Conant’s track facility was abuzz with activity on a sunny afternoon Tuesday as the Orioles got the spring season started by sweeping a multi-team mini-meet featuring Mascenic, Wilton-Lyndeborough, Hinsdale, Hillsboro-Deering and Monadnock.
The Orioles’ championship aspirations were on display Tuesday, as Conant won both relays and picked up first-place finishes in shotput, hurdles, long jump and the 1,600M run.
Conant’s experienced athletes were right where they were supposed to be in the early season, picked up where they left off last spring. Defending Division III champion Garrett Somero won the boys’ shotput with a toss of 40’11.5”. Holy Cross-bound Austin Poikonen took home a win in the 110m hurdles in 18.19.
Freshman Ben Sawyer won the long jump in 20’8”, narrowly edging out senior Ethan Vitello, last year’s Meet of Champions competitor who leapt a 19’6” Tuesday.
For the girls, junior Kylie Aho was back up front in the 1,600m, which she won in 5:53.76. The Oriole girls go deep, giving head coach Bill Edson plenty to choose from as the season progresses and final relay pairings and state meet entries are locked in.
Mascenic did their best work in the boys’ 1,600m, as usual, with Connor Traffie (second, 4:57.65), Drew Traffie (third, 4:59.15) and Jethro Somero (fourth, 5:00.50) filing in in rapid succession.
Mascenic was third in the boys’ team competition behind Conant and Monadnock, as the Huskies once again boast a top-heavy lineup. Monadnock’s Zachary Phillips won the 100M and 400M dashes, and Mitchell Hill took first in the 1,600m.
The Huskies played spoiler on the girls’ side as well, as Liliana Chirichella beat defending champ Sam Boette of WLC in both the 100m and 400m dashes, giving the Warrior senior something to think about as she trains this week.
WLC’s Kelsey Crouse was second in girls’ shotput and won her heat of the 100m dash, her first career race win.
The meet was Conant’s first with their new electronic timing system, which will allow them to record official qualifying times at home meets rather than hand-timing them and qualifying at away meets which have the proper equipment. Conant will host similar mini-meets each Tuesday this spring. The Orioles are at Pelham Saturday, while Mascenic heads to Souhegan.