If you’re looking for the last time a boys’ running team other than Coe-Brown Northwood Academy won a Division II title, you need to look back to the 2019-20 indoor track season. If you’re looking at outdoor track specifically, you need to go back even further to 2018.
The Bear boys, three-time defending champions, won last year’s outdoor title with 84 points, besting runner-up Windham’s 73. Coe-Brown won in dominating fashion this winter, scoring 101 points, nearly tripling runner-up Oyster River (34).
CBNA scored in nine of 18 events and had qualifiers in 14 events last spring, while the Bears scored in nine and had qualifiers in 12 of 13 events this past indoor season.
The Coe-Brown girls are also the defending outdoor champs, qualifying athletes in all 18 events and scoring in 15 of them to tally 109.5 points, more than double runner-up Oyster River and Plymouth (52 each).
The Bear girls finished third this past indoor season.
Both teams graduated some key pieces from last year’s championship squads. Anders Larson scored 32 of his team’s 84 points alone, winning D-II titles in the pole vault and long jump, and finishing third in the 110-meter hurdles and triple jump. Makena Lee won the D-II and New England titles in the girls’ pole vault, while Natalie Riley (discus champion, second in shot put) was D-II’s most dominant thrower.
“It’s actually kind of shocking how great our senior class was last year,” said Lucas Fisher, a CBNA alum in his second year as one of the program’s two head coaches. “There’s some big holes to fill, but our roster is pretty deep again for this upcoming season. We’re pretty well versed (in many events).”
University of Virginia commit and multi-state record holder Aidan Cox is coming off of a pair of indoor state titles in the 1,500 and 3,000, a New England title in the mile and an All-American fifth-place finish in the 5,000 at nationals.
Fellow senior Gavin Demas (600 champion) and junior newcomer Jamie Lano (1,000 champion, 1,500 runner-up) are also coming into this spring fresh off indoor titles, while seniors Matt Corriveau (second 300, third high jump, third long jump) and Tyler Tkaczyk (second 3,000, third 1,500) also appear to be in great form.
Seniors Ben Robinson (mid-distance), Nikhil Chavda (distance), Finn Hill (pole vault), Zach Blades (pole vault), Wyatt Olofson (pole vault and javelin), Zach Bistany (throws) and Liam Wheeler (throws) add state meet experience, many of them scoring points last spring.
Junior Liam McLean ran on last year’s champion 4×800-meter relay with Robinson, Tkaczyk and Demas.
The girls also return lots of talent from last year’s team, including seniors Anushka Chavda (second 100, second 200, top-three finishes in both indoor sprint events), Sheldyn Fisher (defending 1,600 champion, third 3,200), Natalie Sicard (third 100 hurdles, fourth 300 hurdles, fourth triple jump) and Josephine Malloy (third long jump, ran relays and sprints), and junior Annika Gunderson (third javelin).
Seniors Mallory Taylor (distance), Mary Joy (hurdles and jumps), Alexis Cowan (sprints and jumps), and Madeleine Grenier (throws), juniors Alyviah Blad (distance) and Kylie Prusia (mid-distance) and freshman Isabelle Grenier (throws) provide depth in several distance events.
Juniors Francesca Ferguson and Anna Bergeron, and sophomores Samantha Perron and Paige Murdough formed the indoor state champion 4×800 relay.
Developing a team with this much talent and depth in so many different disciplines requires a large coaching staff, and that’s exactly what Coe-Brown has.
“Our huge coaching staff is able to meet with everyone,” coach Fisher said. “We have at least one coach in every area to give all student-athletes some attention.”
Fisher, a 2014 graduate of CBNA, and Peter Larson, Anders’ father, are the two co-head coaches who lead a staff of 11 assistants and volunteers.
Among them are 20-plus year coaching veterans Tim Cox and Brent Tkaczyk, who were the head coaches during that span, but have been gradually handing things over to a new generation of coaches.
Fisher is one of four Coe-Brown alumni on the coaching staff. Davio DeLuca (class of 2017) and Brooke Laskowsky (2016) work with the mid-distance and distance runners, while Laskowsky also coaches hurdles. Derek Peterson (2005) coaches the throwers.
Like most area spring teams, the Bears have had limited time on the track and on the jumping mats to work on the technical aspects of their events. Instead, Coe-Brown has been spending most of the first two weeks together as one group working with strength and conditioning coach Maggie Lemay.
“We just got the mats out in the past week, actual reps are minimal,” coach Fisher said. “We’ve been working out as a whole entire team, doing plyometrics. I think the kids are dying to hit the mats (and work on events), but the first two weeks of being together as a team builds that team chemistry which is really nice.”
Repeating as champions is never a guarantee, but Coe-Brown has the pieces to do it.
