CONWAY – It didn’t matter that Coe-Brown didn’t win a single event at the Division II Track and Field Championships, as long as the Bears got the trophy they wanted. But when Trinity’s 4×400 relay beat Coe-Brown in the final race of the day, that dream of winning the D-II team title came to an end.
The Bears scored points in 12 of 18 events and showed that Coe-Brown is among the deepest and most balanced programs in the state. But Trinity had two wins each from Oliver Thomas (110 hurdles and 300 hurdles), Sebastian Eaton (100 and 200) and Tim Zepf (400 and 800) to defeat Coe-Brown by just three points, 92-89.
Lebanon (59), Portsmouth (48.5) and Goffstown (36) rounded out the top five on the boys’ side, while Merrimack Valley finished in sixth with 30 points after succumbing to injuries. Vedin Fowler (fourth triple jump) scored all four of John Stark’s points in the Generals’ 20th-place finish at Kennett High School on Saturday.
“It’s pretty disappointing for the kids,” Coe-Brown Coach Brent Tkaczyk said. “It’s definitely something we were coming in trying to win. But we competed in every event and scored in (12). It was a team effort to get ourselves in contention and it came down to the last event.”
Senior Zach Richards (third 800, fourth 1,600) anchored the second-place 4×400, whose time of 3:30.36 was just 1.21 seconds behind Trinity in the deciding event.
“Obviously we’re upset, but we’re proud of everyone,” Richards said. “Everyone worked as hard as they could. Nobody should feel bad about themselves, but it’s pretty tough.”
Coach Tkaczyk added, “The seniors graduated last night and they wanted this (win) as their final high school event. They were all invested in each other.”
The Bears did well in the distance events behind Richards, River Groves (second 1,600, fourth 800), Evan Tanguay (third 3,200) and the third-place 4×800 relay of Gabe Deely, Pratt, Colby Hoffman and Davio DeLuca. Groves, Pratt and Mike Mulligan joined Richards on the 4×400.
“Our distance guys, that’s where our bread and butter is as far as track goes, but you don’t win track meets that way,” Tkaczyk said.
Orion Clachar (second 300 hurdles, third javelin, fifth 110 hurdles), Isaiah Allen (second javelin, third shot put), Will White (fifth shot put) Jonathan Thorn (fifth discus), Tyler Troy (third pole vault) and Tanner Richards (fifth pole vault) scored in a variety of events and contributed to what Coach Tkaczyk referred to as “the best team we’ve had in our time coaching,” along with co-coach Tim Cox.
Merrimack Valley had strong finishes from seniors Brandon Wood and Joey Baylus in the 110 hurdles, where they finished second and third. Wood fell early in his heat of the 300 hurdles, aggravating an injury in the process, but battled back to finish fifth, one place ahead of Baylus.
As a result, Coach Bob Mullen opted to scratch the 4×400 relay that was seeded to score and also rested Nick Bartlett (fifth javelin) as a precaution to injury instead of taking additional throws in the javelin finals, which would have given him more chances to better his score.
Wood, Baylus, John Barger and Dylan Guinard formed the sixth-place 4×100 team, while Guinard, Matt Lyle, Dylan Lessard and Isaiah Shedd formed the second-place 4×800 squad. David Reynolds (fifth 3,200) also scored.
Merrimack Valley had two individual champions on the girls’ side with senior Kristie Schoffield winning the 400 in 57.91 seconds and junior Kaitlyn Covell winning the 100 hurdles in 16.17 seconds.
Schoffield also finished second in the 800 and third in the 1,600, as well as running on the fourth-place 4×400, to try to earn additional points for the Pride.
“We asked her to do a lot today,” Coach Mullen said. “That girl runs to win.”
“The 1,600 didn’t go the way I wanted it to. I wanted to win it. But I was worried about everything else I needed to do,” Schoffield said. “I wanted to contribute to the team score. I wanted to rack up team points.”
Covell, a junior, proved true to the top seed she earned in the 100 hurdles, posting the fastest time in the prelims before winning in the finals.
“I just tried to stay strong throughout my whole race and keep the form tight,” Covell said. “I didn’t have much of a plan. I just knew I wanted to win so I worked really hard.”
Covell also finished third in the 300 hurdles and ran on the 4×400 with Schoffield, Cassidy Considine and Asia Grace Hanson.
“Good things happen to good people. That kid has worked hard,” Mullen said.
Hanson (fourth javelin) and freshman Theresa Irving (sixth triple jump) completed MV’s scoring.
Chelsea McCallion (second javelin), Alli Pratt (fourth 3,200, fifth 1,600), Abby O’Connor (fifth 800) and the fourth-place 4×800 of Sophie Laird, Kiersten Ranfos, Calinn Monahan and Summer Barnes finished fourth.
The top three finishers in each event from each division automatically qualify for next Saturday’s Meet of Champions at Merrimack.