An early spring has given area track & field teams more outdoor practice and competition time than in any recent year.
The Woodstock girls team is coming off a Vermont Division III state championship, while the Wasps’ boys were third. The strong feeder program in place for the school has last year’s graduates replaced by a strong group of 14 incoming freshmen that has Woodstock aiming for a pair of titles.
Third year Lebanon coach Kevin Lozeau oversees perhaps the biggest area team with both the boys and girls teams looking to compete in a highly competitive Division II in New Hampshire. “Given the strength of D-II in general, placing in the top five at states would be considered an accomplishment, but this team has been training with the expectation that they can challenge the bigger schools in May,” Lozeau said.
Here’s a capsule look at the teams:
Coach: Steve McConnell (3 years).
Last Year: Ben Chaimberg won the 400 meters at the N.H. Meet of Champions and advanced to the New England meet. The girls 4×800-meter relay team also advanced to New Englands.
Leagues: New Hampshire Division II, Connecticut Valley Conference.
Roster: Seniors — Finley Doyle, Felix Herron, Olivia Hunch, Robbie Murdza, Addison Wanner. Juniors — Leah Tanny, Alessandro Vecchi, Hannah Wittmann, Ben Sobel. Sophomores — Elsa Norstrom, Johanna Bandler.
Analysis: “We had some great performances at the Meet of Champions last year and are eager to build on that success. The strength of our team this year will likely be in the middle distance and distance running events. Our girls team is small this year at about half the size of our boys team. That lack of depth will probably be an issue. We are hosting the CVC North qualifying meet (on May 10). It’s been a number of years since that meet was in New Hampshire; it will be good to have a high quality meet in Hanover,” McConnell said.
Coach: Mike Perry (12).
Last Year: N/A.
League: Vermont Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Julia Anderson, Brett Clough, Kristen Davis, Mateo Ellerson, Shanan Hamilton, Paige Kehoe, Gina Kersey, Luke LaFountaine, Solomon Manthena, Megan Newton, Matthew Phipps, Ethan Scribner, Rachel Seaver, Stephen Washington. Juniors — Thea Cole, Halle Curley, Keith Illingworth, Sarah Jones, Hunter Judd, Isabella Leister, Lyndsie Rice. Sophomores: Sarah Boulanger, Callum Brittain, Natalie Charron, Michael Churchill, Grace Furlong, Andrew Lamb, Clara Posner, Ileana Sirois, Shaelyn West, Morgan White.
Newcomers: Junior — Connor Chandler. Sophomores — Lillian McCray, Elizabeth Robbins. Freshmen: Lucas Benson, Ryan Fortune, Cole Gardner-Buisson, Abayomi Lowe, Deveon Martin, Hunter Noyes.
Analysis: Shanan Hamilton and Matthew Phipps enter the spring season coming off strong showings in indoor track & field over the winter. Julia Anderson already has a first and second place finish in the discus this season. The Canes will be strong in jumping events led by Ileana Sirios, Lyndsie Rice, Morgan White, Shaelyn West, Sarah Jones, Isabella Leister and Halle Curley. Freshmen Deveon Martin and Abayomi Lowe each set middle school records at the CVL championship meet last year.
Coach: Kevin Lozeau (3).
Last Year: Girls — fifth in states, second in CVC conference meet. Boys — fourth in states, first in CVC.
Leagues: New Hampshire Division II, Connecticut Valley Conference.
Returnees: Senior girls — Lauren Anikis, Kyle Grohbrugge, Brenna Peterson. Junior girls — Emily Ball, Corinne Kennedy, Tori Wright.Sophomore girls — Shelby Hanks, Kath Merchant, Kim Merchant, Sophia Miller, Chloe Wadlinger. Senior boys — Brian Downs, Nate Herndon, Walker Tuttle. Junior boys — Davis Cole, Raphael Harriman, Joseph Hurford, Ryan Milliken, Spenser Molloy, Julian Stott. Sophomore boys — Edward Bieszczad, Matthew Eylander, Joe Kibbie, Peter Maslan, Zach Petrin, Marcus Roper, Jacob Willeman.
