Track & field: Goulas wins all 3 jumping events, Saysaw sets two records to lead Concord girls to first D-I title since 1988
Published: 05-31-2025 10:27 PM
Modified: 06-01-2025 12:53 AM |
Ella Goulas is no stranger to winning state titles. But while Goulas has won every single jumping title at least once, she had never won all three in the same championship. On Friday night at Portsmouth High School, Goulas, a senior, and her teammates put all the pieces together.
Goulas defended her title in the triple jump (37 feet, 9.75 inches, more than 3 feet ahead of the next competitor), and won long jump (18-4.25) and high jump (5-0); junior Grace Saysaw swept the sprints, setting Division I records in both the 100-meter dash and 200 meters, and anchoring both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays to victories; and sophomore Consuelo Borico won the shot put (36-11) by over a foot to lead the Concord High School girls’ track and field team to its first Division I championship title since 1988.
Paced by wins in eight of the 18 events contested, the Crimson Tide tallied 110 points, leading almost the entire meet and pulling away from runner-up Nashua North (94) and Exeter (85) over the last couple of events to secure the title. That trio of teams easily outdistanced the rest of D-I, with Pinkerton (53), Portsmouth (47) and Bedford (46) rounding out the top six.
The D-I boys also competed on Friday night at Portsmouth, with Concord (26 points) finishing 11th behind a state title from senior Colby Nyhan in the pole vault.
“It’s a lot of pieces to the puzzle,” Concord head coach Hayden Daly said. “We knew we had a lot of points with Ella. When Grace moved up into the 200 that was positive. I think when we switched the relays around, we asked Grace and (senior Nabah Yahya) to race in the 4x400, that’s when I thought ‘we’ve really got a shot.’”
In addition to sweeping the jumps, including a personal-record leap of 18-4.25 to win the long jump by 11 inches, Goulas ran on the champion 4x100 relay with junior Chelsea Toenah, senior Ballay Conteh and Saysaw. The same quartet holds the CHS school record and clocked a 48.52 seconds race on Friday night to earn the victory.
Saysaw, like Goulas, was a perfect four-for-four in her events, also running the final leg of the winning 4x400 (3 minutes, 59.52 seconds) with senior Madeline Muller, Conteh and Yahya.
Counting on athletes like Goulas and Saysaw to perform well in four events (the maximum that a high school athlete can compete in during a single meet) required a lot of planning and buy in from the team, and the girls were dialed in.
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“We were hoping to win and I’m so happy that we did,” Goulas said. “I had never won all three (jumping events) at the same meet. I really just focused on saving my legs and being prepared for this meet. Staying calm and not freaking out. Keeping in the back of mind that I wanted to do this for my team and how much this means to me.”
Having already run the 100 meters twice (running 12.65 in the prelims and D-I record 12.07 in the finals) and the 4x100 prior to her 200, Saysaw didn’t have high expectations, but broke another D-I record by winning the 200 in 24.41 (she previously broke the state record on May 15 at the Merrimack Invitational by running 24.40).
“Today was really better than I expected,” Saysaw said. “I ran (my other races) and gave them my all, I just wanted to be consistent (in the 200). I think it comes down to our mentality. I think our team chemistry is the best it’s ever been and the coaches are really supportive. The support is overwhelming when we’re running. … At the end of the day, this meet has been really affirming for what I can do. I’m really proud of myself.”
Conteh (second long jump), Muller (second pole vault), senior Shelly Smith (fourth 3,200, fifth 1,600), Yahya (fourth triple jump) and the fourth-place 4x800 of Yahya, and sophomores Quinn Doherty, Gianna Gualtieri and Mahalie Burdette also scored points for the Tide.
“The girls bought in. They believe in what we’re doing and being committed to something,” said Daly, who acknowledged his team’s individual champions for their leadership. “They’re maturing as young ladies. Ella, Grace, Conseulo, they’re so different, each one of them, but all express this big desire to be high level athletes. They all do it differently, but I think our team chemistry was really incredible.”
For Daly, who is in his 23rd year as the program’s head coach, and the rest of the coaching staff, it was especially gratifying to finally get the team title that eluded the girls’ team for so long, despite all of the program’s success. Concord finished runner-up to Exeter by half a point in 2022, fourth in 2023 and third last season, as well as finishing a competitive second this past indoor season.
“It’s really hard to put into words,” Daly said. “I talk about the athletes sacrificing their social life and sacrificing things. We do that as coaches too, but when something like this happens, seeing the girls happy, seeing them grow and doing hard things, it’s all worth it. It’s a really hard thing for (the runners) to do, to put themselves out there. When you’re on the track, there’s nowhere to hide. To see them do that is very satisfying.”
Nyhan winning the pole vault was the highlight of the day for the Crimson Tide boys, who finished 11th in D-I with 26 points. Nyhan won the event by a foot and a half, clearing 14-6 to take the title. He then attempted to clear 15-4, which would have given him the D-I record. Nyhan is also closing in on the state record of 15-8.
“Colby has matured a ton with (pole vault) and as a young man,” Daly said. “He’s got everything dialed in. He’s only been pole vaulting for three years. From where he’s come from to where he is now, is incredible.”
Another bright spot was freshman Thomas Saysaw, who finished second in the triple jump and also ran the anchor leg of the fourth-place 4x100 relay with juniors Deagan Hines and Tim Fahnbulleh, and sophomore Colin Savard.
“There’s no seniors on that team. For them to step up in the fast heat and run their best time of the season was very exciting,” Daly said.
Senior Sam Pfitzenmayer was fourth in the discus to round out Concord’s scoring.
Pinkerton (101), Nashua North (64), Nashua South (49) and Winnacunnet (49) were the top four teams.
Each event champion from all three NHIAA division championships automatically qualifies for next weekend’s Meet of Champions, which will be held at Oyster River High School on June 8. The rest of the field will be comprised of the top performances from the regular season. The top six in each event at the MOC qualifies for New Englands on June 14.