“I think that has to do a lot with the student-athletes working really hard and the community really supporting us,” coach Fisher said.
Coe-Brown opens the season with a home meet on April 11.
Coach: Hayden Daly (21st year)
Last year: Boys: tied 4th in D-I; Girls: D-I runner-up
Top returners: Boys: Shaun Fifield, sr.; Sam Foulds, sr.; Liam Gleason, sr.; Matt Hooper, sr.; Ayoob Ismael, sr.; Quinn Marino, sr.; Wesley Thompson, sr.; Tyler Watt, jr. Girls: Kendall Barton, jr.; MalenaCaceres, sr.; Morgan Doherty, jr.; Ella Goulas, so.; Chloe Gudas, jr.; Nydia Lane, sr.; Kelley Mikelson, jr.; Ayva Mullen, jr.; Katherine Muller, sr.; Madeline Muller, so.; Molly Nyhan, sr.; Alina Pincoske, jr.; Sarah Potter, sr.; Caroline Quirk, sr.; Shelly Smith, so.
Top newcomers: Boys: Elia Bahuma, jr.; Deagan Hines, fr. Girls: Mika Taylor, fr.
Outlook: The Crimson Tide girls finished last year’s Division I state meet just half a point behind champions Exeter (who won 75-74.5) and with points scorers returning in 11 events and D-I state qualifiers in 12, Concord can be in the top two again this season. The Tide are loaded with depth and talent, and have defending individual champions Smith (3,200) and Mullen (triple jump), and defending runner-up Barton (pole vault) returning. The boys’ team doesn’t have the depth of the girls’ team, but has enough standout athletes in many events and should be competitive.
“We have a great mix of veterans and a lot of newcomers,” Daly said. “It should be a great season.”
Teams to beat: Pinkerton, Exeter, Bedford
Coach: Ed King (1st year as head coach, spent four years as assistant)
Last year: Boys: 15th in D-II; Girls: 7th in D-II
Top returners: Boys: Owen Miller, jr.; Alden Betterley, jr.; Kody McCranie, so.; Ryan Lover, sr.; Jake Westenberg, sr.
Girls: Maya Brochu, sr.; Sage Konstantakos, sr.; Grace Neff, sr.
Outlook: The Falcons return a large group of state qualifiers from last season, including an especially strong core of distance runners.
Teams to beat: Coe-Brown
Coaches: Pat Scott (8th year) and Mark Roskamp (1st year)
Last year: Boys: 16th in D-II; Girls: 12th in D-II
Top returners: Boys: Rio Calle, so., sprints/jumps; Sam Kinsey-Turner, so., jumps; Eli Lemire, jr., distance; Alex Keirsted, jr., distance; Rory Magoon, jr., throws; Joel Douzanis, so., throws/jumps; Josiah Fowler, jr., throws; Sergio Chavez, sr., hurdles/jumps; Ben Prescott, sr., hurdles. Girls: Rebecca Mussey, jr., throws; Izabel Korbet, jr., hurdles; Ayris Beliveau, so., hurdles/sprints; Reaghan Lamothe, jr., sprints/jumps; Katie Patterson, jr., sprints; Natalie Smith, sr., distance; Rachel Berube, jr., distance; Maddy Morette, jr., jumps
Top newcomers:Boys: Logan Montgomery, jr., jumps/sprints; Lukas Boulanger, jr., throws; RJ Desforges, fr., throws; Alex Descoteau, so., throws; Austin Patenaude, fr., distance. Girls: Rylee Barnard, fr., distance; Kayla Barriere, fr., distance; Natalie Jensen, jr., sprints/jumps; Hayleigh Dennis, jr., sprints/jumps; Jenna Sinclair, fr., sprints/jumps; Yuliana Chavez, fr., sprints/throws; Amanda Leonard, so., sprints; Elsa Westfahl, fr., sprints/jumps
Outlook: The Generals have a deep and talented crew of boys in the field events, along with lots of new talent, especially in the throws.
“A dozen freshmen makes our roster larger than it’s been in many years,” Scott said. “(We are) still looking to establish depth in the roster for competitive relays and we’ll be looking for the best events to place all these young athletes.”
Similarly, the Stark girls have a strong athlete in most disciplines, but “need to improve roster depth to be competitive as a team,” said Scott, adding that. “We’ve picked up several good athletes in distance and jumps that may help us attain that.”