Newcomers: Senior girls — Mary-Grace Sedero, Grace Stott. Junior girl — Felice Avelino. Freshman girls — Sarah Ball, Hannah Falcone, Kaitlyn Merrihew, Laken Mooney. Junior boys — Scott Shepherd. Freshmen boys — Nate Cole, Michael Downs, Nathan Gile, Zach Herndon, Ben Lammert, Nick Merchand, Jack Smyrski, Ryan Sullivan, Pierce Susco, Will Tanski, Dylan Tucker, Noel Vorachak, Austin Whitcomb.
Girls Analysis: Junior Corinne Kennedy leads the Raiders and is coming off a fourth place overall finish at the N.H. Indoor Track & Field meet over the winter. Kennedy is versatile and will compete with the best of the state anywhere between 100 and 800-meters, including hurdles, and is also one of the top jumpers in the state. Her versatility provides instant depth to the Lebanon team as a whole. Twins Kath and Kim Merchant are also coming off strong indoor seasons where they finished first and second in the shot put. Kyle Grohbrugge and Emily Ball have shown improvement and will add to the depth of the sprinters. Sophia Miller and Lauren Anikis are strong in the jumping events.
Boys Analysis: The boys graduated some key members from last season’s fourth place team at the N.H. D-II meet but return a large number of skilled athletes for this season. Due to the strength of the Lebanon middle school team, a large group of freshman will play key roles right away.
Ryan Milliken and Nate Herndon will be top-level sprinters and team leaders. Also watch for Zach Petrin in the long jump and Marcus Roper in field events; each had strong showings in indoor track events this winter.
Coach: Tom Warner (10).
Last Year: Two athletes qualified for the state meet.
League: New Hampshire Division III.
Returnees: Seniors — Ben Jones, Barrett Morse, William Stone, Brandon White, Calvin Wilson. Juniors — Sheldon Farnsworth, Brandon Gardner, Cam Holmes, Evan Peck, Josh Simoneau, Haley Bissonnette. Sophomores — James Disbrow, Chris Gill, Torey Newman, Jordan Peck, Owen Schneider, Spencer Stebbins, Hunter Whyte, Julia Fox, Kaelyn Gelinas, Zoe Grodan, Elizabeth Jones, Madison Merrihew, Paxton Morley.
Newcomers: Seniors — Connor Cadreact, Tristan Williams. Juniors — Matt Moore, Bridget Darling, Amy Labrecque, Jen Monmaney, Kylie Sumner, Pashents White. Sophomore — Lincoln Tracey. Freshmen — Justin Andrew, Henry Clough, Joe Stone, Olivia Salamy, Tori Sweet, Sydney Thompson, Miavictoria Velez..
Analysis: Five athletes have already qualified for the D-III state meet from early-season competition, including Sheldon Farnsworth in both the long jump and the 100-meter dash. Jordan Peck has also qualified in the 100-meter dash. Ben Jones is a good distance runner, already having qualified at the 1,600 and 3,200 meter distances. The girls team is young and inexperienced but has some promising athletes looking to establish themselves at the varsity level.
Coaches: P.J. Lovely and Jeff Miller.
Last Year: N/A.
League: New Hampshire Division III.
Roster: Juniors — Bryce Jones, Jake Benson. Sophomores — Anna Pysz, Kennedy Pysz, John Gervais, Ariel Roman, Matt Hennig, Austin Bedell. Freshmen — Nathan Currier, Gavin Lovely, Ben Gallagher, Nathan Stark, Selena Coronis, Odell Bedell.
Analysis: “This young team shows a lot of promise. We have a decent amount of boys that should be able to compete in every event and finally developing some distance running athletes. The girls team is a little light in numbers which will make it difficult to win meets. We’re aiming to qualify 8-10 athletes for the state meet. Each athlete will strive to improve upon their personal bests and if that makes us competitive in meets, all the better,” Lovely said.
Coaches: Emily Willems and Amy Cook (6 each).
Last Year: Girls were third at states; boys finished sixth.
League: Vermont Division III.
Returnees: Senior girls — Giovanna Carlson, Morgan Gray, Franni Hoag, Kafre O’Connell. Junior girls — Leanne Burgess, Claire Cook, Cayleigh O’Connell, Cassidy Pryer. Sophomore girls — Emily Carson, Hannah Giesing, Izzy Giesing, Evelyn Mace. Senior boys — Dylan Griffin, Jake Senecal, Griffin Shaw. Junior boys — Briggs Heffernan, Trevor MacAloney. Sophomore boys — J.D. Drake, William Moreno.
