2025 D3 Outdoor Season Preview

GIRLS

Returning champs

With 12 of the 15 individual events seeing returning champions, there are many spots open for new champions.  However just because you’re returning, doesn’t mean anything is automatic.  You have to earn it.  So let’s take a look into this season by way of looking what happened last season.

Sprints

In the 100, the entire group of girls in the final are back, with 2024 champ Elle MacDonald of Newfound leading the way.  Also under the 13 second mark are Sunapee’s Clare Touhy, Newport’s everything girl Maddox Lovely, and Belmont’s Ava Lacasse.  

Lacasse and MacDonald were also 2-3 in the 200, which was won by Gilford’s sprint sensation Macy Sawyer.  Lacasse had a great indoor campaign so don’t sleep on her, anchoring their championship 4×200 team and their runner-up 4×400 team.   These three all ran under 27 last year.

Mid D

Another freshman phenom last year was White Mountain’s Olivia Lorenz.  I remember watching at last year’s championship do the very difficult 400-800 meter double, winning the 400 and come roaring back on the field in the 800 for third.  As the only one under 60 in the 400 she would have to be the favorite.  Other returners under 62 are Sanborn’s Sophie Thurlow and Moutlonborough’s now freshman sensation Hailey Watts.

Alanna Hagen gone, the top returner in the 800 is Hopkinton’s Shaylee Murdough, followed by Lorenz..  The 800 might be a candidate for the race to watch as there is a solid field in Sanborn’s Kaitlin Stocker, Newport’s Taylor Fellows, and Kearsarge’s Ava Shapiro all under the 2:30 mark.  There could be another familiar name as well, with Mascenic’s Kaitlin O’Shea finding her legs in the 600 this winter and breaking the school record in the 1000.

Distance

Maddy Lane is the returning champ in both the 1600 and 3200, had a tremendous sophomore cross country season, culminating with a 5th place at New Englands, and while Hopkinton doesn’t do an indoor campaign, Lane participated in a number of open meets indicating she’s in great shape.   Looking to shake up the apple cart would be Mascenic’s Erin O’Shea, Newmarket’s Eilis McKenna, Sanborn’s Stocker and Newfound’s Emerald Briggs.  O’Shea is the closest returner in both events, and ran with Lane for six laps of the 32 last year, however Lane is certainly the class of the field.

Hurdles

No surprise here as Newport’s Lovely is the top returner in both the 100 and 300 hurdles, having won by almost a second and a second and a half in the two races.  Pelham has a nice triumvirate in the hurdles though, with Ava Milley and Samantha Tetreault going 2-3 in the 100, while Reese Nicolosi and Milley went 2-3 in the 300 hurdles.  Keep an eye on Belmont’s Adeline Takantjas as well, as she had a strong indoor campaign as part of a championship 4×200 relay team.

Jumps

Per usual, Somersworth returns a strong high jump squad, led by Sya McKay and Savanna Comeau.  But Sanborn’s Hanna Tomany has had a great year, winning D2 Indoors.  There should be a good battle between these 5 ft jumpers.  

In pole vault, Conant’s Bella Nero is the returning champion, however she has not been in action since the end of last season and her return could be questionable.  Behind her was teammate Sophia Battisti, Pelham’s Gabrielle Minuti and Kearsarge’s Ainsley Frenkiewich all at the 8 foot mark.

Newport’s Lovely returns as the defending champion in long jump, with a foot’s better distance than Sunapee’s Ana Castillo and Somersworth’s Savanna Comeau.  Add in Trinity’s Anna Martin and Bishop Brady’s Sarah Allen and you’ve got a strong 15+ slate of jumpers.  

In the triple, Belmont’s Takantjas has a 2+ foot advantage over Sunapee’s Castillo and Somersworth’s MacKay.  Add in Belmont teammate Lacasse and InterLakes Riley Anderson and you have a field all having broken 31 feet.  Should be a good battle here as well.

Throws

Top returner in the shot and disc is Mascoma’s Kondi, however indoor season saw her on the sidelines helping her teammates as she was out on injury.  Hopefully she’ll back at it this season and if so, watch out.  She has a 5+ foot and 12+ foot advantage in both those events.  Behind her Steven’s Audrina Pelton, Sanborn’s Paige Chesbro and Hopkinton’s Zoe Bishop in disc, and Raymond’s Madelyn Donohue, Newport’s Callie Dixon and Pelham’s Addison Keller in shot.  Keep an eye on Dixon here as she won the D2 shot in indoors.

And finally for javelin, Raymond’s Donohue is the top seed going into the season, having thrown over 100 last year at states, more than a 12 foot advantage over Addie Desrosier. 

Teams

With Hopkinton’s distance dominance, and Pelham’s versatility, the 2025 NHIAA Division III season is shaping up to be highly competitive. Expect teams like Newfound Regional and Sanborn to challenge for top spots, while programs with strong relays will have an edge in the overall standings. The battle for the championship will come down to which team can maximize points across multiple events.

