By Ryan Moyer
The regular season has drawn to a close as we enter the qualifying weeks heading into the Stater Championships. To pay homage to the regular season finale, there’s quite a few performances worth noting and athletes to look out for heading into the weekend.
Northeast Invitational
This three-day invitational was headlined by multiple new top NH times. On the girls’ side, Oyster River’s Mackenzie Cook won the Mile in 4:56.86 and nabbed a second-place finish in the 2 Mile in 10:49.98. Both times rank atop the state. Exeter Girl’s DMR of Eli Cross, Martell McBride, Danica Caron and Alexis Paterna won in 12:47.33. Paterna followed up with a fourth-place finish in the 2 Mile in a time of 11:14.26 and Caron shot up the standings in the 600-meters with the no. 1 time in 1:41.44 and won the event. Going back to Oyster River, Haley Kavanagh recorded the second best 1K time in DII with 2:56.06 and Avery Baumgardt won the triple jump with a massive jump of 35’ 10.25”. The Pinkerton Girl’s 4×800-meter relay of Parker Knowlton, Gabrielle Bedard, Kalisan Marzolf, and Sarah Rzasa snagged second in 9:52.31
For the boys, Bishop Guertin’s Matthew Giardina crowned in the Mile in 4:24.27, also the top mark in NH, and his teammate Carson Fischer posted the second-best Mile after taking fourth in 4:27.48. Portsmouth’s Theo Beattie also improved his state lead in the 600-meters in 1:24.38.
Yale High School Classic
A lone wolf nod here for Con-Val’s Will Simard who placed fourth in the 3K, running NH’s best time of 8:32.22.
Plymouth State
To highlight this meet for the girls, Anika Scott of Bedford asserted dominance, triple crowning in the 55-meter hurdles (8.08) matching her state leading time, 300-meters in 44.10 seconds, and the long jump with a mark of 17’3”. Gilford’s Macy Sawyer out leaned Bedford’s Ella O’Keefe in the 55-meter dash in 7.62 seconds to O’Keefe’s 7.63. Sawyer also flashed some range with a 600-meter win in 1:45.69.
Cam Lee of Coe Brown cruised to victory in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.07, winning by three tenths of a second. Bedford’s Ethan Pulsifer won the 600-meters in 1:26.27, good for the third best time in DI. Inter-Lakes’ David Walker leaped 20’10.75” in the long jump, now making the jumps field more competitive with five guys over 20 feet in DII.
Philips Exeter Academy
Kingswood’s Kylie Rapoza swept the sprints with wins in the dash (7.62) and 300-meters (43.83). Those times are tied for first for DII and second for DII, respectively. Samuel Bruneau from Hollis/Brookline showcased in the dash after matching his DII leading time of 6.66 seconds with his teammate, Grace Dow, winning the hurdles in a DI leading 8.82 seconds. Colby Crear of Pelham breezed over the hurdles in a state leading 7.62 seconds. PEA’s Jaylen Bennett smashed the facility record in the 600-meters, winning in an astounding 1:21.05.
UNH
Bow’s Hannah Pawlowski doubled and won in the 600-meters and 300-meters with times of 1:45.94 and 44.65 seconds, respectively. Winnacunnet’s Ryan Zumbach impressively ran 1:24.59 on the 160-meter oval for the second-best time in the state. Josh Kelly of Portsmouth jumped 21’0.5”, good for second in DI among four others over 20-feet in DI. Parker Wood from Prospect Mountain heaved the shot put 50’4.75” for the second-best mark in DII.
Now we eagerly wait for these qualifying weeks to be jam packed with talent and competition as the first qualifying meet is at PEA. Also, I can’t forget about some relay action with the 2-day event, The Wildcat Relays.