Newcomers: Senior girls — Krista Baxter, Brittany Hodges. Junior girl — Sarah Stevens. Freshmen girls — Ari Counts, Megan Hebb, Lara Jones, Summer Paye. Senior boys — Jared Garvin, Eli Russ. Junior boy — Jon Puffer. Sophomore boy — Zachery Fogg. Freshmen boys — Calvin Cook, Bryceson Craig, William Douglas, Evan Flaherty, Jacob Giesing, Timothy Hodges, Skyler Ladd, Nathan Longmoore, Jarrett Rock, Tyrus Rosten, Timothy Rudder, Tucker Slie (manager).
Girls Analysis: Team captain Claire Cook, along with Izzy and Hannah Giesing, headline a strong group of returning athletes from last season’s third place finish at the D-III state championship meet. Now coming off a second place finish in D-II indoor track & field over the winter, the Olympians look poised to grab another big tally of points in this spring season. Cook is strong in middle distance runs and the triple jump while Izzy Giesing leads in distance running events and Hannah Giesing excels at middle distance and in the long jump. Also watch for Emily Carson, Franni Hoag and Cassidy Pryer to play big roles.
Boys Analysis: The boys also took second at the D-II indoor track championship meet over the winter and look to compete with the best in the state at this spring’s D-III state meet. Senior Dylan Griffin won the 400-meter dash at last year’s state meet and is back looking for a repeat in that event. Team captain Jake Senecal is strong in all throwing events and Jon Puffer will be competitive in distance events, jumps and the pole vault.
Coach: Kevin Gish (7).
Last Year: Both boys and girls were fifth at states. Max Buskey set Vermont D-IV records in the 400 and 800-meters.
Leagues: Vermont D-IV, Connecticut Valley Conference.
Returnees: Senior — Chris Gish. Junior — Richard Morrill. Sophomores — Joseph Campbell, Dillon Buttner.
Newcomers: Senior — Maie Kimball. Sophomore — Emma Labadie. Freshmen — Olivia Lober, Marguerite Souligny, Sami Husain.
Analysis: Seniors Chris Gish and Maie Kimball are team leaders. Gish set three state records during this winter’s indoor track season and looks for a successful final high school campaign before he starts running cross country at UVM next fall. Kimball is new to outdoor track but has competed in indoor track for the last two years as well as playing a key role on the Sharon girls soccer teams through her high school career.
Coach: Shannon Palone and David Mattern.
Last Year: N/A.
League: Vermont Division III.
Returnees: Seniors — Ciaran Chase, Sarah Dunkle, Channing George, Mackinley George, Cora Honigford, Julianne Lambert, Laurel Sherlock, William Wuttke. Juniors — Jackson McClain, Maeve Naumann. Sophomores — Aliza George, Bradford Jones, Connor Lambert, Nikolas Leonhardt, Kylen Nelson, Nicholas Thornton. Freshmen: Caleb Chase, Eliza Mabey, Emily McClain.
Newcomers: Seniors — Alexandra Armstrong, Amelia Fisk. Junior — Emily Ballou. Sophomore: Christopher McCullough. Freshmen — Jason Armstrong, Sam Fisk.
Analysis: “We anticipate great accomplishments from our athletes. Last year several athletes placed in the state meet and we have even more potential this year. We have great expectations and this team can’t wait to show what it can do,” Palone said.
Coach: Matt Baird-Torney (2).
Last year: Fourteen athletes competed at the state meet and one qualified for the Meet of Champions.
Leagues: New Hampshire Division III, Connecticut Valley Conference.
Returnees: Seniors — Matt Gobin, Josie Lafreniere, Aly Lizotte, Angelika Seaman, Anthony Stithen. Juniors — Brooke Bagley, Logan Bonneau, Jaz Griffin, Kylie Jones, Marion Lovett, Devin Porter, Parker Smith, Zach Stanhope, Ethan Sweet, Nate Treadway. Sophomores — Bradon Jarvis, Jacob Rider, Connor Whipple.
