NHIAA Track and field teams have been eagerly waiting to see which squad will reign supreme at season’s end. But the Division III programs will have to wait a little longer.

The D-III championship ended at Sanborn Regional High School on Wednesday night with only 17 of the 18 events contested and the pole vault postponed to Thursday due to the rainy conditions. It’s enough to delay the crowning of team champions, but Capital Area athletes still returned home with plenty of hardware.

Bishop Brady junior Josh Gentchos claimed three titles, winning the 100 meters in 11.08 seconds, the 200 in 22.74 seconds and also ran on the D-III record-setting 4x100-meter relay with teammates Chris Messmore, Alan Yap and Jack Beauchesne.

On the girls’ side, Kearsarge junior Molly Ellison won the 1,600 in 5:30.43 and the 3,200 in 11:49.98, and also ran a leg on the runner-up 4x400 relay to lead the Cougars to the top of the team standings.

Kearsarge held a narrow 75-73 lead over Newfound with one event to go, although the Bears have three competitors – including the first and third seeds – in the pole vault who could score big points to overtake the Cougars. Hopkinton (56) was in third at the conclusion of Wednesday’s events.

Gilford (73), Pelham (65) and Bishop Brady (40) were the top three on the boys’ side with just the pole vault to go. Both Gilford and Pelham have athletes in that event to decide the team title.

Gentchos was the top qualifier in the prelims (running an even faster time of 11.02 seconds) before edging Portsmouth Christian’s Tim Kelm by .08 seconds in the final. Gentchos won by an even closer margin in the 200, edging Gilford’s Isaiah Reese by .01 seconds.

Fellow junior Yap (fifth 200), and seniors Messmore and Beauchesne (fifth 100) set the D-III 4x100 record in 44.31 seconds, breaking the previous record of 44.70, also set by Bishop Brady, in 1992.

Ellison’s titles were both tight victories, finishing just 2 seconds ahead of freshman teammate Maella Jacques in the 1,600 and only 1.08 seconds ahead of Hopkinton’s Hannah Bennett in the 3,200.

The Hopkinton girls’ 4x800 relay of sophomore Shaylee Murdough (third 800), senior Bennett (third 1,600), freshman Sophia Upton and sophomore Reese Bove (fifth 400) won the first race of the day, clocking a 10:23.

Hopkinton junior Grace Hall won third straight triple jump title with a leap of 33 feet, 6.75 inches, and also finished fifth in the long jump

Belmont senior Emma Winslow had two wins, taking first in the long jump (16-3) and running the first-place 4x100 (51.89 seconds) with freshmen Hannah Young and Ava Lacasse (second 200), and junior Cate McDonald. Winslow also finished fourth in the 100.

Winnisquam senior Becca Kulengosky won the shot put in 33-3.5.

The only other area champion on the boys’ side was Winnisquam senior Aidan Donahue in the high jump, clearing 6 feet.

Outside of the champions, the Kearsarge girls also had points from their second-place 4x400 (Ava Shapiro, Juliet Faria, Ellison and Amelia Lefebvre) and fourth-place 4x800 (Ellie Wimer, Ava Valle, Laela Moran and Shapiro).

Lefebvre (second high jump, fourth 400, fourth shot put), Faria (third 100, third 200), Jacques (fifth high jump), Shapiro (sixth 800) and Ainsley Frankiewich (sixth long jump) also scored individually for the Cougars.

The Hopkinton girls had additional points from the runner-up 4x400 of Bove, Upton, Aisling Madden (fifth 100) and Murdough, while Elise Miner was fourth in the javelin.

Belmont’s Adeline Takantjas was third in the triple jump and the Raiders’ 4x800 relay (Emilie Defrancesco, Helena Papadopolulos, Rebekah Edgren, Alyssa Edgren) finished sixth.

Winnisquam’s Victoria Kelly was third in the javelin.

Other top finishers for area boys were Bishop Brady’s Nate Steigmeyer (third 300 hurdles); Hopkinton’s runner-up 4x800 relay of Ben Daniels (fifth 1,600), Joe O’Rourke, Matt Clarner and Roman Finlayson (second 800), and Max Bishop (second discus, fourth javelin); Winnisquam’s Carter Fredette (second shot put) and third-place 4x800 (David Swain, Carter LaLiberte, Henry Osmer and Brendan Goodwin); and Belmont’s Will Riley (second 3,200) and fifth-place 4x100 (Demetri Kafkoulis, Damien Sanborn, Jeffrey Carrier, Colby Vetter). Vetter was also sixth in the 100.

Division champions in each event, plus the top competitors throughout the season, will compete in the Meet of Champions on June 3 at Oyster River High School.

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