Souhegan boys win indoor track championship

Friday, February 10, 2012

Joe Marchilena photo Hollis Brookline's Emma Newton competes in the girls 1,000-meter run during Sunday's Division II indoor track championship at Dartmouth College.

Enlarge

HANOVER – For the second time in three years, the Souhegan High School boys indoor track team went home with a championship plaque.

But this time, the Sabers did it in a completely different way. When Souhegan won in 2010, it got 40 points from sprinter Michael Peret and did enough in other events to tie Lebanon for first-place.

On Sunday, the Sabers placed in all but one of the 13 events, including wins in all three relays, to record 87 points to win the Division II indoor meet at Dartmouth College in Hanover.

Souhegan finished 27 points ahead of second-place Oyster River. Merrimack Valley (30 points) came in third while Goffstown was fourth and Lebanon fifth. Milford came in ninth and Bedford took 10th.

The Bedford girls ran away with their first Division II title, scoring 75 points, while Milford was second with 39. Hanover and Monadnock tied for third, while the Souhegan girls placed fifth. Hollis Brookline came in seventh.

“Last time, we had a big stud who got us 40 points,” Souhegan coach John Eastman said. “(Sunday) it was the whole team without a big stud.”

With two events left – the 4x400- and 4x200-meter relays – the Sabers led Oyster River by 15 points, and they knew as long as they weren’t shutout in both, they would win.

The 4x400 of Jacob and Nathan Kittredge, Tanner Kent and Drew Prescott finished first, beating Oyster River by less than two seconds, while the 4x200 team of Jacob Kittredge, Aaron Precott, Chris Chininis and Ryan Sickler also took first, finishing ahead of Portsmouth by four-tenths of a second.

Souhegan also won the 4x800 relay, while Ben DeForest won the 55 hurdles in 8.17 seconds and Bert DeForsest won in the 600 in 1 minute, 25.3 seconds.

Courtney Hawkins led the Milford girls, finishing first in the 3,000 (10:21.42) while also taking third in the 1,500 and fourth in the 1,000.

Souhegan’s Isabella Stuopis finished the indoor season undefeated in the shot put, winning with a throw of 39 feet.

HB’s Meghan Philpot and Emma Newton finished second and third in the 1,000 to lead the Cavaliers.