it will be interesting to see just how much faster than 4:14 Gandini can run.
Moving on to the 800, NH State Champ, PCA’s Brianna Malone is not entered, but NH has a strong shot at making the podium as Bedford’s Fiona Lee and Newmarket’s Alanna Hagen are ranked 6th and 7th respectively! Dover’s Anique Poulin is also ranked 12th.
The boys see their State Champion CBNA’s Gavin Demas ranked 8th at 1:55.08, but his PR of 1:52.65 puts him squarely in contention. Bedford’s Jacob Redman is ranked 15th, but he was doubling back last week. We are super interested with what Redman can do fresh here!
Finally in the 3200, NH State Champion, Oyster River’s Mackenzie Cook will certainly have some people to run with this week and she will be happy about
that! She is ranked 12th and will be in the fast heat for sure. Bow’s Maya Brochu is ranked 20th. On the boys side NH State Champ Aidan Cox is ranked 2nd at 9 flat, while Lebanon’s Birhanu Harriman is ranked 7th and gives a NH 2 chances to podium. Don’t rule out BG’s Matthew Giardina and CBNA’s Tyler Tkaczyk wither as they ate ranked 15th and 18th respectively.
Relays
The 4x800s begin the day on the track. Exeter High School is the top seed on the girls side at 9th but they have graduation and won’t be competing. Bedford is ranked 12th and Hopkinton ranked 13th. On the boys’ side, Coe-Brown is ranked 12th with their MOC winning time of 8:09.38. But they add Cox and Tkaczyk to Jamie Lano and Demas. These 4 ran 7:54 earlier in the season. Expect them to contend for a podium finish, at least. Lebanon is ranked 14th.
The relay with the most potential for the 603 has to be the 4×100 as both Pinkerton and Nashua South girls are ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively. Remember the South girls have run faster than their seed time. Both teams can threaten the top of the podium. The Pinkerton boys are NH’s top team ranked 14th at 43.47. The 4×400 sees Bedford as NH’s top team tanked 10th with their 4:05.95 as week as Winnacunnet at 13th at 4:10.06. Oyster River is ranked 14th.
Jumps
Cooncord’s Ella Goulas is the 12th seed at 5’3″. Of course there are 10 athletes tied at 5’4″. NH State Champion, Ian Solberg along with Oyster River’s Daniel Doherty are seeded with a clearance of 6’2″. Top seeds have cleared 6’6″.
The pole vault opens very high at the New Englands every year. Concord’s Kendall Barton is NH’s top seed with a clearance of 10’0″ at the MOCs, while Concord’s Colby Nyhan and Winnacunnet’s Wyatt Patterson are both seeded with clearances over 13’0″.
Anika Scott is NH’s top seed in the Long Jump ranked 18th coming into the meet while Conant’s Ben Sawyer is the 2nd overall seed with his monster jump of 22’3″ at the MOCs. Londonderry’s Andrew Kullman joins him as potential for the podium as he is ranked 7th.
Merrimack’s Alexis Best has a great shot at being one of the six best to make it to the podium as she is ranked 6th with her 36’11.5″. NH’s top seed is freshman State Champion Inter-Lakes David Walker at 21.
Throws
The girls discus throw sees our only top seed of the weekend as Pinkerton’s Briana Danis is ranked #1 due with her monster throw of 138’11” last week. North’s Madelyn Novak is ranked 15th. Danis is also the top seed for NH in the Shot Put at 18th. Coe-Brown’s Zachary Bistany is NH’s top Discus seed with a 153’4″ good for 13th position. North’s Toby Brown is ranked 7th in the Shot Put, with Leb’s Tanner Ames ranked 15th and Brown’s teammate Darius Smith 16th. The javelin finds North’s Novak poised to podium as she is ranked 5th! Look for Newfound’s Malina Bohlmann ranked 8th to take a shot as well. On the boys side, Gilford’s Isaiah Reese is ranked 3rd virtue of his 171’6″ toss at MOCs. Newport’s Kyle Ashley is ranked 11th, but he also has a 170’+ throw on his resume which could podium. Portsmouth’s Jason Yeaton is ranked 16th. The top seed has a mark of 201′!!!
Good luck to all competing this weekend! Even better luck wished to those from the 603!!!
