BUCKLAND — Teenagers are like bumble bees. They generally do not follow a straight line.
Unless, of course, those lines are around a track.
The Mohawk Trail Regional High School track was literally abuzz on Saturday, with more than 500 student-athletes from western Massachusetts competing in the PVIAC Division II Track & Field Championships.
“Big meets like this are a lot of fun,” said Jaime Byrne, a Frontier Regional School senior who finished second in the girls’ pole vault, clearing 8 feet, 6 inches. “I’m not doing track in college, but I’m happy with today.”
Byrne, a school-choice student from Greenfield, will be attending the Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia next year.
One athlete who will be competing in college is Silvian Popusoi, the Greenfield High School senior who won the boys’ pole vault with a height of 13-4. Popusoi will join older brother and fellow vaulter Vladimir at UMass-Lowell in the fall.
“I’m going to be vaulting with my brother, and I’m really excited,” Silvian said. “He’s such a role model for me. I am really looking forward to it.”
Greenfield boys’ head coach Stuart Elliott said there is one more Popusoi coming up. Theodor, known as Theo (TAY-o), will be an eighth-grader in the fall, “and he may be the best of the bunch,” Elliott said.
A pair of local girls placed first in their respective events on Saturday.
The girls’ triple-jump winner was Mahar Regional School’s Kianna Reilly. The top seed entering the event, the junior’s top leap of 33-2¼ put her comfortably in first.
Mohawk’s Violet Rawlings held her seed in the discus, finishing first with a throw of 98-4. The Ashfield resident was not as happy with her distance as she was with her place.
“My longest this season was 99-5, and that was my PR (personal record) from last year, so I haven’t really made great progress this season, which is kind of disappointing,” she said after her event. “But I feel good. I am happy with the win.”
Frontier discus thrower Olivia Vecellio was the only other local top-10 performer, finishing fourth at 90-4. Teammate Lisa Portier tied for fourth overall in the triple jump with a leap of 32-1.
Finishing right behind Byrne in pole vault was Greenfield senior Sarah O’Sullivan, who took third (on jumps) at 8-6.
Top county finishers in the girls’ long jump were eighth-grader Victoria Marin of Greenfield, placing third at 15-6, and Frontier freshman Kimani Topolski-Burgess, who came in fifth at 15-4.
In the shot, Mahar junior Maeve Powell was third (31-3) and Mohawk junior Emma Poplawski came in fifth (30-7½).
Gabby Shean of Mohawk was third in the javelin (98-5), with Courtney Danielsen of Greenfield taking fifth (97-3).
Mohawk’s Lilly Wells captured two top-five finishes. Wells, a junior, took third in the 400 meters (1:01.34) and fifth in the 800 (2:26.12). Mohawk eighth-grader Jackie Wells, Lilly’s sister, came in third in the mile (5:36.60).
Two county girls finished in the top five in the 2-mile, as Meghan Davis of Mohawk (second, 11:40.75) and Amy O’Sullivan of Greenfield (fourth, 12:11.88) competed well in Buckland. Fiona Ferry of Frontier took fifth in the 100 hurdles (17.83).
In the relays, Mohawk took third in both the 4×400 (4:22.91) and the 4×800 (10:37.59).
Frontier finished third in the 4×100 (53.31)
The Mohawk girls were the highest-finishing Franklin County team at the end of the day, finishing fourth overall with 66 points in the 19-team field. Frontier Regional was eighth with 36 points while Mahar Regional was 12th with 27 points. South Hadley High School was the overall girls’ winner with 97 points.
In addition to Popusoi in the pole vault, three other Franklin County boys claimed the top spot in their respective events.
Seth Hoynoski captured the boys’ 400-meter hurdles on his home track. The Mohawk senior finished with a time of 57.71. He also placed in the triple jump, coming in third (39-8).
Owen Ortiz, a senior at Turners Falls High School who competes on the Franklin County Technical School co-op team, was the winner in the triple jump (42-11). Ortiz also finished third in the long jump (19-1¾).
Rounding out the local winners was Mahar shot-putter Nick Sharp. The junior’s winning throw measured in at 43 feet, 10¾ inches.
Other noteworthy results included:
• Ben White of Mohawk taking second in the 200 dash (24.15).
• Aaron Hendry of Mahar taking third in the 400 dash (53.14) and fifth overall in the 110 hurdles (17.72).
• Zach Coburn of Mohawk (2:04.32) and Ash Shaw of Mahar (2:06.80) taking fourth and fifth in the 800, with Shaw also placing in the high jump at 5-8, good enough to tie him for third place.
• Sebastian Shaw of Mahar (4:56.36) and Alex Sharp of Frontier (4:56.45) were third and fourth, respectively, in the boys’ mile, with Sharp also finishing third overall in the 2-mile (10:41.27).
• Franklin County pole vaulters swept the top five. In addition to Popusoi in first, David Giurgiu of Greenfield was second (12-6) overall. Jacob Kelton (11-0) and Curtis Gavin (10-6 on jumps), both of Pioneer, were third and fourth, while Camden Mosher of Mahar finished fifth after clearing 10-6.
• In addition to his win in the vault, Popusoi finished third in the 110 hurdles (16.55).
• Scott McDonough of Pioneer was second in the long jump (19-6¼).
• In discus, Andrew Pratt of Pioneer was second (119-2), and fourth place went to Hunter Gibson of Mohawk (110-2).
• John Demesh of Mohawk was third (139-8) and Justin Hubbard of Pioneer was fifth (135-10) in the javelin.
• Mason Barrieau of Athol was the runner-up in the 400 hurdles (57.84), while Hugo Frost of Mahar was third (59.75) in the event.
• In the relays, Greenfield won the 4×100 with a time of 45.47. Mohawk (46.47) was fourth. In the 4×400, top local teams were Mahar (second, 3:38.10) and Mohawk (third, 3:39.30).
Monson High School was the overall boys winner with a total of 114 points. Mahar took fifth overall (60.5 points) followed by Mohawk (sixth, 53 points), Greenfield (seventh, 37), Frontier (11th, 23) and Franklin Tech (13th, 16).