NHIAA Meet of Champions Meet Hub
Results – Courtesy of Lancer Timing
PICS Soon!!
As with every Meet of Champions, many things go as expected with several surprises along the way. Athletes and coaches go home ecstatic at times, with mixed feelings and sometimes disappointed. The weather was certainly a challenge this year, but as always, the student-athletes of New Hampshire and the level of sheer competition remains a constant! Congrats to the champions of champions and of course those who qualified to move on to New Englands.
Sprints & Hurdles
The 100m and 200 meters were 2 of the more anticipated events on the day and they did not disappoint! Both girls and boys events saw double winners and some may have been surprised by the names. Beginning with the girls, it was D2 State Champ Kennett’s Aida Wheat who swept both the 100 and 200 meter NH State Titles. She won the was the 100 meters in 12.20 winning by more than a tenth of a second. Merrimack’s Alexis Best was second in 12.31, CBNA’s Anushka Chavda was third in 12.44, Lily Jenkins 4th in 12.50, and South’s Soraya Ross 5th in 12.57. Wheat came back to win the 200 in 25.00 smiling across the line. Central’s Harriett Barber was 2nd in 25.73 and Portsmouth’s Jenkins claimed 3rd in 25.89.
Central’s Barber was coming off her state title in the 400 in 58.17 where freshman Charlotte Beaudoin kept her honest crossing in 59.25.
On the boys side, it was Memorial’s AJ Sebastien who pulled off the sweep to become the King of NH Sprinting. He won the 100 meters in 10.87 with D3 Champ Joshua Gentchos coming in 2nd in 10.96, Keene’s Chris Stevens 3rd in 11.04 and Pinkerton’s Caden Michaud 4th in 11.08. Great note here, all finalists were juniors!!! Hopefully next year we get better weather.
Sebastien came back to win the 200 with a fantastic final 50 close to cross the line in 22.45 to Windham’s Kevin Brooks, who crossed in 22.57 out-leaning Keene’s Stevens. Again fun anticipatory note here, the top 7 will all be back next year.
And in one of the best moments of the last few weeks, Oyster River’s Ty Dorow returned to the track in grand fashion. Battling injury the last week, Dorow simply could not make a go of it. He entered only the 400 this week, and rather than hang back and run cautiously, he did what has become a Dorow trait, he fearlessly got after it right away absolutely ripping the first 200 to surprisingly build a huge lead. Tying up in the home stretch, he was able to hang on to cross as state champion 50.18 on his home track. Londonderry’s Sean Clegg was 2nd in 50.68 over Sanborn senior Brady Ash who cross in 50.86.
As forecasted, Pinkerton’s Jordan Wheaton cruised to another state title crossing in 14.46 with Concord’s Morgan Doherty 2nd in 15.16. In one of the closest races of the day North’s Jhanelle Thomas outleaned a diving Erin Carty of Oyster River to win 44.14 to 44.18 in the 300 Hurdles. On the boys side, per their seeds, Bedford’s Christopher Chong took the High Hurdle state title winning in a 14.95. South’s Rory Olsen was 2nd in 15.62 and D3’s Gavin Lombara was third in 15.81. Olsen broke through
in the 300 Hurdles however winning in 29.02, with Chong placing 2nd in 39.52.
Mid-Distance and Distance
The 1600s began the day on the distance side with Oyster River’s Haley Kavanagh cruising to victory crossing the line in 5:05.40. Hanover’s Leah Perreard was 2nd in 5:17.67. Gilford’s Patrick Gandini began pulling away from the field 1000 meters in, but sealed the deal with a 59 second final lap to win in 4:14.80. Textbook 2023 Great Gandini! Bedford’s Jacob Redman was second in 4:22.20 holding off a strong Avery Crowell of Portsmouth who crossed in 4:23.58.
One of the races of the day for sure was the girls 800. While PCA’s Brianna Malone won in a super impressive 2:13.49, but surprisingly was not in the lead with 150 to go. Newmarket’s Alanna Hagen made the race passing Malone just prior to the final turn with Bedford’s Fiona Lee in tow. However, with the pride of a champion, Malone had the response to take the lead for good on the final stretch. Lee wound up 2nd in 2:14.57, 
Hagen 3rd in 2:14.68. Dover’s Anique Poulin was 4th in 2:16.70 and Winnacunnet’s Charlotte Koutalidis was 5th in 2:16.75.
On the boys side, Oyster River’s Chris Jernigan once again tried to push the pace taking the race through the 400 in 57 and change with CBNA’s Gavin Demas on his shoulder. Difference this week was Bedford’s Redman, Gilford’s Gandini, and Merrimack’s Tyler Safstrom. Redman certainly pushed Demas through the final turn, but Demas pulled away to cross the line in 1:55.08 with Redman 2nd in 1:56, Gandini 4th in 1:57, Safstrom 1:58.43, and Jernigan in 1:58.48.
The girls 3200 saw another Oyster River Bobcat cruise to victory as Mackenzie Cook took care of business to win in 11:14.50. Bow’s Maya Brochu was second in 11:31, Pinkerton’s Contessa Silva was 3rd in 11:35 out kicking Bedford’s Kelseigh O’Neil and Pinkerton’s Isabelle Groulx.
