The John Stark Generals are not considered a perennial powerhouse in track and field, but with two weeks to go until the Division II Championships, the John Stark boys’ team remained undefeated against Division II opponents thanks to a second-place finish at the inaugural Bobcat Invitational hosted by Oyster River in Durham on Saturday.
John Stark and Oyster River split second place with 73 points, trailing only Division I Winnacunnet (107.5).
Portsmouth (67), Merrimack Valley (61) and Coe-Brown (54) rounded out the top six in the 13-team field.
Although the Generals had one individual winner on the boys’ side in Aram Fowler (won the javelin with a throw of 132 feet), coach Tim Finn attributes the success of this year’s boys’ team to a balanced roster that boasts a mixture of experience and youth and has the ability to score across a variety of events.
“We’re very pleased,” Finn said. “The boys are having a great season. We are definitely more balanced than in past years.”
Among the strong veteran performers were seniors Patrick Kalob and Aram’s older brother, Vedin, with three top-five performances each.
Kalob (second triple jump, third 300 hurdles, third long jump) and Vedin Fowler (fourth 400, fourth javelin, fifth triple jump) were among the four John Stark athletes who took half of the eight slots in the triple jump finals alongside senior Evan Caswell (third) and freshman Marcus Paveglio (sixth).
“(Kalob) been a key leader for us this year,” Finn said. “He’s been an impressive competitor all season long.”
Senior Manuel Biskaduros scored in both sprinting events (third 200, sixth 100) and ran on the fourth-place 4×100 relay with Caswell, Paveglio and senior Jacob Couture.
“The seniors set the pace,” Finn said. “Most of them have been together for four years and they’ve done a lot (for the program). They’re a competitive group and they work well together.”
Juniors Colin Astholz (sixth 110 hurdles) and Brandon Langdon (sixth 3,200) and sophomore Joseph Wegman (second high jump) also scored for the Generals.
The 4×800 relay of Langdon, Ian Combs, Erik Hilyard and Reece Montague finished third.
The John Stark girls finished 10th with 23.5 points, but had one of the most impressive individual performances at the meet with senior Ashley Audet winning the javelin and remaining undefeated in that event this season.
Audet broke her own school record that she set earlier this season on one of her first attempts and continued to best her record with each throw.
Audet’s record mark of 117 feet, 3 inches was more than 20 feet farther than the runner-up.
Other scorers for the John Stark girls were AJ Corbett (fifth shot put), Mia Paveglio (tied sixth triple jump), the third-place 4×100 (Audet, Camryn Plaza, Paveglio and Chloe Astholz) and the fourth-place 4×800 (Hailey Erskine, Haleigh Bilodeau, Katelyn Brennan and Madison McDonald).
Oyster River topped the girls’ standings with 126 points. Winnacunnet (75) finished second and Merrimack Valley (58) finished third.
St. Thomas (53) and Bishop Guertin (49.5) rounded out the top five, while Coe-Brown (31) took eighth place.
MV was led by sophomore Theresa Irving who won the high jump (4-10) and the triple jump (32-7½) and also finished second in the javelin.
Emma York (second 1,600, third 800), Asia Grace Hanson (third javelin), Madison Palmer (tied fourth long jump), Noelle Colarusso (sixth high jump) and Addie Hodge (tied sixth triple jump) and the third-place 4×400 relay (Nicole Considine, Hanson, Lauren Rouse and York) rounded out the Pride’s scorers.
Zack Cronin won the high jump (5-10) and David Reynolds won the 3,200 (9:55) to lead the MV boys.
Alex Kusnarowis (second discus), Matt Lyle (second 1,600), Camden Donovan (third high jump), Christian Oglesby (fifth 200), the second-place 4×800 (David Reynolds, Matt Reynolds, Oglesby and Mason Graham) and the runner-up 4×400 (Herman Nixon, Oglesby, Graham and Lyle) scored for the Pride.
“This was good tune-up for the (Division II) State Meet qualifiers and potential qualifiers to get better in a championship level meet,” MV coach Bob Mullen said.
For the Coe-Brown girls, Kathleen Collins won discus in 142-7, more than 52 feet better than runner-up teammate Savilla Flores.
Abby O’Connor (third 1,600), Addison Cox (sixth 1,600), Tessa Millette (fifth 3,200) and the fourth-place 4×100 (Morgan Burnap, Madison Tortorella-Lewis, Mabel Mackey and Isabel May) also scored for the Coe-Brown girls.
On the boys’ side, Evan Tanguay won the 1,600 in 4:39, leading a strong Coe-Brown contingent in that event including Luke Tkaczyk (third), Wyatt Mackey (fourth) and Patrick Hill (sixth).
Jonathan Thorn won the discus in 132-1 and finished fourth in the pole vault.
Sam Patteson (second 800) and Tyler Troy (second pole vault, fourth high jump) rounded out the scorers for the Coe-Brown boys.
