New Hampshire Winter Track League Hub
Welcome to our first season preview since the 2024 season! This is the first year since the pandemic with which we have real data regarding returning athletes to use when prognosticating the upcoming indoor track and field season. As with last year, the WTL Hub contains schedules, rules, notes to coaches, qualifying standards, facility maps and more! Kudos to Mike Lyford, Amy Sanborn and crew for all the preseason work to continue the most user friendly season on the calendar!
Girls
Can anyone compete with Oyster River?? After claiming last year’s title by a mere 2.5 points, this year, based on returners, the Bobcats are poised to win and win big. They are undoubtedly the favorites with names like Erin Carty, Haley Kavanagh and Mackenzie Cook along with a host of younger talented athletes. There is no other way to look at it. Of the 10 individual events, they have returners in 8 of them. Throw in relays, for which they will have the depth for, and the grand total could be in the 70s or more. The real team competition will be for the runner-up plaque. Teams with seemingly the most returning points include Kearsarge, Newmarket, Newport, Mascenic and Con-Val.
Sprints & Hurdles
The current queen of NH sprinting, Kennett’s Aida Wheat is back for her senior year campaign. While she is the defending champion in the 55m dash and the obvious anchor on Kennett’s 4×200, don’t be surprised to see her dabble in the 300. Spring track only saw her get stronger and stronger in the 200, as she won the MOCs and was All-New England. D2 sprinting is not all about Wheat as names like Milford’s Keely Giordano, Con-Val’s Tasha MacNeil, Pelham’s Samantha Tetreault, Kinsgwood’s Kylie Rapoza, Newport’s Maddox Lovely and Oyster River’s Carty will all have a say in the distribution of points in the Dash and 300 meters. Watch for Carty, Lovely, and Tetreault also in the 55m Hurdles along with defending champion Pelham’s Reese Nicolosi.
Middle Distance & Distance
The 600 and 1000 meters are the events Newmarket could make a big dent as they have Allison Burke, the top returner in the 600, and Alanna Hagen the defending champion in the 1k. Watch for Sanborn’s Lily Tedford, Kearsarge’s Ellie Wimer, and Bow’s Lexi Insana as other top returners in the 600. The 1k could be even more competitive event with names like OR’s Kavanagh and Mascenic’s Kaitlin O’Shea.
Kavanagh’s teammate Mackenzie Cook happens to be the top returner in both the 1500 and 3000 meters. With Kavanagh as the 2nd returner in the 1500 right behind her coupled with their 24 second cushion on the next top returner, expect the Bobcats to score big in the distance events. Kearsarge’s Molly Ellison is next best in the 3k.
Field Events
The High Jump is always close and dramatic. Expect no different this year as the top 4 returners are separated by just 2 inches. Kearsarge’s Amelia Lefebvre was runner up last year but right behind her was Newport’s Lovely, Sanborn’s Hanna Tomany and OR’s Amalie Trump.
The Long Jump sees 2022 champ Eshaya Lauder of West returning this year, but OR’s Avery Baumgardt is within a few inches, literally. Keararge’s Lefebvre returns as defending champ in the Shot Put but Con-Val’s multi-talented MacNeil is right there as the returning runner up with Pelham’s Addison Keller next.
Boys
Last year, going into the D2 Championship every one knew Coe-Brown was going to win, and that they did quite comfortably, scoring over 100 points. This will not be the case this year, which is exciting in a different way! At least on paper, 2 teams have a similar amount of points returning, Hanover and Souhegan seem to be the co-favorites entering the 2022 season. Hanover, with names like Lucian Gleiser, Aiden Powell, and James Chafouleas, will be scoring across middle distance, hurdles and the shot put. Watching for others like Nathanial Solberg to continue to improve as well. Souhegan perhaps has more experience and will be spraying points in a similar fashion with names like Cole Henderson, Owen Stine, Taloosh Anderson, and Dallen Noorda.
Sprints & Hurdles
Much like last year, Division 2 can lay claim to having the most competitive sprint corps. Last year, D2 provided some of the closest races in the state during both indoor and outdoor. This year sees the 55m Dash return the top 2 with defending champ Joshua Gentchos (Bishop Brady) and runner-up PCA’s Tim Kelm. These 2 will have company with names like Trinity’s Nehemiah Oyaronbi, and Oyster River’s Talon Ouellette. Expect these athletes to not only be in the Dash, but possibly the 300 and relays as well. The hurdles presents a similar situation and will be great for fans as defending champ Souhegan’s Henderson and Hanover’s Powell, the number 2 returner.
Middle Distance & Distance
The 600 seems wide open as the top 6 finishers have all graduated from the 2022 state meet leaving Hanover’s Powell and PCA’s Ivan Sturgis as the 2 top returnees. The 1k seems loaded as the 2 top runners in D2 last year are returning for round 2. Defending champ, CBNA’s Jamie Lano and Hanover’s Gleiser will have some classic battles for sure this season. They also happen to be the top 2 returners in the 1500 with names like Stine, Noorda, and Con-Val’s William Simard looking to stick their noses in the action. Stine happens to be the top returner in the 3k; however, he will have company with PCA’s Jonas Teeter. Don’t overlook top cross country runners from this past season like CBNA’s Sanjith Nomula.
Field Events
Conant’s Ben Sawyer may be able to pull off the sweep of both jumps, which is some what of a rare opportunity. He is the 3rd best returner in the High Jump, but the defending state champ in the Long Jump. His winning long jump is almost 2 feet better than the next top returner. Although ranked as 3rd best returner in the High Jump, Sawyer is but 1 height shy of Pembroke’s Gavin Currier and John Stark’s Sam Kinsey-Turner. The shot put sees Newport’s Kyle Ashley as the top returner also by almost 2 feet. Watch for Prospect Mountain’s Parker Wood and Hanover’s Chafouleas as well.
As the schedule indicates, meets begin in 2 weeks! Good luck to all!
