The seven-meet sprint that is the PVIAC Indoor Track regular season shifts to the postseason tonight.
The locals will have their hands full at Smith College in Northampton, when the PVIAC Individual Championship kicks off at 6 p.m. The event serves as the de facto WMass Championship without Berkshire County schools in the mix, pitting athletes against one another from schools both large and small.
The Recorder-area schools had just one champion in last year’s PVIAC Championship, when Athol’s Kris Selanis capped a perfect indoor season with a title in the shot put.
Several of this year’s crop of local athletes hope they can put themselves in the conversation to also take home a championship.
While there aren’t any No. 1 seeds from the area, a pair of senior standouts are in solid position to compete for individual wins. Pioneer Valley Regional School’s Scott McDonough is the No. 2 seed in the boys long jump, as his season-best leap of 21 feet, 9¼ inches is behind only Carter Rosewell of Longmeadow (22-2½). McDonough finished sixth in the event a year ago. Athol’s Mason Barrieau is also seeded second, and he’ll look to challenge for a title in the 600 meters with a qualifying time of 1:25.97. Northampton’s Ethan Cooper is the top-seeded runner in that field, entering with a top time of 1:22.73. Barrieau is also seeded eighth in the 55-meter hurdles.
Mohawk senior Meghan Davis will certainly be one to watch tonight. The distance standout, who posted a pair of third-place finishes at last year’s PVIAC Championship, is seeded fourth in both the mile and 2-mile in her final winter season as a Warrior. Pope Francis’ Emily Boutin is the No. 1 seed in the mile field, while Northampton’s Mary Yount enters as the No. 1 runner in the 2-mile.
A large contingent of local runners join Davis in the 2-mile field. Mahar seventh-grader Carra Fitzgerald is seeded fifth, with Greenfield’s Lulu Calame and Mohawk’s Erica Szewczyk also expected to run. Fitzgerald and Szewczyk each qualified for the mile and 2-mile fields in tonight’s race.
Greenfield junior Crescens Iavorschi qualified for PVIACs in three different events. His highest-seeded race is the 55 meters, where he enters as the No. 5 seed in the field. Iavorschi is also in the mix in both the long jump and 300 meters.
Fellow Green Wave competitior Victoria Marin is also a three-event qualifier. The sophomore is the No. 6 seed in the long jump, No. 7 seed in the high jump, and No. 9 seed in the 55-meter hurdles.
Versatile Mahar junior Kamryn Reilly is also entered in three events. Reilly, who nabbed a pair of top 10 finishes last year, is seeded sixth in both the 55 meters and the high jump, as well as seventh in the long jump.
Athol junior Grace Dufour rounds out the multi-event qualifiers, and she’s entered in both the long jump and 300 meters.
Other top 10 seeds entering tonight’s meet include: Mahar’s Chloe Taddeo (9th, shot put), Mahar’s Anna Wetherbee (10th, long jump), Greenfield’s Theodor Popusoi (9th, 55-meter hurdles), Athol’s Dennis St. Jean (8th, 1000 meters) and Mahar’s Emma Savoy (8th, 1000 meters).
The highest-seeded local relay team comes from the girls 4×800, where Mohawk is seeded seventh with a qualifying time of 10:50.40. Top-seeded Amherst sits with a top time of 10:09.39.
Mohawk was the top local girls team in last year’s event, finishing in 10th place, while Greenfield took 12th. South Hadley was the champion on the girls side.
On the boys side, Athol was ninth and Mahar was 10th behind champion Northampton.
Following tonight’s meet, qualified athletes will next compete in the MIAA Div. 5 Championship. That event is set for Wednesday at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston. The All-State Championship is Feb. 23, also at the Reggie Lewis.