Teams to beat: Boys: Coe-Brown, Hanover, Oyster River. Girls: Oyster River, Coe-Brown, Plymouth
Coaches: Bob Mullen (33rd year) and Dyrace Maxfield (1st year)
Last year: Boys: 9th in D-II; Girls: tied 14th in D-II
Top returners: Boys: Bishow Thapa, sr., mid-distance/distance; Tyler Wallace, sr., sprints/jumps; Marshall Carey-Matthews, sr., sprints/jumps; Mychal Reynolds, so., sprints/jumps; Elijah Raycraft, so., sprints/jumps; Ryan Ciarametaro, sr., sprints/jumps; Hugo Serrano, sr., throws/sprints; Edward Amonor, jr., throws/sprints
Girls: Madison Geddes, so., mid-distance/distance; Kendra Davidson, so., mid-distance/distance; Samantha Kimball, sr., mid-distance/distance; Victoria Leak, sr., sprints/jumps; Bailey Burdick, so., sprints/jumps; Trinity Delaney, jr., sprints/jumps; Trynity Gerlack, jr., sprints/jumps; Abby Ciarametaro, so., throws/sprints; B. Dickinson, sr., throws/sprints; Felix Thomas, so., throws/sprints
Top newcomers: Boys: Nathan Bain, fr., mid-distance/distance; Ben Newton, fr., mid-distance/distance; Declan Bisson, fr., sprints/jumps; Matthew Giguere, so., sprints/jumps; Camerson Moore-John, jr., sprints/jumps; Nick Oglesby, so., sprints/jumps; Boston Bradicich, so., sprints/jumps; Aiden Paquette, so., sprints/jumps; Cooper Hedderig, fr., sprints/jumps; Beckett Rose, so., sprints/jumps; Holden Turner, fr., sprints/jumps; Al Dudek, so., sprints/jumps; Zachary Dudek, fr., sprints/jumps; Brayden Laroche, fr., sprints/jumps; Abhiman Karki, jr., throws/sprints
Girls: Nichole Geoffriion, fr., sprints/jumps; Sydney Spack, fr., mid-distance/distance; Lily Moser, fr., sprints/jumps; Deziree Boutin, fr., sprints/jumps; Kiera Cote, fr., sprints/jumps; Jada Lucas, fr., sprints/jumps; Tessa Lynch, fr., sprints/jumps; Hannah Mason, fr., sprints/jumps; Daizey Perron fr., sprints/jumps; Sylvia Sierra, fr., throws/sprints
Outlook: Both the boys’ and girls’ teams look to improve upon from last year’s divisional finishes and are learning to be good teammates, working as a team, and learning new events and skills. So far, Coaches Mullen and Maxfield have been impressed with the team’s leadership and athletes’ attitudes.
“With outstanding returning veterans and with newcomers showing great potential, both teams are looking forward to an exciting and successful season,” Maxfield said.
Teams to beat: Boys: Coe-Brown, Souhegan, Milford; Girls: Oyster River, Milford, Coe-Brown, Bow
Coaches: Mike Valotto (4th year as head coach, 8th overall) and Jared Williams (1st year)
Last year: Boys: 17th in D-II; Girls: tied 17th in D-II
Top returners: Boys: Jimmy Valotto, sr.; Sam Thomas, so.; Connor Longacre, so.; Andrei Gentes, jr.; Ethan Fredyma, jr.; Ben Dugas, sr.; Jake Demers, jr.; Taylor Davis, jr.; Gavin Currier, jr.; Corbin Brown, so.; Isaiah Berkeley, sr.
Girls: Mollie Wallace, sr.; Zoie Wall, sr.; Ty Valley, jr.; Soleil Pero, jr.; Natalie Longacre, sr.; Meredith Kiander, jr.; Rebecca Insley, sr.; Reagan Ellsworth, jr.; Elizabeth Duchesne, sr.; Abigail Duchesne, sr.; Lillian Corbitt, sr.; Samantha Canning, sr.; Kayla Amyot, so.
Outlook: The Spartans are return four athletes who set school records this past indoor season. Wall (hurdles), Valley (300), Currier (high jump) and Valotto (shot put) all qualified for the D-II state championship last outdoor season, while Corbitt, who finished third in New England in the javelin, also returns.
Joining the returns are several new athletes from Pembroke Academy’s talented and successful soccer and basketball programs.
“It will be exciting to see our current talent blended with our new talent and what we can do this season,” coach Valotto said.
Coach: Diane Morey (13th year)
Last year: Boys: tied 13th in D-III; Girls: tied 20th in D-III
Top returners: Boys: Josh Gentchos, jr.; Alan Yap, jr.; Nick Steigmeyer, sr.; Jack Beauchesne, sr.; Greg Watson, sr.; Brody Palmeter, jr.; Paul Badau, jr.; Calen Chaudhari, so.; Jorge Guerra, so.; Nick Brown, jr.
Girls: Allyssa LaValley, jr.; Eli McKinney, so.
