LONDONDERRY – Adverse conditions can level a playing field.
The start of the Division II state track and field meet on Saturday was delayed by two hours due to weather; the pole vault was delayed even longer. The meet schedule, event order and meet procedures changed less than 24 hours before its start. Seeding and plans went out the window.
But Coe-Brown Northwood Academy adapted to the changes, kept a positive mindset throughout the entire day and had contributions across the entire lineup to sweep the D-II track and field championships on Saturday at Londonderry High School.
Both the boys and girls teams won their fourth titles in the last six years (both teams last won in 2023), with the Coe-Brown boys pulling away late to top the standings with 94 points, ahead of runner-up Hanover’s 78. The girls’ team title came down to the pole vault, the last contested event, with Coe-Brown narrowly beating Hanover, 118-103.
Some things did go according to plan. Sophomore Lilah Fitzpatrick defended her title in the 100-meter dash (12.79 seconds), leading a 1-2-3 Coe-Brown finish in that event, matched last year’s runner-up finish in the 200 and anchored the champion 4×100-meter relay with juniors Bristol Shirland (second 100 hurdles, fifth 300 hurdles), Jazzlyn Curry (second long jump, second triple jump, third 100) and Riley Hawkes (second 100, fifth 200).
Senior Isabelle Grenier – the top seed in two throwing events – defended her shot put title (30 feet, 0.25 inches) and finished second in the discus.
For the boys, senior Harrison O’Neal lived up to his No. 1 seed by winning the state title in pole vault (11-6), and top-seeded junior Brogan Grzybowski won the 110-meter hurdles (15.32 seconds) and finished second in the 300 hurdles.
Other local champions were crowned, too.
Bow senior Julia Hou set a new Division II record in the girls’ pole vault by clearing 11-1. Merrimack Valley senior Jada Lucas upset the reigning indoor New England champion (Danielle Bates of Timberlane) in the high jump, winning by clearing 5-0, and freshman teammate Genny Blanchette won the discus with a toss of 108-4.
Bow’s Julia Hou clears 9 feet in the pole vault at the NHIAA Division II track and field championship at Londonderry High School on Saturday, May 30, 2026. The competition was suspended due to darkness, but Hou won the D-II title and set the D-II record the next day at Pelham High School, clearing 11 feet, 1 inch. Credit: JAY SMITH / NHTF 
Merrimack Valley senior Jada Lucas clears the bar to win the high jump title at the NHIAA Division II track and field championship on Saturday, May 30 at Londonderry High School. Credit: JAY SMITH / NHTF
Local boys’ champions were Bow senior Gavin Buxton in the 100-meter dash (11.0 seconds), John Stark senior Owen Dion in the shot put (43-3) and Pembroke senior Zachery Heichlinger won the javelin (148-8).
But the Bears had the depth, balance and positive attitudes across all disciplines to separate themselves from the rest of D-II.
The weather was at its worst for the first round of field events. Driving rain and gusty winds dampened nearly everything except Coe-Brown’s spirit.
Freshman Annabel Spead was seeded sixth, but gutted out the nasty conditions and overperformed to tie for third in the girls’ high jump to score extra points. She stayed sharp enough throughout the cold day to finish sixth in the pole vault several hours later.
Junior Griffin Beckman is another Bear who outperformed himself, coming in as the No. 6 seed, but finished second in the 110 hurdles.
The coaching staff stressed being prepared and staying positive, and the Coe-Brown athletes delivered.
“That was our whole mindset going into the week,” Coe-Brown head coach Lucas Fisher said. “We knew the weather was going to be up in the air, so we said, ‘If you’re positive, positive thoughts equals positive results. Make it fun, everyone is in the same position you are. But if you’re positive, something could happen.’ ”
That was especially true for athletes like Curry, who competed in the maximum four events, scoring in all of them.
“A big part of my experience that day was shaped by the positivity and encouragement around me,” Curry said. “Coaches (Peter) Larson, Fisher, (Tim) Cox and (Dave) Zink remained supportive throughout the rain, and their encouragement helped me stay focused and keep a positive mindset. This light carried over and made it easier for me to encourage others. Seeing my teammates, and even friends from opposing teams, succeed brought me joy and maintained a positive atmosphere.”
The CBNA boys relied heavily on their distance runners to double or triple up on events to maximize points, and that positivity carried over to them as well.
“One of our goals all year has to be the loudest team and (we kept) that same goal today, giving support (to our teammates),” said sophomore Patrick Youngs, who finished third in the 1,600. “At the end of the day, everybody has to run in the same weather. Everyone is going through the same stuff.”
Freshmen Mateo Ferguson (second 800), Samuel Youngs (second 3,200) and Broden Cox (sixth 3,200), along with Patrick Youngs, put up solid performances in the distance races.
Coe-Brown also flexed its depth, finishing in the top six to score points in five of the six relays.
