Hanover
The pieces of a strong, well-rounded squad have fallen into place as the Hurricanes begin their indoor track season, leaving the veteran coach with high expectations for both the indoor schedule in front of him and the outdoor spring season just months away.
“We’ve really made great gains,” Perry said on Friday, the first day of the 49th Dartmouth Relays at Dartmouth College’s Leverone Field House. “I have a good team this year, I’ve got a lot of youth.”
Hartford’s success begins and ends, once again, with the versatile Ileana Sirois, who enters her senior season as a strong four-event anchor to a talented supporting cast. Sirois won the triple jump (33 feet, 6 inches), placed second in the 55 hurdles (9.18 seconds), third in the long jump (15-5) and sixth in the 55 dash (7.9) at last year’s Vermont Principals Association Division II indoor state meet.
Kennedy Mullen, a sophomore splitting time between the Hartford track and basketball teams, slotted herself behind Sirois as Hartford’s second most valuable asset during a breakout outdoor season as a freshman last spring. She placed third (1:03.1) in the girls 400, fourth (31-10) in the triple jump, fifth (14-04.75) in the long jump and sixth (4-6) in the high jump at the 2017 outdoor state championship meet.
“Unfortunately, this has to be our year because of Ileana,” Perry said of his senior star. “Our three throwers are all in the top 12 (in D-II), so we’re going to get points. I’m excited.”
Add a talented group of freshmen and a steady group of throwers, and Hartford’s chances look pretty good.
Sirois finished second in both the unseeded long jump (15-10) and triple jump (34-8.75) on Friday; freshman teammate Eleanor Hinckley took eighth (15-0) in the former. Senior thrower Kylee Beaucage took seventh in the girls shot put (29-3), sophomore Anne Marie Schneller was 10th (28-6.75) and senior Sarah Boulanger took 14th (26-5.25). Hinckley and fellow freshmen Gretchen Josselyn and Reilly Slusser are scheduled to run today.
“The girls have never won indoor or outdoor in the history of the sport,” Perry said. “We took third one year in the mid-’90s. … This has to be our year because of Ileana.”
For years, Thetford’s girls and boys indoor track and field teams have competed for individual accomplishments; the Panthers’ club status barred them from a team score at the state meet. Now that they’re varsity, Thetford coach Charlie Buttrey has his squads gunning for what should be a heavily contested second place in VPA Division II behind powerhouse Rice.
“No one is going to beat the Rice girls, but we have a shot at second,” said Buttrey on Friday. “And our boys have a shot at winning. There are three or four boys teams that could take it. We’re one of them.”
Thetford’s surest thing is senior distance specialist Meaggie Balch, who took third (11:54.62) in the girls two-mile run on Friday night behind Liyat Kebbede (11:49.75), an eighth-grader from Niskayuna, N.Y., and Rosemarie Gelinas (11:48.71), from Shawinigan, Quebec. Senior Malcolm Silver-Van Meter placed 17th (10:37.74) in the boys two-mile on Friday.
“(Balch) has been a stalwart for four years,” Buttrey said. “I want to see her go out on a high note. She’s been working really hard.”
Multi-event athlete Morgan Lavoy will compete in the girls triple jump, long jump and 300 for the Panthers today.
Other races to watch on the second day of the Relays:
Boys 55 dash: Three Upper Valley athletes could finish in the top 25. Hartford sprinter Abayomi Lowe has gotten off to a strong start to his all-important junior season. Hanover sophomore Kyle Doucette, one of the Marauders’ brightest young runners, is seeded 20th among regional competition. Lebanon jumper and sprinter Ryan Sullivan, a junior, will try to build his resume following a trip to the Down Under Games in Australia this summer.
Girls 55 hurdles: Sirois is seeded seventh in front of Oxbow teammate Emily Carson (31st) and Hartford’s Josselyn (39th).
Boys 300 dash: It’ll be a tough morning for Hartford’s Lowe, who will begin his day running in the 55 dash preliminaries before competing in the 300. The speedy junior is seeded ninth and finished in 10th at 37.22 seconds at the Dartmouth Relays last year.
Girls 800 run: Oxbow track star Izzy Giesing is seeded first among 63 middle-distance runners, to no one’s surprise. She broke a VPA Division II state record in the girls 600 during a meet on Dec. 28 at Leverone, finishing the race in 1:38.43.
Boys high jump: Sullivan is seeded second behind Somers, N.Y. jumper Numan Maloney.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.