HANOVER – They may not be the flashiest or most decorated team, but for past couple of seasons the Merrimack Valley indoor track and field team has been a quiet, yet consistent and deep program. But at Sunday’s Division II Indoor Track and Field Championship at Dartmouth, the Pride’s performance spoke loudly. The MV boys stayed in the hunt for the championship until the very end and finished third, while the MV girls finished in sixth.
Both squads had individual champions, with senior Joey Baylus winning the high jump, clearing the bar at 6-0 and fellow senior Kristie Schoffield winning the 1,000 in a personal-best time of 2:53.78 to lead their respective teams.
“At the start of the season we thought we had something special,” said Bob Mullen, who coaches MV alongside Joey Ellis. “We had a great young group of new freshmen girls and a sprinkling of season leadership. We felt we had good relays which gives us a good base for states. On the boys’ side, we felt like this was the year the boys had to step it up. All season long we were training to win this meet. There was some phenomenal talent and two really good teams beat us.”
The boys’ team was winning the meet halfway through, but couldn’t quite match the talent of D-II champions Trinity, which won six of 13 events to finish with 66 points, ahead of Windham (58) and MV (40). Portsmouth (35), Coe-Brown (29) and Oyster River (28) rounded out the top six teams in a crowded and competitive field at the top of the standings.
Bow and Belmont tied Prospect Mountain for 18th-place with two points each.
On the girls’ side, Souhegan (84) won the team title with Portsmouth (56), Lebanon (49), Oyster River (44), Milford (28) and MV (25) rounded out the top six teams.
Coe-Brown (13) tied St. Thomas for ninth place while Belmont tied Portsmouth Christian and Prospect Mountain for 18th place with one point each.
The MV boys improved on their performances from the past two seasons where they tallied 22 points both times to finish in fifth and sixth, respectively. The MV girls also improved over last year’s eighth-place, 18-point performance.
“Usually when I come out I’m nervous, but today I was really comfortable, really calm,” said Baylus, who cleared 6-0 for the first time in his career on his second attempt. “Finally, after two seasons, I finally made that milestone … everything was perfect. Everything was fluid.”
Baylus and fellow seniors Brandon Wood (second 55 hurdles, fifth shot put) and Dylan Guinard (fourth 600) all ran legs on the 4×400 (third) and 4×200 (fifth) relays. Isaiah Shedd (4×400) and John Barger (4×200) rounded out the relays.
A young 4×800 relay team comprised of Matt Lyle, Herman Nixon, Shedd and David Reynolds finished sixth, as did senior Ryan Latorella in the shot put.
“We have a young team. A lot of people had to step up to be here. It’s unusual to have this many (underclassmen) on a team (at states), but here we are,” Baylus said.
On the girls’ side, Schoffield and junior Kaitlyn Covell (second 55 hurdles) also ran on the third-place 4×400 with freshman Nicole Considine and Cassidy Considine, while a young 4×800 squad of Emma York, Asia Grace Hanson, Tristan Beyer and Noelle Colarusso finished sixth.
“We have a really young team, but it really came together at the end, especially with our relays. They really came into their own,” Schoffield said.”
“All our relays (boys and girls) ran their fastest times of the year today. We found what (combinations) fit and we ran with it,” Coach Ellis said. “We set high expectations for them. Nobody even thought about us. Nobody expected us to be this good, except us.”
“These kids overachieved,” Mullen said.
The Coe-Brown boys’ also improved on the 12th-place, 14-point finish from last year, led by senior Zach Richards, who won the 1,000 in 2:37.56.
“I hung in there and kicked the last two laps, so I was pretty happy,” Richards said.
Richards also ran on the third-place 4×800 relay with Tanner Richards, Gabe Deely and Chris Pratt.
Isaiah Allen (second shot put), Orion Clachar (fourth 55 hurdles), and the sixth-place 4×400 (Zach Richards, Pratt, Deely and Ethan Barbeau) also scored for the Bears.
Brian Bushnell (fifth 300) scored for Bow and Nick Randos (fifth 1,500) scored for Belmont.
Other area scorers on the girls’ side were Kathleen Collins (fourth shot put), Elly McDonough (sixth 1,000) and the fourth-place 4×800 (McDonough, Hannah Daly, Abby O’Connor and Raven Barnes) for Coe-Brown and Alice Riley (sixth 3,000) for Belmont.
The Concord boys sent a small squad to the D-I State Meet, but still came away with 18 points, good enough to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place and also came away with an individual champion – junior Dalton Mutz in the 55 dash.
Mutz, who was seeded fourth, had a great start out of the blocks in the prelims, posting the fastest time of 6.66 seconds. Mutz didn’t get the fastest start in the 55 finals and was running in second for most of the race, but narrowly pulled out a victory, clocking an identical 6.66 seconds. The top four finishers in the event were separated by a mere .05 seconds.
“He prepared himself mentally,” Concord Head Coach Hayden Daly said. “For him to pull that off as a junior was huge.”
“It was a great race. I loved how the competition brought out the best in me this year,” Mutz said, who also finished seventh in the 300, just .03 seconds out of scoring.
The Tide also got points from other athletes who exceeded their own expectations.
Junior Nate Hillyer cleared his first jump at 5-6, 5-8 and 5-10 to tie for third and classmate Matt O’Brien finished fourth in the 1,000 in his first state meet.
Nashua North (95) won the D-I title with Pinkerton (88), Winnacunnet (45), Merrimack (30) and Bedford (30) finishing in the top five. Exeter and Nashua South tied Concord with 18 points.
The Tide girls, which did not have any competitors at the state meet last year, had a strong performance from its lone competitor this year. Sophomore Ennosen Yen finished seventh in the long jump with a leap of 15-61/4, well above her 11th-seed mark of 14-6.