Top newcomers: Boys: Chris Messmore, sr.; Max Brooks, sr.; Ryan Casey, fr.; Vaibhav Rastogi, fr.; Connor McIntyre, jr.
Outlook: The Brady boys have return their entire runner-up 4×100 relay from last year, with Gentchos, Beauchesne, Yap and Brown claiming the 4×200 championship this past indoor season and finishing 14th in New England. Gentchos was the state champion in the 55 dash this winter and leads a strong group of sprinters. The Giants are hoping to gain some distance in the long and triple jumps this spring, while newcomer McIntyre looks like a standout in the discus and shot put.
Coach: Makayla Savoy (2nd year)
Last year: Boys: DNS in D-III; Girls: DNS in D-III
Outlook: The Hillcats didn’t have any qualifiers for last year’s D-III championship meet, but saw “the biggest turnout of student-athletes we have had in a long time,” according to Savoy. “We are looking forward to this season and the accomplishments that are possible for this team. They have shown up ready to push themselves and learn new things. I am really looking forward to this season and to have two new amazing assistant coaches that will help bring success.”
Coach: Rob Rothe (7th year)
Last year: Boys: 24th in D-III; Girls: 3rd in D-III
Top returners: Boys: Matt Clarner, jr.; Jackson Nylund, jr.; Kevin Ball, sr.; Max Bishop, sr.; Roman Finlayson, so.; Gabriel Henriksen, sr.
Girls: Charlotte Presti, jr.; Reese Bove, so.; Hannah Bennett, sr.; Flo Dapice, so.; Amelia Walsh, so.; Elizabeth Clarner, sr.; Annie Daniels, so.; Grace Hall, jr.; Natalie Noble, sr.; Elise Miner, sr.
Outlook: The Hawks have worked hard to become a more balanced team over the last couple of years and have developed some strong athletes in the field events to complement a strong crew of distance runners. Hall is the defending champion in the girls’ triple jump and Bove finished as the D-III runner-up in the 400 as a freshman. Hopkinton is one of the deeper girls’ teams in D-III, with three scoring relays at last year’s state meet.
Coach: MaryAnne Morcom (2nd year as head coach, longtime assistant)
Last year: Boys: 6th in D-III; Girls: 9th in D-III
Top returners: Boys: Auggie Zock, sr.; Hunter Stanchfield, sr.; Sean Stanchfield, sr.; Andrew Brahan, so.
Girls: Molly Ellison, jr.; Amelia Lefebvre, jr.; Ellie Wimer, so.; Laela Moran, sr.; Rachel Holderman, jr.; Gabby Lamb, so.; Kylin Frenkiewich, sr.
Top newcomers: Boys: Daniel Dalbec, so.; Jacob Dunn, fr.
Girls: Juliet Faria, fr.; Ainsley Frenkiewich, fr.
Outlook: The Cougars have a “fairly balanced team” of 55 athletes with the girls team coming off an especially impressive fifth-place finish at the D-II indoor track championships.
Lefebvre was the state runner-up in both the shot put and high, while also finishing fourth in the 1,000.
Ellison finished third in the state in the 3,000.
Those two, plus Wimer, qualified for multiple events in last year’s D-III outdoor championship, and Lefebvre, Ellison, Wimer and Faria formed the third-place 4×400 this winter.
Teams to beat: “Too many to rank,” according to Morcom.
Coach: Patti Malone (3rd year)
Last year:Boys: tied 26th in D-III; Girls: 23rd in D-III
Top returners: Boys: Aidan Donahur, sr., jumps; Victor Pham, so., jumps; Brandon Goodwin, so., distance/pole vault; David Swain, so., distance; Carter Fredette, sr., throws
Girls: Victoria Kelley, jr., hurdles/throws; Vanessa Power, jr., pole vault
Top newcomers: Boys: Kyle Voight, fr., hurdles; Gavin Kelly, fr., throws
Girls: Becc Kulengosky, sr., throws; Mary Osmer, sr., throws; Skye Tibbetts, jr., pole vault
Outlook: The Bears’ roster is nearly twice the size it was last year and has demonstrated a great work ethic so far.
“We’re playing around with scenarios that weren’t even remotely possible even last year (like potentially running a girls’ 4×800 relay), so it’s been exciting,” Malone said. “I’m very optimistic about individual athletes finding success and I think we’ll put up some pretty strong performances as a team. Right now, we’re not really seeing any weaknesses thanks to the size of the team and flexibility of the athletes on it. It looks like we’ll be able to field athletes in just about every event this season.”
Among individuals to keep an eye on are Donahue, who matched Winnisquam’s school record in the high jump (6-2) this winter and is looking to top that mark this spring, and Kulengosky, who finished fourth in the state in the shot put this past indoor season.