The competition was as hot as the weather at the 2016 Wilderness Championships held at Belmont High School this past Saturday. The meet, haven taken place since 1972, pits many of the D2 and D3 schools around the Lakes region against each other in a dress rehearsal of next week’s Divisional championships. Relay teams are revised, meet day schedules are worked through, and last chance qualifiers are all in the works making for some strong late season competition.
In the arms race for team supremacy, the men of Kennett had a strong win over Kearsarge, 114 to 102. Kennett spread the point taking around, winning the 100, 200, 400, 800, 3200, and both the 4×100 and 4×400. Nick Brown had a solid day, winning the 800 and 3200, and playing a role in the 4×800 and 4×400 wins as well. Kearsarge on the other hand got more than half its points from the field duo of Troy Davis and Zach Astle. Astle won the shot with a throw more than ten feet further than anyone else. But the rest of the day proved to be a little tougher, with a fourth in Jav and second in disc. For Davis, he was able to sweep his events with wins in the high jump, triple jump and long jump.
On the ladies side, White Mountains won on the backs of its distance runners and hurdlers, amassing points in the 800 and 3200. Winners for White Mountains included Peyton Giles in the 1600 as well
. But the big point getter for the Lady Spartans was Alex Curtis, with wins in the 300 hurdles, 100 hurdles, the triple jump and the 200. Runner up Kennett spread their point scoring throughout the events, with wins in pole vault and high jump.
Other standout performances came from Jaila Remillard, with wins in the 400 and long jump, finishing second to WM’s Curtis in the 100 hurdles and 3rd in the 200.
Cam Daly had a good day as well, winning the 1600 with a strong move around 800 meters in. Coming off his 4:14+ race in New York last week, Daly also played a role in the 4×400 and 4×800 meter teams.
An athlete to watch, both in the divisional championships and next year in cross country is Moultonborough’s Tyler McLaughlin. Finishing second in both the 1600 and 3200, McLaughlin is only a sophomore and looks to be giving up soccer for cross country in the fall.
