Athol High School’s Kris Selanis has a very chance to win a shot put title this afternoon.
The junior is a prohibitive favorite to win his event during the PVIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships today at Smith College in Northampton.
Selanis has been as good as it gets putting the shot, having won the event every meet this season except the season-opener in early December, and Athol’s one bye week in January. Other than that, Selanis has stood on top of the mountain in the shot put and comes into today’s championship meet as the No. 1 seed at 47 feet, 3 inches. The second seed, Dermotheo Walden of Southwick-Tolland Regional High School, is the second seed at 43-6. To put Selanis’ dominance into perspective, in each of the past four meets Selanis has won the shot put with a distance greater than what the second seed comes in at.
Selanis is joined in the event by three other locals. Mahar Regional School’s John Nye is the 11th seed at 38-5¾, and Pioneer Valley Regional School has the 12th seed in Adrian Wilson (38-4) and the 22nd seed in Andrew Pratt (37-2).
Selanis is the only local top seed at the meet. Mohawk Trail Regional High School has the only second seed in distance runner Meghan Davis, who enters the 2-mile at 11:28.30. Greenfield High School’s Amy O’Sullivan is the sixth seed in the event at 12:12.29.
Athol has another strong entrant in Mason Barrieau, who is the fourth seed in the 600-meter run (1:24.96) and ninth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.82). Barrieau is joined in the 600 by Mahar’s Ash Shaw, No. 9 seed at 1:28.57, Athol’s Chase Michaud, the 15th seed at 1:30.98, and Mohawk’s Seth Hoynoski, the 18th seed at 1:32.04.
Barrieau also leads a number of locals in the 55 hurdles. Mahar’s Aaron Hendry is the 10th seed (8.86), Mahar’s Hugo Frost is 14th (9.0), and Greenfield’s Silvian Popusoi is the 15th seed (9.06). Popusoi is also the only local in the high jump, coming in as the eighth seed at 5-8.
Pioneer’s Scott McDonough is the final boy seeded inside the top 10 with his seventh-seed in the long jump at 19-10¾. He is joined in the event by Mahar’s Uziel Valentin, the 24th seed at 18-8.
Mohawk’s Zach Coburn qualified for two events and is the 14th seed in the 1,000 meter (2:53), and the 16th seed in the 2-mile (10:54.25). Teammate Hoynoski, who is already competing in the 600, is also the 19th seed in the 2-mile (10:58.88), and the 15th seed in the 300 (38.38). The 300 has the most local qualifiers of any event on the boys’ side with six. Joining Hoynoski are Mahar’s Hendry, who is seeded 12th at 38.16, Mohawk’s Ben White (17th seed, 38.64), Mahar’s Ash Shaw (18th, 38.89), Mahar’s Hugo Frost (20th, 39.10), and Greenfield’s Liam McLain (26th, 39.28). Athol’s Dennis St. Jean is the 16th seed in the 1,000 meter at 2:53.34.
On the girls’ side, Mahar’s Kamryn Reilly is seeded in the top 10 in a pair of events, coming in eighth in the long jump (15-6½) and 10th in the high jump (4-8). Teammate Emma Currier is also seeded in a pair of events, coming in 10th in the mile (5:50.77), and 20th in the 1,000 meter (3:32.05).