At the beginning of the season, the Concord boys’ track team aimed to be in the mix for the Division I title, but now, with the Division I championship meet less than a week away, the girls’ team is also in the conversation.
The Tide girls’ won 10 of 18 events and swept the relays at the six-team Crimson Tide Capital Classic on Saturday in a non-scoring meet at Memorial Field against Merrimack Valley, Bow, Pembroke, Pelham and Goffstown.
“(The girls) are turning into one of the top programs. They keep developing,” Concord Head Coach Hayden Daly said.
Among the highlights for Concord was sophomore Grace Devanny, who won the 200 in 26.41 seconds and finished second in the 400 in 57.9 seconds, a similar time to what she ran last year in her third-place finish at New Englands.
Jennika Mannesota closed in on the school record in the 3,200, winning in 11:04.
Devanny, Jelley (third long jump) and freshmen Sarah Waite and Faith Hatcher formed the winning 4x100 team (51.7); Devanny, Sarah Zarakotas (second 800), Waite and Ellie Erickson formed the winning 4x400 team (4:28) and Mannesto, Gillian Bennett, Zarakotas and Ally Leuci won the 4x400 (10:37).Other individual winners for the Tide were Katelyn Jelley in the 100 (13.14), Ella Fabozzi in the pole vault (7-8), Ennosen Yen in the triple jump (32-7), Julia Miville in the shot put (29-9½) and Stephanie Oberg in the javelin (110-9).
Cassie Shea (second 1,600), Molly Bragg (second 3,200) and Yelena Beausoleil (second discus) also had strong individual finishes.
“That’s the program we want them to turn into and that’s what’s been happening,” Daly said. “That’s because of consistent hard work and getting better at their craft. There’s a lot of talent in that group.”
The Concord boys looked prepared for states in the sprints and distance events, the usual strengths for the Tide boys.
Forest Mackenzie won the 3,200 (9:54) and Jamie Wilkes won the 800 (2:04), while the 4x800 relay team of Wilkes, Aiden O’Hern, Ryan Devine (second 1,600) and Colin Conery won in 8:18. Eli Boesch-Dining (second 3,200) also ran well in the distance events.
The Tide opted to rest its top sprinter, Dalton Mutz, but still had strong performances from Zackary Jenks (second 100, third 200), Clinton Mungeta (second 200) and the second-place 4x100 relay team of Mungeta, Pat Hall, Sam Orzechowski and Liam Devanny.
The 4x400 relay (Hall, Mungeta, Wilkes and Conery) won in 3:39 while Manny Feliz won the long jump (19-¼) and Adam Dwight won the pole vault (10-1) for the Tide.
Merrimack Valley did well in their final tune-up before next weekend’s D-II championships. The boys’ 4x100 team of John Barger, Joey Baylus, Teigan Friedrich and Brandon Wood finished in 45.34, .06 seconds ahead of the perennial powerhouses from Concord.
Baylus swept the hurdle events, winning the 110 hurdles in 15.84 and the 300 hurdles in 41.98. Zack Cronin (high jump at 5-11) and Nick Bartlett (javelin in 149-5) were the other winners for the Pride boys.
For the MV girls, Kristie Schoffield set a meet record in the 400, winning in 56.81. Freshman Emma York won both the 800 (2:32) and the 1,600 (5:40) and Kaitlyn Covell won the 100 hurdles in 17.37.
Bow held its own as the only D-III school at the meet.
Dominique Biron won the most individual events out of any athlete in the meet, taking the long jump (16-4¼), high jump (5-2) and 300 hurdles (49.84), and she finished second in the 100.
Brian Bushnell won the 100 (11.76) and the 400 (51.78) to lead the Bow boys.
Pembroke’s Alyssa Hubbard won the discus with a distance of 87-7 and Madison Bennett finished third in the 3,200. Wyatt Yeaton (fourth 1,600) was the top finisher for the Pembroke boys.
The Division I championship will be on Friday at Merrimack while the D-II and D-III championships will be next Saturday and Kennett and Belmont, respectively.
