NHIAA Division Championships Meet Hub
I’m going to do this preview a little bit different than I have in the past, as with the performance sheets going live ahead of the meet, people can look up the seedings and make some assessment themselves. Check out all the meet program on our meet hub!
Instead, I’m going to outline what I’m looking forward to, where I think the intrigue will lie, regarding these D3 championships.
Girls Sprints
Last year we saw the advancement of both Ava Lacasse of Belmont and Macy Sawyer of Gilford as not only the two best sprinters in D3, but among the best in the state. The only thing that has changed this year is that they’ve gotten even better but additionally added more range as well. Sawyer has added 300 hurdles to her repertoire and Lacasse has added the 400. These two will clash over the 100 and 200 and we’ll see who the winner is once the dust settles.
Girls Distance
It’s no surprise to know things are hot at the front of the distance end of things, with Maddy Lane of Hopkinton leading the charge not only in the division, but statewide as well. Top seed in the 800, 1600 and 3200, where she has the fastest time in all divisions, Lane will be key to Hopkinton’s success toward the championship. Last year she had the support of a very veteran cohort of seniors and this year she’ll have to lean on younger teammates. Maisie Emerson has been on fire and is the second seed in the 3200 and 5th in the 1600, while Sophia Upton is in the 1600 and 800 as well. Hopkinton has loaded up the 1600, with Hannah Clarner, Gemma Guadagno and Gwenyth Buelte as well. Behind Lane we see the aforementioned Hopkinton athletes along with Kaitlin O’Shea of Mascenic and Addison Martin of Pelham in the 800, Hailey Watts of Moultonborough, Sophie Thurlow of Sanbon, Erin O’Shea of Mascenic and Maria Tilley of Gilford in the 1600, and Tilley, Watts, and Emma Short of Monadnock in the 3200.
Girls jumps
I’m interested in seeing how Gilford’s Pearl Marvel rebounds after her Wilderness performance in long jump wasn’t her usual standard. She should be a good battle with Kearsarge’s Ainsley Frenkiewich and Newfound’s Autumn Blackmann. Frenkiewich is also the top seed in pole vault, with Mascoma Valley’s Sophia Smith not far behind. Smith is also tied for th top seed in high jump with Pelham’s Ava Milley at 5 feet. And rounding out the jumps is Skyla Houle of Campbell with the only 33 foot triple jump, being followed by Mascoma’s Montan Ballard and Belmont’s Cory Takantjas.
Girls Throws
What can I say, I’m a distance guy through and through. However I can appreciate when I see greatness in field events as well, and we certainly have that in Mascoma Valley’s Georgia Kondi. Kondi, the Chase Jackson of D3 throwing, not only is the top seed in the discus and shot, she is the State leader in both those events. I had the pleasure of being on the mic and camera for the indoor division 2 meet where she vanquished the field. I anticipate the same on Sunday. However there should be a nice battle between Morgan Trefrey of Laconia and Madelyn Donohue of Raymond as only a scant one foot separates them.
Portsmouth Christian girls relay teams
The PCA girls relay teams are poised to make some relay noise as they are the second seed in the 4×100 and 4×400 behind Gilford, and third seed in the 4×800 as well. This is certainly the highest average for any school, and interestingly enough if they focus heavy on relays, they might be able to steal a win in the 4×400, as Gilford will be using Macy Sawyer in two individual events along with both the 4×100 and 4×400. And I imagine they are looking to do just that.
Boys Sprints
Unlike two standouts on the girls side, there is a lot more parity among the boys. In each of the shorter races, 100, 200 and 400 we have different event leaders, in Pelham’s Osinache Nwabuese, Mascoma’s Sam Joyce, and PCA’s Isreal Stanley. If Pelham and Winnisquam hope to make a run at the championship, they are going to have to grab some points here and in both hurdle events.
Boys Distance
Six months ago I got to reflect on the strength of division 3 boys distance running after D3 put two in the top four, three in the top ten and five in the top 25 qualifiers for Meet of Champions in cross country. Coming out of that and through the indoor season, we saw Monadnock’s Peyton Joslyn win the 1000 and take second in the 1500. This season he has stepped up in distance, qualifying in the top spot in the 1600 and 3200. Any off the remaining four (Fall Mountain’s Elijah Bodanza, PCA’s Christian Barnes, Newfound’s Colin Foster or Hopkinton’s Max Goupil will need to go through Joslyn in those events.
Boys Jumps
Nwabuese is back as the top horizontal jumper in both long and triple jump. I-L’s David Walker will look to press him in long jump, and Canaan Memorial’s George Butler to do so in triple. If Butler can overthrow Nwabuese in triple, our champion interestingly will come from the west side of the Connecticut.
In the vertical jumps, Winnisquam’s Nolan Abbott has more than a foot advantage over the field and in high jump Trinity’s Alex Garland and Kearsarge’s Jacob Dunn are seeded at 6-2, with Hopkinton’s Kristoff Cauley right behind at 6-1. As I said before, anything can happen in the jumps so we’ll have to wait and see.
Boys Throws
Thus far this season Mascoma teammates Barnaby Diehn and Colin Myers have had the upperhand across the division in shot put and disc, with Diehn leading the state across those disciplines. However Belmont’s Brady Filteau was able to rise to the challenge this past winter, defeating both in the shot. We should have a great three-way race in these events. In javelin however Newport’s Ayden Hodge has a fifteen foot advantage on the field and will be the one to beat there.
Battle of Team Supremacy
In most years I feel there have either been clear favorites or a couple of teams battling for the title, but this year it seems like the titles are more up in the air. Last year Hopkinton girls won it on the strength of their distance girls and some help in the jumping events. This year, while it looks like they probably have enough to get things done, the margin will be less and the margin for error even more so. Looking to upset things will be Gilford, with Sanborn, Pelham and Campbell all looking to steal points here and there.
As for the boys, it’s even tighter in my opinion, with no stand out leader as I see it. Mascoma Valley won Wilderness mostly on the strength of Diehn and Myers, but they’ll need to offset Pelham’s sprints and hurdles, along with Sanborn, Hopkinton and Winnisquam who look to garner valuable points across a bunch of events.
