By Pat Scott
The New England champs may have been crowned but the coronation of New Hampshire’s King and Queen of track and field is happening this weekend. The 69th Annual New Hampshire Decathlon Championships and the 49th Annual Heptathlon Championships will be held at Nashua South High School on Saturday, June 21st and Sunday June 22nd.
The reigning 3-time champ of the decathlon, Ben Sawyer has matriculated, finally leaving the throne open to a new batch of hopefuls. We don’t have to look too far down last year’s results to find them. We see a potential matchup between Gavin Suchecki (3rd) of North and Dana Mussulman (4th) of Philips Exeter brewing. Mussulman has been knocking on the door for a few seasons now with his excellent throws and impressive vault skills.
Suchecki, for his part, was a surprise contender last year placing just 13 points ahead of Mussulman. The surprise came when he torched the 1500m, earning him big points in the very last event and leapfrogging his competition. We’ll be watching to see if Mussulman can pad a lead big enough with his throws to keep Suchecki at bay when gun goes off for the 1500m.
The pole vault is always the great ‘equalizer’ in the decathlon and if either of the top two falter, look for Preston Bois of South to take advantage. Other top returners we’ll be watching include Wayne Crowell of Keene and Brandon Lurvey of Pembroke who have proven themselves to be excellent all around athletes.
We don’t foresee a change in the throne for the heptathlon, however. Angela Cenesca was DOMINANT last year, outpacing second place by nearly 400 points. If she has a weakness, it is the throws but she has had a year to work on those.
Several girls will be battling to fill the court including Madison Pfister of Bow and mighty Pearl Marvel of Gilford who are both decent jumpers. We’ll keep an eye on Norah O’Malley of Dover and Sarah Witta of South as they seek to improve on last year’s standing.
All these predictions are great but one rain shower affecting the wrong event can dash the hopes of even the strongest competitors. Experience is important in multi-event competitions like this, but the real fun is when a dark-horse athlete gains some confidence, finds themselves and makes a run for the podium. Who out there will surprise us and make a run for the crown this year?
