By Patrick O’Brien
Unlike most weeks, there were no big invitationals this weekend following Clipper Relays on Thursday. There were 3 freshman/sophomore meets in Salem, Keene and Exeter, showcasing the young talent in the state. A handful of teams held smaller home meets as well. Here are some of the standout performances from across all of these meets.
Relays
Clipper Relays brought out many of the biggest teams in the state, and it did not disappoint. We saw new state-leading times in both the boys and girls 4×100, 4×400, and 4×800.
Bedford dominated the 4x8s. Their girls team broke the meet record in 9:36.25, with Fiona Lee sealing the deal, anchoring in 2:15. Their boys team ran away with it early, winning by over 20 seconds in 8:02.70. Jacob Redman brought it home with a 1:54 split.
Nashua South, who broke the state record in the girls 4×100 last year, continued their dominance in this event. They won in 49.07, a new season-best and state lead. Pinkerton won handily in the boys 4×1, with a 43.33.
The 4x4s saw 2 teams run away from the field and set state leading times. In the girls race, it was Nashua North, crossing the line in 4:06.72. In the boys race, it was Winnacunnet, running 3:28.91. Both teams benefitted from great anchor legs, courtesy of Jhanelle Thomas and Oliver Duffy.
Sprints/Hurdles
Con-Val’s Kendrick Edwards won the 100m in 11.18 at his home invitational. His time is good for 7th in the state. At the Kiwanis F/S meet, Grace Saysaw of Concord beat out Leanny Ortiz-Blanco of Salem in the 100m, 12.63 to 12.72.
The 400’s at Kiwanis both delivered, as Timberlane’s Charlotte Beaudoin ran away from the field to run 59.40 in the girls race. The boys race came down to one hundredth, as Shane Plumley of Alvirne edged out Gavin Suchecki of Nashua North, 51.32 to 51.33.
Mariam Nada of Portsmouth and Thomas of Nashua North went head to head as a part of the 100 meter hurdle relay at Clipper Relays. In a battle between 2 of the best hurdlers in the state, Nada edged out Thomas, 15.31 to 15.39.
Bedford’s Christopher Chong and Monadnock’s Gavin Lombara posted the top 2 High Hurdle times in the state, at separate meets. Chong ran 15.04 to win Clipper Relays, while Lombara ran 15.18 to win the Monadnock Twilight Meet.
Middle Distance and Distance
Bedford’s Lee ran 2:16.91 for the win in the 800 at Phillips Exeter. At Winnisquam’s home meet, Newmarket’s Alanna Hagen crossed in 2:19.22. Two of the best middle distance runners in the state, they both cruised to solo victories and posted the two best times in the state. Monadnock’s Peyton Joslyn ran 2:01.34 to win the Doug Sargent Freshman/Sophomore meet, the fastest 800 time of the weekend.
Lea Perreard of Hanover cruised to an 11:28.37 in the 3200 to win the Doug Sargent F/S meet. At the same meet, Keene’s Sully Sturtz posted the best 1600 time in the state in a solo effort, running 4:25.93.
Bedford’s Redman along with Oyster River’s Mackenzie Cook and Haley Kavanagh all ran fast in the Mile and the Hoka Elite Mile down in Massachusetts. They mixed it up with some of the best in New England, and all ran similar, patient races, moving up throughout. Redman placed 6th and ran 4:09.89. Cook and Kavanagh finished 5th and 6th, running 4:57.06 and 4:57.38, respectively.
Jumps
We saw some impressive Pole Vault performances this weekend. Bow’s Ben McDowell skyed over 13’ 6” at his home meet, to set a new best mark in NH this season. Leo Guaracino also notably got over 12’ 1” at the Seacoast F/S meet. Good for 4th in the state. At Monadnock Twilight Meet, Conant’s Bella Nero vaulted 9 ‘4” to take the win, the 5th best girls mark in the state.
The best boys long jump of the weekend came from Winnacunnet’s Duffy, winning Clipper Relays in 21’ 7”. For girls, this was Newport’s Maddox Lovely, who won the Stevens Twilight Meet in 16’ 8”. In Triple Jump the top marks of the weekend both came from Clipper Relays. Manchester Central’s Chase Burris won in 41’ 3”, while Portsmouth’s Mariam Nada went 34’ 4.75”.
John Stark’s Logan Montgomery cleared 6’ 1” in tough conditions in the High Jump at Clipper Relays. Timberlane Freshman Danielle Bates was the lone girls high jumper to clear 5’ this weekend, in a win at Kiwanis.
Throws
It is no surprise that Nashua North’s Darius Smith threw the farthest in boys Shot Put this weekend, winning Clipper Relays with a toss of 49’ 10”. It is of equally little surprise that Mascoma Valley’s Georgia Kondi threw the farthest of any girl this weekend. She set a new state-leading mark in the girls shot put at Monadnock Twilight, 38’ 2”.
Kondi continued to show out in the Discus, where she threw 108’ 4”, #2 in the state. The boys were led by Nashua South’s Elyza Mercado, who threw 143’ 11” to take the W at Clipper. Exeter’s Rachel Poulin won the Javelin at Clipper with a throw of 106’ 2”. Pinkerton’s Joseph Packowski won for boys in 147’ 10”