Newcomers: Seniors — Lane Clancy, Diego Cubillo, Emily Varkham. Juniors — Rich Bell, Cody Foster, Michael Miller. Sophomores: Drew Grenier, Mitch Paquette, Taya Simmons, Chandler Zullo. Freshmen — Alyssa Alberto, Julia Belaire, Olivia Barcelou, Liz Clancy, Audrey Puksta, Kali Simmons.
Analysis: “We have very good numbers which should allow us to compete in all events. The core of our relay teams are returning along with some strong individual performers,” Baird-Torney said.
Coach: Emily Cousens (1).
Last Year: Set a school record in the 4×800-meter relay and qualified several athletes for the state meet.
League: New Hampshire Division IV.
Returnees: Senior — Abby Palin. Juniors — Nicholas Hayes, Samuel Humphrey, Bethie Coverdale, Michael Dezotelle, Sawyer Bergeron, Lynnsey Trabka, Virgile Blais, Christian Kirk, Connor Fleury, Maryann Cousens, Renee Brandon, Elsa Pierson, Hannah Drummond. Sophomores — Suzanne Ricard, Mary Moynihan, Emily Devore.
Newcomers: Juniors — Nate Emery, Yuyi Han, Ziqian Han. Sophomores — Lawrence Roessel, Kayleigh Beane, Brandon Strobel, Maddie Austin, Uzma Maleek. Freshmen — Jake Austin, Nicole Malanga, Alexis Miller, Blaise O’Mara, Carson Garland, Brendan Kelleher.
Analysis: Abby Palin is the lone senior on the roster and will be looked upon to provide leadership while being a key member of the Lakers’ strong distance running crew. Varsity newcomer Ziqian Han should excel in sprints and jumping events. Renee Brandon and Suzanne Ricard are strong in the throwing events.
“I am overwhelmed by how maturely and diligently the team has been working so far this season. They respect and support each other as they build a fun and positive environment. Our facilities are limited and I am impressed by the athletes’ openness to being flexible and creative in their training when need be. We are thankful to the Newport coaches for allowing us to train on their track from time to time. We are predicting a lot of personal best performances this year as we strive to establish ourselves as a competitive program,” coach Cousens said.
Coaches: Emily Silver (5) and Joel Breakstone (8).
Last Year: Boys were second at states; girls were fifth.
Leagues: Vermont Division III, Connecticut Valley Conference.
Returnees: Senior girls — Lauren Arseneau, Taylor Gravlin, Charlotte Reining, Jenny Ulz. Junior girl — Hannah Harkins. Sophomore girls — Meaggie Balch, Emma Bauer, Grace Clement, Gabrielle Curtis, Hannah Davis, Leah Kaliski, Ellenor Koppers, Morgan Lavoy, Clare Swanson. Senior boys — Christian Jones, Julio Lopez Linehan, Chris Parenteau, Nicholas Slaughter, Levi Vaughan. Junior boys — Christian Conaway, Caleb Davidson, Shayne Morgan, Raphael Orleck-Jetter, Noah Perry, Noah Stommel, Sage Whitecloud. Sophomore boys — Ian Barker, Jake Fortier, Peter LaBelle, Alex MacVeagh, Clifford Ransom, Christian Robinson, Malcolm Silver-Van Meter, Dylan Thorburn, Daniel Wojcik.
Newcomers: Senior girls — Isabel Kotlowitz, Anna Siegler. Junior girl — Maggie Harlow. Freshman girl — Anabel Reining. Senior boys — Julian Greene, Noah Jacobs-Rebhun, George Essex. Junior boys — Justin Duguay, Christopher Ford, Austin Pedro, Allen Yuan. Sophomore boy — Jackson Hall. Freshmen boys — Logan Crane, Gabriel Gaetz, Eli Kaliski, Tait Linehan, Ian Spelman.
Analysis: The boys team is deep and experienced and will be lead by captains Julio Lopez Linehan, Christian Jones and Caleb Davidson along with junior Chris Parenteau. The girls team will look to captains Hannah Harkins, Jenny Ulz and Charlotte Reining.
“We have had a good preseason and everyone is excited to start competing. We have a big team and a nice mixture of returning athletes and new faces. We’re looking forward to seeing what all of the newcomers can do,” coach Silver said.
