H.S. Roundup: Greenfield track & field teams sweep tri-meet with Pioneer Valley, Athol

The Greenfield track & field teams hosted Pioneer Valley Regional and Athol in a tri-meet amidst cool and cloudy conditions on Thursday.

Beginning with the boys meets, Greenfield defeated Pioneer (129-15) and Athol (119-26). Ryan Spofford placed first in both meets in the 2-mile (10:26.8) and the 800-meter. Spofford also ran the final leg of the 4×400 at a blistering pace.

“It comes down to the training,” Spofford said. “It’s like 50 miles a week of running…you have to mentally push through and keep going.”

Mason Youmell also cruised past the competition in both meets in multiple events. Youmell won the pole vault (12 feet), the triple jump (40-3.5), the 110 hurdles and the 400-hurdles (59 seconds).

In an event that garnered some attention from teammates and fans, Jack Laurie of Greenfield gave Pioneer’s Carter Berthiaume some serious competition in the high jump. Both Laurie and Berthiaume cleared six feet but neither cleared six feet, two inches in three attempts. One failed attempt at five feet, eight inches for Laurie gave Berthiaume the narrow win.

At one point, Laurie jogged over to the javelin area to avoid disqualification in that event. After throwing a javelin 156 feet and six inches, Laurie changed his shoes and returned to the high jump. Berthiaume also had to throw the javelin in a hurried fashion. Berthiaume has goals for the season.

“It was coincidental because I had to do javelin right before jumping,” Berthiaume said. “Right now I am looking for the school record. I already hold the indoor one. I want to hold both of them”

Laurie’s throw was good for first place in the javelin. The senior also won the 100-meter (11.4) for the Green Wave. For Athol, the powerful Nicholas LeBlanc could not be touched in the discus and the shot put. In the discus, LeBlanc’s throw of 130 feet and 11 inches beat the competition by around 40 feet.

“I just try to throw far,” LeBlanc said. “Think far, throw far. There’s not really a specific way I train. I always just try to throw far. Discus is my current favorite. It’s something I fell in love with when I first started. It caught my eye. Didn’t think I would fall in love with it so quickly.”

Athol’s Karim Thompson won in (128-9) in the long jump. Pioneer outlasted Athol, 47-34, in the other meet.

Girls track & field

Greenfield 95, Athol 39; Greenfield 100, Pioneer 36; — Kyra Tamsin was a multiple event winner in the Green Wave’s wins over the Bears and the Panthers. Tamsin took first in the 400-hurdles and the 110-hurdles. Tamsin recently got the school record in the 400-hurdles (1:08).

“I was a pretty strong meet,” Tamsin said. “Not my best work. Overall I felt like I did pretty well. Maybe work a little harder in practice, hurdle some more.”

Harper Hake got the win over Greenfield in the 800-meter. Nina St. Clair won the triple jump and thew long jump for Greenfield. Pioneer’s Serenity Brown won the javelin.

Pioneer 61, Athol 50 — Addison Chapin’s versatile performance helped the Panthers get past the Bears. Chapin won the long jump and the 200-meter for Pioneer.

Piper Bailey won an uncontested high jump event for the Bears, jumping four, feet four inches. Kamyra Clark and Maliah Clark won the shot put and discus, respectively for Athol. Maliah Clark added another win in the 100-meter.

Baseball

Monson 13, Mahar 2 — The Mustangs pounded 13 hits in the Bi-County win over the Senators in Orange. Mahar (2-8, 1-5) produced four hits in the loss.

Volleyball

East Longmeadow 3, Frontier 0 — The Spartans swept the Redhawks in East Longmeadow. Set scores were 25-19, 25-15 and 25-23. Nate Rivera had 16 kills and 10 digs for the Redhawks. Ethan Rivera had 24 assists.

Late Wednesday results

Frontier 10, Turners Falls 7 — The Redhawks held off the Thunder in a Suburban East match up in Montague. Braiden Dion went 2-for-4 with two RBI for Frontier (11-2, 7-1). Jack Cusson, Brady Poreda, Henry Drinker and Austin D’Urso each added two hits. Kainen Stevens had two hits with two RBI and two runs scored for the Thunder (2-7, 1-5). Liam Kerivan went 4-for-4 with an RBI. Joey Hutkoski got the win on the mound with five strikeouts.