By Ryan Moyer
After an incredible and historic set of Division Championships two weeks ago, we got a little more top tier track and field action at the New England Championships. We saw the best of the best come out from all six states in our little corner of the country. With tough competition, the 603 didn’t disappoint with its representation of talent and competitiveness.
I’d like to highlight our top performers in each event whether they were champions, All-New England, or just able to compete and place in these championships. Regardless of the outcome, the chance to be a part of such an eclectic event, in any capacity, is a well-earned experience for all these athletes.
Girls Recap
Sprints
Anika Scott from Bedford who cruised as the top seed at 7.84 seconds. She qualified with an 8.02 second seed then blazed past everyone to finish in a new state record time of 7.76 seconds and meet record to be crowned NE Champion. Her time is now the #4 time in the U.S.! Concord’s Grace Saysaw was the NH’s top 55-meter runner since the start of the season up until the championship season. She showed why she was in the spot for so long after she ran 7.26 seconds, just barely missing the finals with the new NH #1 time. NH’s only champion came out of the 55-meter hurdles in none other than
Distance
We had two close finishes between Charlotte Beaudoin of Timberlane and Hannah Pawlowski of Bow in the 600-meters with Beaudoin running 1:39.40 to Pawlowski’s 1:39.96. Both finished in the top 10. Oyster River’s Haley Kavanagh had an uphill battle with the meet record being set in her heat. Regardless, she finished in seventh in 5:05.56, just missing the podium. Bedford’s Mikita Barry found the podium though in the 1,000-meters when she finished second in 2:50.63 for the new state #1 and #13 in the U.S. Had this been the division championship, she would own the new DI record. The Granite State saw 2 make the podium in the 2 mile. NH D2 Champ, OR’s Mackenzie Cook rolled to a strong 2nd posting a 10:51.95 while Exeter’s Alexis Paterna also impressively made the podium placing 5th in 11:02.3.
Relays
Exeter’s 4×800-meter relay consisting of Madeline Poteet, Brianna Paterna, Isabelle Bremer, and Eli Cross ran the new #1 time in the state in 9:31.96 for a fourth-place finish for All-New England. The Nashua South 4×200-meter relay of Alejandra Chavarin, Sarah Witta, Nevaeh Eppolito, and Camrin Ayi were just outside the top 25 in 1:52.98 and the 4×400-meter squad for Pinkerton that had Nicole Blake, Isabella Sippel, Sarah Rzasa, and Camryn McNulty were inside the top 20 in 4:13.02.
Field
Danielle Bates of Timberlane has been a dominant jumper all season and continued her momentum when she cleared her PR of 5’ 5” in the high jump to be tied third and claim the new #1 NH height. Manchester West’s Eshaya Lauder was the best long jumper from DII, and she claimed her own spot on the podium when she leaped 18’ 8.75” for fifth overall. Carolyn Kemp of Bedford was the top state representative for the shot put after throwing 34’ 0.5” for a spot inside the top 25.
Boys Recap
Sprints
Nick Daigle of Salem was the one for the boys’ side who had a great story to the top of NH at these championships. He was second at DIs and seeded third amongst NH hurdlers at NEs. In the 55-meter hurdles, he finished as the sixth seed in the NH #4 time and the only NH hurdler in the finals. In the finals, he smashed his prelim time in 7.53 seconds to finish All New England in sixth place as the NH #2 time. Cesar Flahn had an incredible run in the 55-meter dash when he ran 6.41 seconds in the prelims and entered as the top seed going into finals. He had a showdown with the Maine State record holder and came just shy of the NE title by 0.02 seconds and of the NH state record. He finished second in 6.40 seconds. Kody McCranie of Bow and Colby Crear of Pelham had great finishes in the 300-meters as they were edged out from the podium in seventh and eighth with times of 35.51 and 35.60 seconds, respectively.
Distance
Pinkerton’s Jason Robie finished in the top 10 of the Mile in a NH #3 time of 4:28.63. Ryan Zumbach of Winnacunnet bolstered the NH #2 time of 2:30.90 in the 1K and finished fifth to stand on the podium. Josh Twomey from Londonderry was the top rep in the 600-meters with a time of 1:29.09 to be just outside the top 15. The 2 Mile was a NH distance clinic with three runners taking second, fourth and sixth from the 603. Bishop Guertin’s Matthew Giardina battled up front to defend his title, but he was well matched as he finished just behind first in 9:07.34 as the #17 U.S. time. Following Giardina was Andrew Valentino from Hanover and Con-Val’s Will Simard where they crossed the line just a second from each other in 9:14.75 and 9:15.75.
Relays
Milford had impressive relays in the 4×800-meters and 4×400-meters. The 4×800 of Grant Skorupan, Will Whitley, Chase Paiva, and Logan Korthals finished in the top 15 and ran a season best by roughly 15 seconds in 8:12.17 and their 4×400 of Korthals, Whitley, Avery Wilson, and Kenyon Sora ran 3:30.42 for the NH #2 time and season bested by four seconds, also in the top 15. In the 4×200-meter relay, Nashua South had Lopez Leonel, Ryan Jansen, Tim Staveley, and Marcell Perry combine for eleventh place in 1:32.36. Good enough for the new NH #3 spot.
Field
Noah Pasterczyk of Nashua North has been their #2 all season, but he skyrocketed to be the top shot putter for NH when he threw 50’ 11” for fifteenth overall. Rere Edokpolo from Trinity leaped an immense distance of 22’ 11” which would have broken the D2 record. John Stark’s Rio Calle reached a height of 6’3” for a top 15 finish in high jump.
We get another two weeks away of track and field competition before the national championships where we can look forward to seeing some of these athletes compete for the final time this season. Otherwise, we’ll be gearing up for what looks to be a thrilling outdoor season. Congratulations to all!
