New Hampshire’s high school indoor track season officially started this weekend with local teams competing at University of New Hampshire Saturday.
Conant High School and Mascenic Regional High School competed in the morning session against eight other similarly-sized schools. Conant placed fifth in the 10 team field, Mascenic ninth in the boys’ field.
The Orioles were led by senior sprinter Tyler Sands, who had a hand in 29 of the team’s 32 points.
He won the 55 meter dash in 7.04 seconds, narrowly besting Sanborn’s Kashief Bogannam. The two flipped in the 300 meter dash, in which Sands finished second in 40.44 seconds.
He completed his individual triple winning the high jump, clearing the bar at 5 feet 7 inches.
Conant’s 4×400 meter relay of Sands, Ethan Ahern, Seth Mann and Chris Taylor were third, behind Sanborn and Oyster River.
Conant’s other scorers, placing in the top-six in their event, was the 1500 meter run duo of Chris Taylor, second in 5:02, and Josh Barnwell, fifth in 5:45.
Mascenic only had one runner for each the boys and girls. Michael Fappiano-Putre was fourth in the 3000 meter run in the boys meet with a time of 10:24. Kylie Bane was 14th on the girls’ side in the 1000 meter in 4:44.
The Conant girls were sixth. Jordan Banish led the way with a win in the 55 meter hurdles in 10.44 seconds, and an anchor leg in the 4×400. Her relay teammates were Julia Aho, Monique Hill and Lily Bennett. She was also sixth in the shot put, throwing 24 feet one-and-one-half inches.
Other points came from Lily Bennett, 6:02 for fourth in the 1500, and Julia Aho, 2:08 for sixth in the 600.
ConVal competed in the afternoon session at UNH. Both the boys and girls were fourth in their meets against strong Division I and II competition.
Sophomore Clare Veverka provided the only race win, easily taking the 1500 meter run in 5:08.
That has already qualified her for the D2 championship in February. Joining her below the qualifying standard was Rhiannon Bell with a shot put of 29 feet six-and-three-quarter inches, good for second in the meet.
Points came from Maddy Garland and Greta Topping in the 300 meter dash, third and fifth in 48.64 and 49.04 seconds, respectively. Also from Sarah Newell, whose 2:02 was good for sixth in the 600 meter dash. Lucy Freeman, 3:26, and Hailey Doherty, 3:34, were fourth and sixth in the 1000 meter. Topping and Veverka were joined by Alexis Cleary and Alyssa Janoch for fourth in the sprint relay; and Freeman, Doherty, Newell and Garland were fourth in the 4×400.
In the boys’ meet, ConVal was led by Evan Coyne’s second place finish in the 600 meter. He ran 1:36.
Also scoring for the Cougars was Sean Boggis and Finn Wegmueller in the 300 meter dash, third and fifth in 42.24 and 42.74 seconds, respectively. Kyle Shearer, Harrison Kim, Max Boisvert and Zachary Kriebel combined for fourth in the sprint relay. Coyne, Boggis and Wegmueller were joined by Carter Hunt for fifth in the 4×400 meter relay.
Each team’s next NHIAA meet is Dec. 26.