By Patrick O’Brien
As usual, Bobcat Invitational provided great competition, and beautiful warm weather. There were many great competitions and athletes to talk about, but here are 10 standout athletes from the meet.
Ceasar Flahn, Manchester Central
The sprints are always competitive at Bobcat, and this year was no exception. Multi-time state champion Flahn was able to hold off the rest of the field in both the 100 and 200, in 10.84 and 22.85 respectively, as he rounds into championship form. It took under 10.5 to make the 100 final!
Olivia Kavanagh, Oyster River
Kavanagh was another double winner at Bobcat, taking both the 1600 and the 800. In the 1600, she took the lead early and pulled away from the field to run a solo 5:16. The 800 went a little differently, as she sat back in the pack as the race went out quite slowly, and then kicked hard to take that one in 2:25 with a big negative split. You won’t find it in the results, but she also led off for the winning Mixed 4×4 relay team, a very fun event that always concludes Bobcat.
Barnaby Diehn, Mascoma Valley
One of the biggest things to watch out for heading into the meet was a potential State Record in Discus, as Diehn already had a mark that would surpass it. He delivered, with a monster throw of 180’ 3”. Congrats to Barnaby, and we will see how far he can extend that record in the post-season. He didn’t stop there, however, as he also threw a state-leading 53’ 2” in the Shot Put to win his second event of the day.
Alaina Beck, Bedford
Beck gets the nod as the top female sprinter of the day, as she claimed victory in the 100, and 4×100 relay, and placed second in the 200. Just a freshman, Beck was able to hold off Portsmouth’s Leiana Cory to win the 100 in 12.24 to Cory’s 12.30. These are the two fastest 100 times in the state thus far. She placed second in the 200 only to Macy Sawyer of Gilford, and only by .04 seconds. This was one of the best races of the day, and once again times that stack up state-wide as the second and third fastest times to date. Bedford’s 4×100 ran 50.99 to win the event. All in a day’s work for the freshman!
Ollie Lehman, Oyster River
While the 3200 provided a more exciting finish, Lehman was probably the most impressive male distance runner of the day, as he separated from the rest of the pack early on in the 1600. It isn’t always easy to run an event like that all alone, but Lehman was able to push himself to a very strong 4:25 performance.
Mikita Barry, Bedford
Coming off a 2:07 800 the night before in Mass, mid-distance star Barry showed off her speed at Bobcat, winning the 400 in 57.34. She may have the best range in the state. At some meets she would be out front by quite a wide margin, but Barry could not let up as Portsmouth’s Cory was hot on her heels, finishing in 57.83. These times are both among the top five in the state.
Osinachi Nwabueze, Pelham
In that very strong 100 final, Nwabueze took second in 11.10, and that was just him getting warmed up for a huge day. He flew to impressive jumps in both the Long Jump and Triple Jump, claiming victories in both events by sizable margins, with marks of 22’ 3”, and 45’ 7”. For good measure, he also anchored the second-place Pelham 4×100 relay that ran 43.83, good for tops in D3.
Bonus Shoutout: Nwabueze wasn’t the only jumper to surpass 45’ in Triple, as George Butler of Canaan Memorial put up a 45’ 2”
Avery Baumgardt, Oyster River
Baumgardt had a busy day at Bobcat, featuring two wins and another top-three finish. The 100h was one of the events to watch coming into the meet, and it lived up to the hype. Baumgardt took the win in a state-leading 14.95, holding off Grace Dow of Hollis Brookline in 15.06, with the rest of the D2 crew close behind. She followed that up by winning the Triple Jump by a few inches with a mark of 34’ 5”, and placing third in the Long Jump in 16’ 7”.
Ryan Jamison, Winnacunnet
Jamison was certainly a hurdler to watch coming into the meet, and he did not disappoint, claiming both the 110h and the 300h. He took the 110h in 15.48, before gapping the field in the 300h by over 3.5 seconds to win in 40.43. He will definitely be someone to watch going forward.
Georgia Kondi, Mascoma Valley
It seemed like Kondi was a big favorite in both the Discus and Shot Put going into the meet, but you still have to go out there and do it, and Kondi did just that. She won the shot put by about 3.5 feet with a throw of 37’ 3.75”, and took a very competitive discus competition in 119’ 7”, holding off a tight field.
