With all three NHIAA division championships a week away, it looks as if there will be plenty of local intrigue at the top of the Division III standings.
The Kearsarge boys topped the 18-team field at the Wilderness League Championships with 88 points, while host Belmont finished second with 63.5, half a point ahead of third-place Kennett.
White Mountains (59) and Newfound (54) rounded out the top five boys’ teams of the invitational, which has traditionally been a good indicator of what to expect in Division III.
Kearsarge (51 points) was also the area’s top team on the girls’ side, but finished behind Plymouth (91), White Mountains (64), Inter-Lakes (59) and Kennett (52).
Senior Ben Corbyn and freshman JJ Davis both finished in the top three in multiple events, while the pair also ran on the winning 4×100 (46.32 seconds) with Berhan Kidane (fifth triple jump) and Ed Stowell (third 400, fourth 800).
Corbyn won 110 hurdles (16.40), finished second in the pole vault and tied for third in the high jump, while Davis finished second in the 100 (0.03 seconds behind the winner) and second in the 400.
Ben Boulton (second 3,200), Gavin Garzia (fourth 3,200), William Walker (fifth 110 hurdles) and Max Salathe (tied fifth pole vault) also scored for Kearsarge, as did the third-place 4×400 (Corbin Montminy, Davis, Stowell and Trevor Pauling) and 4×800 (Aidan Kellogg, Tom Lick, Pauling and Boulton) relays.
Zach Ennis won the 800 (2:03), 1,600 (4:36) and 4×400 (3:38) to lead Belmont.
Nolan Gagnon (fourth 400), Eddie Mann (sixth triple jump) and Micah Edgren also ran on the 4×400 with Ennis.
The third-place 4×100 relay of Lucas Mathieu (tied fifth 200), Mann, Devin Bricknell (fifth long jump) and Ben Hillsgrove ran well.
Zack Duclos (third shot put) and Aidan Rupp (second 300 hurdles, fourth 110 hurdles) also scored for Belmont.
Winnisquam finished eighth with 30 points behind Hunter Hinxman (second 200, third pole vault), Eric Young (tied fifth pole vault) and the runner-up 4×800 of Kyle Mann, Riley Mann (fifth 400), Evan Griffin and Dylan Robert.
Franklin scored nine points to finish 14th with Simon Pitman (second shot put) and Samuel Tuck (sixth 100) scoring.
Joey Bergeron (fourth discus) scored all four of Bishop Brady’s points in an 18th-place finish.
On the girls’ side, Mya Dube won the 1,600 (4:56), leading a 1-2 finish in the event with Kearsarge teammate Lili Baer.
Kate Cochran (second 100 hurdles), Avril Prak (third 400), Mary Meagher (fourth discus) and Marlia Richer (sixth 3,200) scored individually for the Cougars, while Cochran, Prak, Baer and Dube formed the winning 4×400 (4:18).
Kearsarge also finished fourth in the girls’ 4×800.
Belmont finished eighth with 30 points and was led by Alice Riley (second 3,200, third 1,600), Sana Syed (second 300 hurdles) and the second-place 4×100 (Gabrielle Day, Skylar Ruelke, Jada Edgren and Syed).
Hannah Blackburn (third discus), Shannon Goodwin (third javelin) and Faith Gosselin (fifth 800) led Winnisquam (13th place, 16 points), while Abby Shagena (fifth triple jump, sixth 800) and Sarah Sponenberg (sixth 300 hurdles) provided all four points for 17th-place Bishop Brady.
Concord senior Grace Devanny swept the sprints, winning the 100 (12.59) and 200 (25.65) and Merrimack Valley freshman Sophia Reynolds swept the distance events, winning the 1,600 in 5:08 and the 3,200 in 11:22, topping talented fields of D-I and D-II competition at the Londonderry Invitational.
MV senior David Reynolds won the 3,200 in 9:36 and finished third in the 1,600, while the Concord boys’ 4×800 relay, featuring Eben Bragg, Martin O’Sulivan, Fisto Ndayishimiye and Ryan Devine, also claimed a victory in 8:21.
The Concord distance crew was responsible for many of the Tide’s best finishes, with David Cook (second 3,200), Devine (fourth 800), Eli Boesch-Dining (fourth 1,600, sixth 3,200), Forest MacKenzie (fifth 3,200, seventh 1,600) and Ndayishimiye (sixth 800) among the top performers.
Nick Richards (sixth 300 hurdles), Tom Dean, Ndayishimiye and Jackson Wilkes (fifth 400) formed the third-place 4×400, while Nicholas Snyder, Alex Galatis (sixth pole vault), Liam Devanny (fourth javelin, seventh discus, eighth triple jump) and Manny Feliz (fourth 110 hurdles) teamed up to finish sixth in the 4×100.
Hunter Robinson finished fifth in the pole vault.
Grace Devanny also ran a leg on the third-place 4×400 with Sarah Waite (fourth 200, sixth 100), Julianna Messina (third 400) and Kayleigh Doherty, and on the fifth-place 4×100 with Samantha Ossoff, Doherty and Waite.