---

Boys

Returning Champions

• 110H Colby Crear  Pelham
• 300H Colby Crear  Pelham
• HJ Rere Edokpolo  Trinity
• LJ David Walker  InterLakes
• TJ Alex Garland  Trinity
• Disc Tyson Patch  Fall Mountain

With half the returning champions as the girls, there will be a bunch of new champions this season no matter what.  But like I stated on the girls side, a championship isn’t given, it’s earned.  And all these returning champions need to get to work if they want to defend.  Let’s look ahead by looking back.

Sprints

With last year’s senior crew of Josh Gentchos, Tim Kelm, Nehemiah Oyaronbi and Alan Yap, arguably the best sprint corps to come out of D3 all graduating, there is a lot of room at the top of D3 sprinting.  Top returner in the 100 is Trinity’s Anthony DiGaintommaso, who finished 4th.  The only other underclassman in final was Raymond’s Dennis Glidden, with Sanborn’s Brayden Sanchez the next best.

In the 200 the top returner is hurdler extraordinaire Colby Crear of Pelham.  He was just a step or two in front of Glidden here, with Sanborn’s Shane McKeen all under 22.5.  Behind them is Mascoma’s Tanner Moulton, Newport’s Aaron Fellows, and Steven’s Kieran Heath.

Mid D

Last year, Profile’s Wyatt Lawson dipped under 51, but was barely beaten by CCA’s Rolen Sanderson.  The title chase should be a little bit clearer as Lawson has a second over the field. Winnisquam’s Brendan Goodwin is the next best in the field, with InterLake’s Brendan Richards, Mascoma’s Tanner Moulton and Sanborn’s Shane McKeen all under 53 seconds.

With Jonas Teeter off to college, the distance events have opened up as well.  The heir apparent in the 800 would seem to be Monadnock’s Peyton Joslyn, but a little birdie told me he might be looking forward and concentrating on longer events, so while I won’t hold my breath, as the 800 is after the 1600, I could see Joslyn looking to run for the win here come championship time.  Behind Joslyn, InterLake’s Isaac Nudd-Homeyer and Hopkinton’s Roman Finlayson are the next in line.

Distance

Joslyn is back as the returning top seed in the 1600 and has hinted at moving up in distance, but it would be foolish to overlook the events of this winter, meaning Kearsarge’s Dan Dalbec swooping in and stealing the 1500 right out from under everyone’s noses.  Toss in now Fall Mountain’s Elijah Bodanza and Sanborn’s Jake Pitre and you have an exciting 1600 shaping up.

In the 3200 the path to the top looks clearer on paper, with Mascoma’s Gunner Currier the only returner inside the top eight, however I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bodanza focus on the 32, along with PCA’s Christian Barnes in there as well.  I could also see Dalbec doubling back with the 1600 already in the books.

Hurdles

With Crear coming back as returning champion for both events, one might be inclined to see him as the easy favorite but that could be a mistake.  Monadnock’s Gavin Lombara is a worthy challenger in both events, making the hurdles one of the must see events of the meet.  Toss in Hillsborough’s Robert King, Prospect Mountain’s Sergio Duarte, and Pelham’s Nathan Migliore and you’ve some well contested hurdle events.

Jumps

Trinity’s Edokpolo is back and the top returning seed in high jump, however Raymond’s Dennis Glidden jumped higher and beat Rere indoors this winter.  This should be a great battle.  Newport’s Tyson Diapola, Hopkinton’s Deacon Tanuvasa, and Trinity’s Alex Garland all cleared 5-8 last year.

In pole vault, Campbell’s Joey Allen is the top returner, with a foot advantage over Pelham’s Migliore and Derryfield’s John Small.

In long jump IL’s Walker is the top returner, however Edokpolo beat Walker indoors, jumping 21-10, so there should be a good battle here.  Toss in Edokpolo’s teammate DiGiantommaso for good measure.

In triple, it might seem that Trinity’s Garland is in the driver’s seat topping the field by over two feet, but  Walker was the top triple jumper at MOCs, electing to sit the event out at Divisionals in order to be rested for MOCs.  I expect if he’s healthy for Walker to lead the field in this event.  Pittsburg’s George Butler also had a jump out over 40 feet.

Throws

With Newport’s Kyle Ashley moving on to the Naval Academy, his teammate Kamden Pollari is the top returner over Prospect’s Robert Prescott, however Mascoma’s Barnaby Deihn has made tremendous gains in a year, tossing and winning D2 indoor with a 52+ foot throw.  I anticipate all eyes will be on Deihn.

In what might be considered strange in the throws, there was not one senior in the top three last year for disc.  Fall Mountain’s Patch led the field over Deihn and Belmont’s Brady Filteau.  It will be interesting to see if Deihn’s improvements translate to discus as well.

In javelin, Conant’s Ben Sawyer is the top returner, with an almost nine foot advantage on the field.  Sawyer, is an incredible athlete, having hurdled, sprinted, jumped and thrown during his career so it will be interesting to see which direction this season goes.  Behind him are Hopkinton’s Hunter Eckner-Naylor and Somerworth’s Seth Worell over the 150 foot mark.

Teams

Pelham’s well-rounded roster v. Monadnock’s hurdles and distance depth make them the top contenders for the 2025 NHIAA Division III season. Inter-Lakes and Hopkinton will also be in the mix, especially if they can strengthen their sprinting and field event performances.