Coaches: Tom and Sue Burgos (4).
Last Year: Harrison Allen qualified for states in the long jump.
League: Vermont Division IV.
Returnees: Seniors — Harrison Allen, Andrew Davis, Zoe McCormack, Shai Palmer. Juniors — Alex Gray, Molly LaFromboise, Marcus Sheldon, Gwen Timmins, Liam Walker. Sophomore — Melani Davis. Freshmen — Alexandra Timmins, Gabe Clark. Eighth grade — Grace LaFromboise.
Newcomers: Senior — Seth Larson. Freshmen — Gavin Turner, Luke DeCato, Gabe Feeney. Seventh grade — Victoria Bonsignore, Eva Gillette.
Analysis: Harrison Allen heads into his senior season with the goal of setting a D-IV state record in the long jump. Marcus Sheldon is aiming to set a school record in the discus. Gwen Timmins leads the girls team and is a star in the hurdles.
Coach: Patrick Gordon (1).
Last Year: Girls were fifth at Vermont state meet.
Leagues: Vermont Division II, Connecticut Valley Conference.
Returnees: Seniors — Katey Comstock, Zachary Doiron, Kylie Bourque. Juniors — Anika Abrahamsen, Hannah Achilles, Allen Fan, Emily Smith, Annie Soho, Matthew Walasewicz, Brooke Winter. Sophomores — Vincent Moeykens, Ethan Rhoad, Jaden Cook.
Newcomers: Sophomores — Ben Millard, Jacob Tucker, Trevor Worrall. Freshmen — Daniel Dexter, Hannah Eastridge, Brianna Loveless, Anna Thornton, Alex Townsend, Gideon Spikes.
Analysis: Katey Comstock returns off a trio of first-place finishes in field events at the state meet in 2015, winning the shot put, discus and javelin. Emily Smith, Hannah Achilles and Vincent Moeykens also had top-15 finishes in multiple events. Captains Comstock, Smith, Achilles and Zachary Doiron will be looked upon by first year coach Patrick Gordon to provide leadership on a young team.
Coach: Greg Somerville (2).
Last Year: Girls won state championship; boys finished third.
League: Vermont Division III.
Returnees: Seniors — Lily Nickerson, Elly Gordon, Justin Whittaker. Juniors — Sarah Yates, Anna Dieffenbach, Brittany Nelson, Bill Wood, Evan Hotchkiss, Cole Westcott, Adam Farinas. Sophomores — Grave Vollers, Claire Saunders, Hailey Napier, Lily Adler, Olivia Brooks, Lauren Forgione, Matthew Bassette, Robert Grots, Stephen Scherer.
Newcomers: Juniors — Calli Mistkowski, Quest Holding. Freshmen — Lily Walker-Money, Bridgit Black, Anna Hepler, Claudia Mills, Madeline Hiller, Hannah Coates, Linea Kay, Kyle Gordon, Matthew Ennis, Eddie Bray, Charlie Amato, Joshua Duefield, Zac Cannon, Harrison Nunes.
Analysis: Anna Dieffenbach returns for her junior season after finishing second in the decathlon at states last year and is strong in all field events. Bill Wood will be a standout on the boys side and also may compete for the decathlon title. Seniors Lily Nickerson and Justin Whittaker will be looked upon to provide leadership for a young team.
Coach: Christina and A.J. Flateau (7).
Last Year: N/A.
League: New Hampshire Division IV.
Returnees: Seniors — Chris Sarkis, Sam Fairfield, Phil Cadreact, Geremy Enboden, Grace Flynn, Joe Sargent, Andrew Daley, Lucas Townsend. Juniors — Joe D’Angelo, Joey Mitchell. Sophomore — Kiara Reagan.
Newcomers: Sophomores — Chelsea Paye, Annika Powell. Freshmen — Ethan Dessaint, Curtis Wyman, Erich Saffo, Jim Kertis, Lilah Flynn, Kathryn Michal.
Analysis: Chris Sarkis is an elite runner at the one-mile distance. Phil Cadreact, Sam Fairfield and Geremy Enboden are all strong at javelin and Kiara Reagan is an ace 800-meter runner.