On a picture perfect day rarely experienced for an April track and field meet, athletes representing 46 schools competed to what is now an elite Black Bear Invitational at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy. Simply making this meet was a success as the Black Bear limits fields to control the size and quality of the meet. Congrats to all who competed and the folks at CBNA for a job well done.
On the Track
As previewed, the girls 3200 began the day on the track with top seed Emma Hagstrom (Philllips Andover Academy) holding true to form to win in 11:15.23. Exeter’s Eli Cross placed 2nd (11:31.24) and Concord’s Shelly Smith placed third (11:43.97). The boys also ran to their seeds, but both PEA’s Byron Grevious and Phillips Andover Academy’s Tam Gavenas broke the meet record set just last year. Leading the entire way, Grevious ran a ‘relaxed’ 8:56.55 to Gavenas’s 8:58.33. Both made it look easy! Coe-Brown’s Jamie Lano placed third (9:25.58) and Bedford’s Jacob Redman was 4th with a 9:28.85.
The next final on the track was the High Hurdles. Bedford’s Anika Scott took down the meet record to win by .8 with a 14.55. Newport’s Maddox Lovely placed 2nd in 15.35 just ahead of Concord’s Morgan Doherty’s 15.43. The boys were much closer as the top three places were separated by a scant .08. Bedford’s Christopher Chong had to out-lean his teammate, JJ Powers to win 15.40 to 15.42. Monadnock’s Gavin Lombara was 3rd in 15.48. South’s Nyah Musa took the 100 meters rather comfortably with a 12.38, Portsmouth’s Mariam Nada was a strong 2nd in 12.50. PEA’s Kai Honda won the 100 meters in 10.83 with Con-Val’s Kendrick Edwards 2nd in 11.19.
Oyster River’s Haley Kavanagh won gun-to-tape style crossing in a solo 4:56.02. Kicking away for 2nd was Bedford’s Fiona Lee in 5:03.70. Winnacunnet’s Ryan Zumbach also employed a blistering kick to win a tight battle in the boys 1600 in 4:26.53. Salem’s Brock James placed 2nd in 4:28.90 fending off a hard charging Logan Korthals (Milford – 4:30.09).
North girls won the battle of Nashua in the 4×100 crossing in 49.63 to South’s 49.91. Bedford won the boys side of things with a 44.00 to South’s 44.34.
Central’s Harriett Barber began her day in record breaking fashion winning the 400 in 56.90 to break the meet record. Holding Barber to an honest effort were North’s Jhanelle Thomas (58.25) and Timberlane’s Charlotte Beaudoin (58.89) who placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. Phillips Academy’s Emerson Kington won the boys 400 crossing in 50.81 with John Stark’s Logan Montgomery placing a close 2nd in 50.93.
The 300 meter hurdles saw another meet record broken as PEA’s Jannah Maguire won with a 44.73. Bedford’s Scott placed 2nd in 46.47 with Alvirne’s Petrina Ofori 3rd in 46.95. With Newport’s Maddox Lovely placing 4th in 47.40 and the entire top 10 under 50 seconds, this may have been the deepest field in BB history. Doing most of his winning in the field events, Winnacunnet’s Oliver Duffy took the track by storm in the 300 Hurdles jumping out to an aggressive early lead to win in 39.20. His victory was never in doubt, but both Ben Cardoso of Sanborn and Bedford’s Chong (3rd event by now) ran super strong as well to placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.
PEA’s Tenley Nelson was another gun-to tape victor taking the 800 in 2:14.72 with her teammate Austin DeSisto crossing first on the boys side in 1:57.52. Concord’s Chloe Gudas was 2nd on the girls side and Coe-Brown’s Luc Kerouac was a strong 2nd in 2:00.38.
The 200 saw Barber return to the track to break another meet record winning in 25.05. PEA’s Gianna Phipps was 2nd in 25.70 with North’s Thomas 3rd in 25.90. Bow’s Kody McCranie was the surprise winner on the boys’ side in a close one crossing in 22.75 to Bedford’s Powers 22.87.
Relay City saw PEA win the 4×800 in 9:54.23 to North’s 10:14.84. Coe-Brown won the boys side in 8:22.62 to Monadnock’s 8:34.37. PEA won a tight 4×400 on the girls side with a 4:08.20 to Concord’s 4:11.58 and Bedford’s 4:13.07. Bedford won the boys 4×400 with a 3:31.28 to Milford’s 3:32.92.
In the Field
All eyes were also on the field events as the promise of competition and meet records held true with a few surprises. The boys javelin saw on of the first mild surprises as Newport’s Kyle Ashley, seeded 4th, unleashed a bomb of a throw with a 187’09” toss to win over PEA’s Isaiah Reese’s 179’00” and Tanner Boulden’s 178’7″. For good measure Concord’s Nick Reynolds threw 168’11” contributing the to the deepest javelin results in BB history as well. Coe-Brown went 1-2 on the girls side with Emma Zeblisky (113’9″) and Annika Gunderson (108’8″).
The boys discus was also hotly contested as North’s Darius Smith won it on his 6th and final throw when he unleashed a 157’8″. CBNA’s Elias Warner was 2nd with a mark of 152’5″. Phillips Academy’s Nor DeHoog won the girls with a mark of 116’5″. Portsmouth’s Maria Akalonu 2nd with a 113’6″ throw. CBNA’s Isabelle Grenier was 3rd at 103’5″.
North’s Smith also won the shot put with a 50’6.5″ mark to PEA’s Boulden’s 49’0″. Mascoma Valley’s Georgia Kondi won the girls shot by almost 3 feet with a throw of 37’6.75″.
Shifting to the jumps, Alvirne’s Petrina Ofori took the high jump clearing 5’4″ to Concord’s Ella Goulas’s 5’2″. Goulas won the Triple Jump earlier in the day with a meet record 36’9″ hop-skip-jump. Merrimack’s Alexis Best was 2nd with a mark of 35’7.5″. Concord’s Madeline Muller won the pole vault clearing 9’6″. Muller won with less misses as Bedford’s Ruby Knapp also cleared 9’6″ good for 2nd. Last but certainly not least, Bedford’s Scott won the long jump breaking her 2nd meet record with a leap of 18’7.5″.
On the boys side, Winnacunnet’s Duffy was a double winner as he took a close competition in the Long Jump off his first attempt with a 21’3″. Spaulding Cris Santana was 2nd with his 21’0″. Duffy also won high jump clearing 6’2″. His teammate Wyatt Patterson won the pole vault clearing 13’0″ to Bow’s Ben McDowell who cleared 12’6″. He claimed 2nd by virtue of less misses as Concord’s Colby Nyhan placed 3rd. Finally, Concord’s Alain Twite set yet another meet record in the Triple soaring 44’1″!
Congrats to all who participate, organized and cheered!
