By Peter Najem
The regular season has ended and here are some of the top performances from this past week leading into both state meets. There were some big time performances! The only question remaining is which event or events will everyone do at the state meets? We will know soon enough…
Division 1
High Jump, Long Jump, Shot Put!
In the High Jump, Danielle Bates (Timberlane) jumped 5’7” only one inch shy of her season best. Eres DeLorey (Londonderry) and Abigail Azevedo (Nashua North) both cleared 5’3”. Gavin Suchecki (Nashua North) cleared 6’3” on the boys’ side of things. Right behind him was Kaiden Okowuga (Merrimack) who went up and over 6’1’.
There were three girl long jumpers over the 16 foot mark. Angela Cenesca (Manchester Central) 16’9”, Martelle McBride (Exeter) 16’6.5”, and Allie Dandeneau (Nashua North) 16’4.5”. Joey Marcotte (Alvirne) was the only boy to jump over 20 feet this week at 20’3”.
Consuelo Borico (Concord) threw her shot put out to 39’0.75’. Thomas Blaszka (Pinkerton) got his shot put out to 47’3.5”.
Hurdles, Dash, 300!
Rylee Robinson (Pinkerton) was the fastest female athlete over the hurdles running 9.22. There were two boys that were able to dip under 8 seconds; Ryan Jamison (Winnacunnet) 7.76 and Joey Marcotte (Alvirne) 7.90.
In the Dash, Leanny Ortiz-Blanco (Salem) ran a fast 7.36 and Laura Milks (Portsmouth) improved her seed time to 7.54. Owen Janetos (Winnacunnet) put together his season best of 6.62.
Angela Cenesca (Manchester Central) ran the top 300 meter time this past week with a 42.06. Two of the top sprinters in the division went head to head; Janetos (Winnacunnet) 35.92 and Ceasar Flahn (Manchester Central) 36.66.
600m & 1000m
Three girls ran under 1:40 this weekend in the 600 meters. The fastest being Lexi Paterna (Exeter) 1:37.60. Followed by Charlotte Beaudoin (Timberlane) 1:38.39, and Izzie Bremer (Exeter) 1:39.44. Two boys ran under 1:26 this past week; Jamison (Winnacunnet) 1:24.87 and Melo Berdecia (Dover) 1:25.87.
Simply put, 2:52.91 is a FAST 1k and that is exactly what Lexi Paterna (Exeter) did! Not to be outdone Bri Paterna (Exeter) ran a 9 second season best completing the five laps in 3:00.89.
1500m & 3000m
Gabrielle Bedard (Pinkerton) 4:48.46 ran a nine second season best! Mikita Barry (Bedford) 4:53.82, Zoe Coler (Bishop Guertin) 5:01.64, and Vera McCown (Winnacunnet) 5:03.49 all put in solid times heading into the state meet.
Seems like the 1500m was the “it” event this past week. Jason Robie (Pinkerton) 4:07.84, Josiah Conley (Concord) 4:07.93, Lucas Gomez (Salem) 4:08.03, and Trainor Mailloux (Pinkerton) 4:10.99 all covered the metric mile quickly.
Not many 3ks were run but Bri Paterna (Exeter) ran 10:24.70! That’s fast! Lucas Gomez (Salem) broke the 9:00 barrier and now has 8:55.56 next to his name on the Battlenotes.
Division 2
High Jump, Long Jump, Shot Put!
Camden Wilson (Bow) improved on her season best in the High Jump by an inch to 5’3”. Her teammate Madison Pfister (Bow) and Savanna Comeau (Somersworth) both cleared 5’1”. Griffin Schultz (Con-Val) went up and over 6’1”.
There were three girls who jumped further than 16 feet this past week. Pearl Marvel (Gilford) jumped 16’9.75”, Avery Baumgardt (Oyster River) 16’6.5”, and Norah Pelletier (Kingswood) 16’0.75”. On the boys’ side, Osinachi Nwabueze (Pelham) jumped a season best by almost two feet reaching out to 22’3.5”! Brock Smith (Belmont) also cleared 20 feet by jumping out to 20’10”.
The furthest throw belonged to Georgia Kondi (Mascoma Valley). She chucked it out to 38’10.25”. Barnaby Diehn (Mascoma Valley) had the farthest throw of the weekend reaching his shot put out to 50’9”. Brady Filteau (Belmont) threw a season best of 47’8.25”.
Hurdles, Dash, 300!
There were five girls running under nine seconds in the hurdles this past week; Baumgardt (Oyster River) 8.60, Bristol Shirland (Coe-Brown) 8.69, Grace Dow (Hollis/Brookline) 8.76, Norah Pelletier (Kingswood) 8.92 and Elizabeth Carty (Oyster River) 8.93.
Brogan Grzybowski (Coe Brown) ran the quickest over the hurdles for the boys with a season best of 8.02. Jacob Gonzalez (Sanborn Regional) ran a tenth off his season best with 8.45.
Ava Lacasse (Belmont) ran her season best 7.38 in the Dash! Solid times were also run by Dow (Hollis/Brookline) 7.52, Juliet Faria (Kearsarge) 7.59, and Lilah Fitzpatrick (Coe Brown) 7.61. Gavin Buxton (Bow) ran a season best of 6.52 in the boys dash!
The top times came from Lacasse (Belmont) who ran 41.55 and Macy Sawyer (Gilford) 41.86. Andrew Desmarais (Hollis/Brookline) ran a solid 36.93.
600m & 1000m
Two girls put together solid races heading into the state meet; Madelyn Cook (Oyster River) 1:43.36 and Victoria Quintanilla (St. Thomas Aquinas) 1:45.29. Three boys dipped under 1:30: Aaron Hughes (St. Thomas Aquinas) 1:29.38, Evan Thurston (Kingswood) 1:29.74, and Dominic LaRose (St. Thomas Aquinas) 1:29.83.
In the 1k, Molly Reardon (Hollis/Brookline) 3:09.63 and Olivia Kavanagh (Oyster River) 3:09.97 proved they are ready to run fast in a couple weeks. Thomas Howie (Hollis/Brookline) covered the five lapper the quickest on the weekend for the boys, running 2:44.40.
1500m & 3000m
Sophie Thurlow (Sanborn Regional) 5:01.49, ran a season best and just missed breaking the 5:00 barrier. The top three times in Division 2 were all ran this past week; Grant Skorupan’s (Milford) 4:08.88 being the fastest, followed by Oliver Lehman (Oyster River) 4:09.10 and Peyton Joslyn (Monadnock) 4:10.28
Teammates Olivia Kavanagh (Oyster River)10:35.20, Neely Roy (Oyster River)10:48.49 Madelyn Cook (Oyster River)10:57.40 put together solid performances in the 3k. Oliver Lehman (Oyster River) ran the fastest time in Division 2 by stopping the clock at 8:51.82!
