Girls Results – Courtesy of Lancer Timing
Boys Results
PICS
Once again, the Merrimack Invitational did not disappoint! While some of the results held true to the seedings, there were of course surprises and as always great competition. Hats off to the folks of Merrimack High School Track and Field as they organized and pulled off a great event along with Lancer Timing! Replay of event is below.
Sprints and Hurdles
A bit of a surprise, but at the same time not, in the girls 100 meters. Nashua South’s Soraya Ross continues to round into sprint form as she took the dub in 12.51 winning by close to a tenth of a second. The next three places were all separated by the lean as Pinkerton’s Eva Roberts placed 3rd in 12.60 to South’s Nyah Musa’s 12.61, and Salem’s Leanny Ortiz-Blanco’s 12.62! Ross would add a 4th in the 200 later in the meet. Nashua North star Jhanelle Thomas won the 200 comfortably in 25.93 with Portsmouth’s Lily Jenkins 2nd and Pinkerton’s Hannah Sippel 3rd. Thomas had already won the 300 meter Hurdles in a comfortable 46.95. Alvirne’s Petrina Ofori placed 2nd in 47.45 Ofori also took 2nd in the Hurdles at the start of the meet clocking 15.86 to event winner Concord’s Morgan Doherty who cruised to victory with a 15.53.
The boys side saw Windham senior Kevin Brooks roll to the comfortable win in 10.99. Pinkerton’s Caden Michaud was 2nd in 11.07 with his fab frosh teammate Travis Caballo leaning for 3rd with a 11.20 over South senior Ethan Schnuyer’s 11.21. Brooks would be an impressive double winner as he took the 200 in 22.33 over Schnyer’s 22.43. Pinkerton super soph John Child claimed victory in the High Hurdles winning with a 15.44 over teammate Jamison Isaac’s 15.60. Continuing the super soph theme, Alvirne’s Joey Marcotte won the 300m Hurdles in 42.30 just half a second in front of fellow sophomore Mason Dandeneau (Nashua North-43.90).
Both 400s were super competitive affairs as they were not decided among multiple competitors until the final strides. Portsmouth senior Lily Jenkins took the win on the girls side in 59.29 to Timberlane’s Charlotte Beaudoin’s 59.39 and Exeter’s Rayna Thompson’s 59.41. On the boys side South senior Barion Perry strode away over the last 50 to win in 51.33 over Alvirne’s Shane Plumley (2nd-51.77), and Portsmouth’s Theo Beattie (3rd-51.80).
In a couple of slight surprises, Pinkerton won the girls 4×100 in 49.07 tying South’s state leading time. The boys also flipped in a sense as South took this one in 43.53 to Pinkerton’s 43.60. Get your popcorn ready as both of these rivalries should continue for the rest of the season!!
Middle Distance/Distance
Souhegan freshman Samantha Swanbon won the 1600 in 5:18.38 after a tough battle with veterans Contessa Silva (Pinkerton), Katherine Klinger (Windham) and Isabelle Groulx (Pinkerton) who placed 2nd-4th respectively. Swanbon had a nice night as she placed 3rd in the 800 as well. Repeating as the winner in the 800 was Dover’s Anique Poulin in 2:19.96 as Exeter’s Danica Caron made a strong push to place 2nd in 2:23.46. The 3200 was won by Concord’s Shelly Smith in 11:43.34, who took the lead early and never relinquished. Exeter freshman Alexis Paterna closed in a quick final lap to come within 5 seconds of Smith.
In one of the more exciting races of the night, Dover sophomore Clayton Johnson was the one to make the final move to take this one in 4:28.97 over some consistent veterans. With several lead changes, it was everyone’s guess on who would make the podium. In the end placing second was CBNA’s Sanjith Nomula in 4:29.36 while third and fourth were South’s Andrew Byrne (4:29.87) and Dante Castellano (4:31.72). The 800 was just as exciting as Pinkerton senior Nathan Binda strongly took the lead off the final turn to pull away for the win in 1:58.50. Coe-Brown’s Luc Kerouac made quite the late race surge to claim second in 1:59.93, but the closest call was 3rd and 4th as South’s Camden Brien claimed 3rd by .003 over Exeter’s Gavin Malark, both clocking 2:00.32! After running well within themselves in the 3200, Souhegan’s Owen Stine and Pinkerton’s Finn Christensen Kraft hammered the final lap in 61 seconds with Stine winning in 9:38 to 9:40.
Jumps
As previewed, the girls High Jump came down to misses with Concord’s Ella Goulas winning clearing 5’2″. Alvirne’s Petrina Ofori and Timberlane’s Danielle Bates joined Goulas attempting 5’4″, but with the least misses at previous heights Goulas won with Ofori 2nd and Bates 3rd. The boys side was even more competitive as 5 athletes cleared 5’10” and went out together attempting 6’0″. Tying for first with the same number of misses was North’s Gavin Sucheki and Dover’s Sam Grube. The pole vault was won outright as Londonderry’s Lilly Haggett was the only athlete to clear 10’6″. Concord’s Colby Nyhan certainly put on a show as he cleared 14’0″ to win the boys side.
Goulas was a double winner as she continues to find success in the Triple Jump as well. She won by more than 2 feet with her mark of 36’7″. Merrimack’s Alexis Best was third in the Triple, but won the Long Jump with a mark of 15’9″. Talk about double winners. Concord’s Alain Twite took both the Long Jump (21’0″) and Triple Jump (42’11”). Portsmouth’s Dom Buono was 2nd in the Long Jump with a 19’6.5″ while South’s Preston Bois was 2nd in the Triple with a 42’6″.
Throws
Uniquely, Concord’s Nick Reynolds placed third in the aforementioned Triple Jump, but also won the Javelin with a toss of 169’11”. Pinkerton’s Charles Frank was 2nd with a mark of 155’3″. Coe-Brown’s Elias Warner was 3rd here with a throw of 139’4″. Earlier in the evening, Warner won the Shot Put by a thrilling .25 of an inch to North’s Darius Smith as they both eclipsed 48’11”. Smith would come back to best Warner in the Discus winning with a toss of 152’0″. South’s Elyze Mercado was second with a 149’9″. Warner was 3rd.
Exeter’s Autumn Fabiano won the girls shot with a toss of 33’10”. 2nd was South’s Nora Gautieri by a half an inch at 32’9″ over Portsmouth’s Maria Akalonu (32’8.5″). Akalonu would win the discus however with a mark of 108’8″ to Coe-Brown’s Isabelle Grenier’s 105’8″. Exeter’s Rachel Poulin won the javelin with a toss os 113’5″ to CBNA’s Emma Zeblisky’s throw of 110’5″.
Congrats to all!