CBNA’s Aidan Cox took a shot to run faster than his 8:57 last week going through the 1600 in 4:25. Cox would eventually cross to win in 9:00.32 fading a bit over the second half. Lebanon’s Birhanu Harriman and BG’s Matthew Giardina broke away from the main pack early on to run 9:15.35 and 9:23.85 respectively. CBNA’s Tyler Tkaczyk made a nice move late to secure 4th in 9:27 with Londonderry’s Ryan Fortin right behind in 9:29.
Relays
Congratulations to the Exeter Blue Hawks as they took the girls 4×800 Relay title. Bedford was 2nd and Hopkinton was 3rd. The Coe-Brown boys won the 4×800 in a race which was not decided to the final straightaway as Exeter and Lebanon gave the Bears all they could handle.
In the girls 4×100, Nashua South and Pinkerton girls crossed with the same time of 48.92, but South continued their NH undefeated season winning 48.915 to 48.919. Pinkerton boys won the 4×100 with a 43.47 to also continue their NH unbeaten streak. Bedford was second in 43.96.
Bedford would win the girls 4×400 pulling away to a comfortable 4:06. Winnacunnet and Concord were 2nd and 3rd both clocking in the 4:10 range. And to end things on the track, host school Oyster River won in a big way with Dorow closing things out to cross in 3:27.55. Hanover was second and Coe-Brown was third.
Throws
Pinkerton’s Briana Danis had a day in the throws winning both the Discus and Shot Put. She unleashed a bomb of a throw in the Discus to win with a 138’11”. North’s Madelyn Novak was 2nd in 114’11” with CBNA’s Madeleine Grenier nabbing 3rd with 103’9″. Shot Put was a little tighter but she won with a mark of 35’1.5″ to Mascoma Valley’s Georgia Kondi’s 34’2.5″ and Milford’s Kyle Allen’s 34”1.75″. North’s Novak would claim a state title of her own in the javelin with a toss of 118’7″. Newfound’s Malina Bohlmann was a strong 2nd with a 117’4″ and Exeter’s Rachel Poulin was 3rd with a toss of 111’4″.
On the boys’ side, D2 Champ, CBNA’s Zachary Bistany won the discus as forecasted with a toss of 153’4″. Leb’s Tanner Ames was second wiht a 144’0″, and Concord’s Sam Foulds was 3rd with a 142’0″. Also as expected, North’s Toby Brown won the Shot Put with a mark of 54’5.75″. Leb’s Ames took another 2nd with a 50’6.75″ toss with North’s Darius Smith 3rd with a throw of 50’6.25″. Finally in the javelin, Gilford’s Isaiah Reese won the battle of 170′ throwers unleashing a 171’6″ mark in the rain! Newport’s Kyle Ashley placed 2nd with a 164’1″ mark while Portsmouth’s Jason Yeaton was 3rd with 158’9″.
Jumps
Concord’s Ella Goulas won the High Jump in an exciting jump off! Spaulding’s Hannah Drew was second and Bedford’s Grace Crowder was 3rd both clearing 5’2″. The boys’ side was just as competitive with the top three all clearing 6’2″. Hanover’s Ian Solberg would win the title this year (2nd last year), with Oyster River’s Daniel Doherty 2nd and Winnisquam’s Aidan Donahue 3rd.
Perhaps the most challenging event in the rain is the pole vault, but the excitement would not be lost as the girls also had a jump off. Concord’s Kendall Barton would eventually clear 10’0″ for the title. Londonderry’s Marline Fitzgerald would clear 9’9″ for 2nd with her teammate Amanda Robinson 3rd clearing 9’6″. Their teammate Ava Ruppel tied for 4th with Newfound’s Taylor Mooney as both cleared 9’6″. Despite the rain the boys had excitement of their own as the top 2 cleared 13’0″. Winnacunnet’s Wyatt Patterson would win the title with less misses than Concord’s Colby Nyhan. Salem’s Nicholas Rushton cleared 12’6″ for third.
The top 4 in the long jump were separated by only 5 inches. Bedford’s Anika Scott would win a mark of 16’8″. Memorial’s Hannah Rodriguez would be second with 16’4″, Merrimack’s Kailey Dillon was third with 16’3.25″ and South’s Iyana Braswell was 4th with 16’3″. Merrimack’s Alexis Best held true to seed winning the Triple Jump with a 36’11.5″. North’s Sarah Frye was 2nd with a 34’6″ and HJ champ, Concord’s Ella Goulas was 3rd with a 33’11” mark.
On the boys side, D3 Champ became the state champ winning the Long Jump with a 22’3″. Londonderry’s Andrew Kullman would be 2nd with a 21’9″ jump with Windham’s Shayan Biswas 3rd jumping 20’10”. Finally, in the Triple Jump, the freshman did it! David Walker of Inter-Lakes won with a 42’3″. Concord’s Alain Twite also jumped that far, but Walker won on the strength of his 2nd best jump. Woodsville’s Garrett Emery was 3rd with a 40’7″ and Londonderry’s Donovan Gannon was 4th with a 40’5″.
Congrats to ALL!!! Good Luck at New Englands!