Belmont first, Gilford second,
Newfound third, Laconia fourth
Key players: Belmont – Hunter Dupuis (1st 100, 1st 200), Connor Jackson (1st 3,200), Lucas Mathieu (2nd 100), Aidan Rupp (2nd 300 hurdles); Gilford – Korey Weston (1st long jump, 1st javelin), Sandor Gamache (1st triple jump, 2nd long jump), Finn Baldwin (1st high jump, 2nd javelin), Shea Therrien (1st 400), Connor Leggett (1st 300 hurdles); Newfound – Ethan Pruett (1st shot put, 1st discus), Matt Libby (1st 110 hurdles); Laconia – Dan Engelsen (1st 1,600, 2nd 400), Noah Mousseau (2nd triple jump, 3rd 1,600)
Highlights/key moments: Belmont swept the 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800 relays to win a six-team meet at Gilford. The Raiders scored 123 points to top Gilford (104), Newfound (97), Kennett (91), Laconia (78) and Sunapee (6).
Bow first, Inter-Lakes second,
H-D fourth, Bishop Brady fifth
Key players: Bow – Tyler Bennett (1st 100, 2nd pole vault, 2nd javelin), Matt Nicholls (1st 200), Gabe Neff (1st 400), Kirpal Demian (1st 1,600), Sam Berube (1st 3,200), Jonathan Routhier (1st javelin); Inter-Lakes – Drew Schriewer (1st discus, 1st pole vault, 2nd shot put), Patrick Kelly (1st 110 hurdles, 1st 300 hurdles), Alex Losada (1st 800); H-D – Ben Ketterer (2nd long jump, 3rd 100, 3rd triple jump); Bishop Brady – Oscar Miller (3rd 1,600)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons won a six-team meet on their home track. Bow’s 126.5 points topped Inter-Lakes (88.5), Plymouth (74), Hillsboro-Deering (38), Bishop Brady (9) and Concord Christian (no score). Bow won the 4×100 and 4×800, while Inter-Lakes won the 4×400.
Gilford first, Belmont second,
Newfound fourth, Laconia fifth
Key players: Gilford – Sydni Lehr (1st triple jump, 1st long jump, 2nd 400), Natalie Fraser (1st 100, 1st 200), Lauren Dean (1st 400), Brianna Fraser (2nd 100, 3rd 200), Emma Ramsey (2nd 100 hurdles, 2nd 300 hurdles, 2nd discus); Belmont – Sana Syed (1st 100 hurdles, 1st 300 hurdles), Alice Riley (1st 800); Newfound – Jasmine Peterson (1st javelin, tied 1st high jump), Oceanne Skoog (1st shot put); Laconia – Delia Cormier (1st 1,600, 3rd high jump)
Highlights/key moments: The Golden Eagles defended their home track, dominating a home meet with 173.5 points. Gilford did especially well in the sprints and relays, winning the 4×100 and 4×400. Belmont (84.5), Kennett (80), Newfound (79.5), Laconia (56) and Sunapee (9.5) rounded out the team scores.
Inter-Lakes second, Bow third,
H-D fourth, Bishop Brady fifth
Key players: Inter-Lakes – Emma Wheeler (1st long jump, 1st triple jump, 1st 110 hurdles, 1st 300 hurdles), Alison Haight (1st pole vault); Bow – Kristina Pizzi (1st 400, 3rd 100), Nicole Sartorelli (1st 800), Emma Van Ham (2nd 200), Maddie Michaelis (2nd 300 hurdles), Isabelle Slocum (2nd 100 hurdles), Sarah Ciotti (2nd 1,600); H-D – Kaylea Davison (3rd 400); Bishop Brady – Ashlyn Toupin (3rd 100 hurdles)
Highlights/key moments: Plymouth scored 112 points to win a six-team meet at Bow. Inter-Lakes (79), Bow (73), Hillsboro-Deering (29), Bishop Brady (15) and Concord Christian (2) rounded out the team scores.
Hillsboro-Deering 26, Kearsarge 8
Key players: H-D – Halie Hurd (grand slam), Erin Dean (HR)
Highlights/key moments: Hurd’s grand slam in the second inning and Dean’s homer in the fourth lifted the Hillcats to a win over the Cougars.
Coach’s quote: “The girls bats finally came alive.” – H-D’s Jim Bailey
Records: H-D 3-7; Kearsarge 0-10
Hinsdale 10, Pittsfield 3
Hinsdale 7, Pittsfield 6
Key players: Pittsfield – Megan Callicoat (2-for-3, 2 runs in game 1), Arianna Cyr (multiple hits in game 2)
Highlights/key moments: The Panthers dropped a doubleheader at home.
Coach’s quote: “We lost to the better team, we didn’t beat ourselves. We played hard and we kept our heads up.” – Pittsfield’s Buddy Carchide
Records: Hinsdale 3-9; Pittsfield 0-12
Pittsfield 9, Hinsdale 4
Pittsfield 13, Hinsdale 2
Key players: Pittsfield – Casey Clark (2 HR, 5 hits, 5 RBI), Jesse McGlashing (3 hits, 2 RBI), Devin Bedell (grand slam, 2 hits, 4 RBI)
Highlights/key moments: The Panthers swept a doubleheader on their home field.
Coach’s quote: “Boys swung the bats pretty good today but I’m not particularly happy with the way we are playing the game right now. We better clean things up before our biggest game of the year on Monday against Newmarket.” – Pittsfield’s Rob Stockman
Records: Pittsfield 9-1; Hinsdale 2-11