In addition to the champion 4×100, Coe-Brown’s 4×800 relay team of junior Annabelle Lovette (sixth 1,600), freshmen Riley Trested and Lily Travis and sophomore Eloise Hill finished second.
The boys had points from their third-place 4×400 of Ferguson, senior Blake Spina, sophomore Jackson Doran (third 400, fourth long jump) and senior Anthony Szatko (sixth triple jump), fourth-place 4×800 (Ferguson, sophomore Kellan Baker, junior Gus Glaser, junior Ben Jobin) and fifth-place 4×100 (Grzybowski, senior Ethan Newick, Spina, Szatko).
Sophomore Abel Clement (third triple jump), senior Eli Dearborn (fourth pole vault) and freshman Nicholas Behl (fifth pole vault) rounded out Coe-Brown’s boys’ scoring, while sophomore Elizabeth Joy (fifth javelin) scored for the girls.
Since the pole vault was delayed until the rain stopped, the girls’ competition was not completed on Saturday after it was suspended due to darkness. Although not officially over, senior Brooke Bachhuber (second) and junior Brooke Main (third) had already locked up top-three finishes, mathematically securing the title.
The D-II and D-I girls’ pole vault competition was completed on Sunday morning at Pelham High School after the conclusion of the D-III championship.
“The key to our team’s success was everyone’s effort to place and score points,” Curry said. “We were neck-and-neck with Hanover. It was because of our pole vaulters that we were able to claim the championship title. … It was a physically and mentally draining day, but every effort truly mattered. If even one of us had not performed the way we did, the outcome could have been different, which made every point count.”
“I could shout out our entire team; it was a full team effort today,” Fisher said. “We had our state champions and also a strong supporting cast. Everyone was prepared and all in. This team here, freshman through seniors, they’ve only experienced winning or being runner-up. Every year they’ve been here (with hardware). They’ve represented. I could not be more proud of this group.”
Coe-Brown and Hanover was a two-team race for most of the day, with Oyster River (85 points) finishing a competitive third, but the Merrimack Valley girls also had a solid day, finishing fourth (59).
In addition to her high jump title, Lucas also ran on a pair of third-place relay teams, with her, Sydney Spack (sixth 400), Cleo Kwayisi (fourth 100) and Lily Moser forming both the 4×100 and 4×400 squads. Blanchette (third shot put), Annabella Dunlop (third discus), Isabelle Navoy (fourth long jump, fourth triple jump) and Hannah Barrington (fifth triple jump) also scored for MV.
Timberlane (55) and Hollis-Brookline (32) rounded out the top six, while Bow (27) finished seventh thanks to scoring efforts from Camden Wilson (tied third high jump), Madison Pfister (tied third high jump), Charlotte Larochelle (fourth javelin), Peyton Vaughn (fifth 100), Charlotte Weiss (fifth discus) and the sixth-place 4×100 of Larochelle, Emily Hou, Wilson and Gwen Barrieau.
Pembroke (six points) finished 12th behind Jasmine Blake’s third-place finish in the javelin.
The boys’ standings were a little more even, with Coe-Brown (94), Hanover (78), Souhegan (64) Oyster River (60), ConVal (52) and Milford (33) completing the top six.
Pembroke (30) finished seventh. Heichlinger’s victory in the javelin and fourth-place finish in the discus led the Spartans, with Brandon Lurvey (third javelin), Dylan Hawkins (third 110 hurdles), Connor Ryan (fifth triple jump), the sixth-place 4×400 (Hayden Petersons, William LeCain, Caleb Saturley and Lurvey) and sixth-place 4×800 (James Ekerberg, Saturley, LeCain, Petersons) also scoring.
Buxton also finished third in the 200 and 11th seed Charlie Garland finished second in the discus to score for ninth-place Bow (24).
Dion and Grant Spooner (second shot put) scored for 11th-place John Stark (18).
Owen Turner (third high jump), Davian Loiselle (fourth javelin) and Aiden Whitman (fourth 110 hurdles) scored for MV (14th place, 14).
Division I
The Concord Crimson Tide also competed in the D-I championship at Londonderry High School on Saturday, which was held concurrently with the D-II meet.
The Tide crowned two champions – senior Travis Dunbar in the discus (145-0) and sophomore Thomas Saysaw in the triple jump (45-3). Senior Josiah Conley (third 3,200, fifth 1,600) and junior Robby Marcelin (third triple jump) also placed for Concord, who finished fourth overall with 34 points.
Pinkerton dominated the meet, scoring 156 points, with Nashua North (47.33), Manchester Memorial (36.33), Concord (34), Bishop Guertin (32) and Nashua South (31) far behind.
Pinkerton also won the girls’ title with 117 points, but it came down to the final event to top Exeter (111). Bedford (77), Nashua North (69) and Portsmouth (32) were the top five.
Junior Mahalie Burdette finished sixth in the 3,200 and also ran on the sixth-place 4×800 relay with sophomore Jillian Price, freshman Josephine Stimmel and junior Quinn Doherty to lead Concord (tied 16th, two points).