HANOVER — With just four athletes competing in Sunday’s NHIAA Division II indoor track and field championships at Dartmouth College, the Hanover High girls team put forth a valiant effort, finishing in third place.
The Marauders’ Zoe Onyango, Ella Maclean, Christine Aman and Anna Stafford all scored points in multiple events at Leverone Field House, contributing to a team total of 39.5, behind runner-up, Oyster River (40) and champion, Portsmouth (79).
“(Winning the D-II title) would have taken a lot of disqualifications or something, so that was not in the cards, probably,” said Hanover’s seventh-year coach, Steve McConnell. “But to lose by half a point is disappointing. … We did about as well as we could. (I’m) pretty happy, but disappointed at the same time.”
The Marauders’ quartet took third place in the 4×400 relay then turned around to run the 4×200 in the very next race, finishing eighth; four positions behind Oyster River.
Individually, Onyango took second in the long jump and third in the 300-meter dash; Maclean was second in the 55m and fourth in the 300m; Aman was third in the 600m; and Stafford took fifth in the high jump.
“(We did) better than I expected, seeing as we had four girls total compete today,” said Aman, who plans to run next year for Bates College. “We had hoped to be second, but, you know, we didn’t have very many people and we did the best we could and my team is great, so I wouldn’t have it any other way, really.”
The Lebanon girls (18th place) got four points from Claudia Simione, who took fourth in the 55m.
Mascoma Valley (three-way tie for 23rd) got a point from Opal Shinnlinger’s sixth-place finish in the shot put.
Oyster River (69 points) won the boys championship, followed by Windham (61) and Coe-Brown (52).
Newport, led by senior Mason Martell’s second-place result in the 55-meter hurdles, finished in a tie for seventh place (16 points) with Milford.
The Tigers’ 4×200 team — comprised of Darshawn Chesser, Jagger Lovely, Ryder Lovely and Martell — finished third.
“It means a lot, these guys worked hard,” said Newport co-coach, P.J. Lovely of his squad’s result. “Practice time is hard to come by in the winter, but these guys got to use (Leverone) in December and it was great. So we’re pretty happy to compete with the big boys. It makes us feel good.”
Martell seemed to have mixed feelings following Sunday’s meet.
“It could have been better,” Martell said. “I think we had room to improve. Our handoffs were good, I think, but we were seeded second, so I think we could have fought a little harder, but I’m happy with our time.”
Running the final leg of the day’s final event, Martell stumbled across the finish line.
“I was just trying to push as hard as I could and I just kind of gave it all at the finish line,” he said. “Not really intentionally, but I kind of saw it coming.”
Martel said he and his teammates used Newport’s relatively low student population among D-II schools as motivation heading into the state meet.
“I think a lot of the teams underestimate Newport if they’ve even heard of us,” he said. “(We’re) so small, but we have some amazing talent.”
The Hanover boys (14th overall) got six points from its 4×800 relay team of Matt Bonner, Trevor Siegel, Ian Nolon and Daniel Bandler.
Ian Solberg added a point for the Marauders with a sixth-place finish in the high jump.
Lebanon’s boys team (20th) was led by Cody Davis (fifth in the 1,500m for two points) and Ben Tichner (sixth in the 300m for one point).
The top six finishers in each event — Divisions I and II combined — will advance to the New England meet, Feb. 29 in Boston.