Other top finishes from Concord girls came from Morgane Orcutt (third 3,200), Hannah Barton (fifth pole vault), Alexis Adams (fifth javelin), Katherine Kennedy (sixth 3,200) and the fourth-place 4×800 (Abby Goulas, Allyson Leuci, Sarah Zarakotas and Allison Silverstein)
The MV boys’ 4×400 of Dylan Lessard (third 300 hurdles), Christian Oglesby (fourth 400), Seth Baylus and Christian Bortnick finished second and Theresa Irving finished third in the girls’ high jump and fifth in the triple jump.
John Stark’s top finishers were Joseph Wegman in the boys’ high jump (second) and Brianna Langdon in the girls’ 200 (eighth) and 100 (ninth).
Christian Army (eighth boys’ 110 hurdles) and Molly Keyes (15th girls’ 100 hurdles) were the top finishers for Pembroke.
The Falcons looked sharp in the boys’ final regular-season meet, sweeping the relays en route to winning the 13-team ConVal Invitational.
Bow, in its first season back in Division II after several seasons in D-III, also had individual victories from senior Kirpal Demian in the 1,600 (4:39), junior Colin Lessard in the 3,200 (10:30) and senior Tyler Bennett in the pole vault (12-6).
Demian and Lessard also ran on the winning 4×800 (8:38) with Sam Berube and Ben Neff, setting the tone for an exceptionally good day in the relays.
Bennett, Joseph Rychwalski, Aidan Westenberg and Jonathan Routhier formed the winning 4×100 (46.11) and Gabe Neff, Rychwalski, Routhier and Shawn Murphey comprised the winning 4×400 (3:43).
Routhier (second javelin, fourth 100), Murphey (fourth 200), Gabe Neff (fourth 400), Rychwalski (fifth 200), Ben Neff (fifth 1,600) and Sam Berube (sixth 1,600) also scored individually.
Colin Bayer scored in both the 110 hurdles (second) and 300 hurdles (sixth) for the Falcons.
Bow also won a relay on the girls’ side, with Autumn Boisvert, Leah Boisvert, Sarah Ciotti and Nicole Sartorelli placing first in the 4×800 (11:23).
Kristina Pizzi won the 400 (1:03) and also ran a leg of the third-place 4×400 with Ciotti, Sartorelli and Eve Anderson.
Ciotti (third 800), Sierra Mason (third 100 hurdles), Maddie Michaelis (fifth 100) and Savannah Betterley (sixth 300 hurdles) also scored for the Falcons.
Full team results were not available at press time.
Baseball
Bow 7, Stevens 0
Key players: Bow – Matt Lamy (7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K), Matt Hamilton (3-for-4, double, RBI, run), Connor Blandini (3-for-4, 2 runs), Ben Harris (2-for-2, 3 RBI, 2 runs), Brian Carter (1-for-1, run), Riley Elliott (1-for-3)
Highlights: Lamy, a freshman, pitched a gem and had plenty of run support from his teammates. The Falcons scored two runs in the third inning, three in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Coach’s quote: “Glad to have this five-game week over. It will be great to give the guys a couple of days rest to get ready for the last week of the regular season.” – Bow assistant Dennis Ordway
Records: Bow 12-2; Stevens 6-8
Lebanon 11, Pembroke 6
Key players: Pembroke – Nate Cassidy (2 hits), Connor Manteau (2 hits), Jeff Wagner (2 runs, 2 hits), Jaxen Dupuis (pitched shutout inning in relief)
Highlights: The Raiders scored three runs in the third inning and piled on six in the fourth, giving Lebanon a 9-1 lead it didn’t relinquish, despite rallies from the Spartans in the sixth (two runs) and seventh (three runs) innings.
Records: Lebanon 6-6; Pembroke 6-8
Sunapee 11, Pittsfield 3
Key players: Pittsfield – DJ Zensky (2-for-3, double), Kyle Stockman (5⅓ IP, 7 R, 1 ER, 7 K, 2 BB)
Highlights: The Panthers had a 3-2 lead with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, but five Pittsfield errors resulted in nine runs for Sunapee and the Panthers’ first loss of the season.
Coach’s quote: “It’s too bad we wasted a great pitching performance by Kyle today. He really kept us in the game despite eight errors. One word for that inning: gross.” – Pittsfield’s Rob Stockman
Records: Sunapee 11-2; Pittsfield 14-1
Coe-Brown 5, Souhegan 1
Key players: Coe-Brown – Thomas Trumble (7 IP), Jacob Pelletier (hit), Jacob Rich (hit), Hunter DeCota (hit), James Noble (hit)
Highlights: The Bears trailed by one in the top of the seventh inning, but Pelletier get on base with a double and scored on a throwing error to tie the game with two outs. Coe-Brown scored five more runs that frame to secure a victory on Friday night.
Coach’s quote: “It’s great to see the kids never give up. Even with two outs, two strikes, they came up with some solid hits.” – Coe-Brown’s Seth Wentworth
Records: Coe-Brown 10-5; Souhegan 6-8
Stevens 9, Bow 8
Key players: Bow – Annika Geiben-Lynn (2-for-5, triple, 2 RBI), Katelin Howe (2-for-4, RBI), Kelly Harris (2-for-4, triple, RBI), Alex Bessette (2-for-4, RBI)
Highlights: Both teams registered multiple hits in every inning, but the Cardinals narrowly got the upper hand on the Falcons, who wrapped up a week with seven games in six days.
Coach’s quote: “Fun game to watch, lots of positive contributions.” – Bow’s Emily Crompton
Records: Stevens 7-8; Bow 4-9