Outdoor track: Hampshire Regional hosts area squads at Western Mass. Class S championships

WESTHAMPTON — Area track & field athletes converged on chilly Michael Dorunda Field for the Western Mass. Class S championships on Friday night.

The Hampshire Regional girls team finished in second place with 93 points. Nobody came close to Mount Greylock, who won the Western Mass. Class S team championship with an astonishing 165.5 points. Frontier Regional placed third (56.5) while Mohawk Trail came in tied for fourth (46) with Monson.

South Hadley was seventh with 40 points. Easthampton finished tied for eighth with 33 points. Greenfield (13th) Mahar Regional (14th) Belchertown (16th) Pioneer (19th) and Athol (20th) rounded out the local teams.

Brooke Hockenberry led the way for the Raiders, with wins in the 800-meter (2:22.34) and the mile (5:15.18). Hockenberry did not perform to her expectations in the mile.

“I was struggling without people in front of me a little bit,” Hockenberry said. “I wasn’t where I wanted to be. Next week at the divisional meet it is very good competition. A big pack of them right in front of me.”

Hampshire’s 4×400 relay team of Keegan Butler, Bethany Tobiasz, Elisabeth Sturtevant and Hockenberry placed second (4:17.18). Also in the relays was Charlotte Niswonger, Kathleen Barry, Ada Corner and Charlotte Letendre placing second (10:28.10) in the 4×800. Caitlyn Packey grabbed six points in the shot put for the Raiders with a third place (30-11) finish.

Meghan Wood scored a personal best (34-02.50) in the triple jump for the Raiders. The eighth grader landed in second place for Hampshire.

Stellina Moore of Mahar Regional registered a personal best (10-6) in the pole vault. The vault was good for a first-place finish for the Senators. Hampshire Regional’s Sarah Hultman came in third (9-6). Zephyr Jetzon secured a first place (15-07.75) medal in the long jump for Mohawk.

“Honestly it was not my best at all,” Jetzon said. “It was everyone doing bad around me. My first three jumps were bad. I just had to get my marks right and it got cold. But I feel good. It’s first place. So, it’s okay.”

Morgan Wijnhoven placed third (13.18) in the 100-meter and second (1:00.90) in the 400-meter for Easthampton. Greenfield’s Kyra Tamsin excelled in the hurdles for the Green Wave. Tamsin was third (17.31) in the 100-hurdles and second (1:07.94) in the 400-hurdles. The run in the 400-hurdles was a school record.

In the discus, local teams swept the top three positions. Morgan Raffa of Mohawk was first (99-05), Bailey Cusson of Frontier was second (88-09) and Juliana Wijnhoven of Easthampton placed third (82-09). Louise Flagollet placed second (five feet) in the high jump for the Redhawks. Teammate Maia Christensen was third (five feet).

South Hadley’s Natalie Rios won the javelin (122-04) for the Tigers.

Final team scores were not immediately available for boys. As of publication time, Mount Greylock was in first place with 88 points with the pole vault still ongoing. The South Hadley boys team was second 65 while Frontier Regional was fourth with 61 points. Greenfield (sixth), Hampshire (ninth), Athol (11th), Belchertgown (15th), Mohawk (15th), Pioneer (19th), Mahar (21st) and Easthampton (21st) rounded out the standings.

Two teammates swept first and second place in both the mile the 2-mile for Frontier Regional. Evan Hedlund placed first (4:31.35) while Luke Howard finished second (4:31.40) in the mile. The teammates finished side by side, celebrating at the finish line. The two train together relentlessly.

“It’s starts with training,” Hedlund said. “We’ve been training together for a really long time. Since I was in seventh grade and he was in eighth grade. We are always in similar shape. We see each other every day. When you race someone there’s that sense of familiarity. We are both in the race together. Going for one and two…there’s more urgency if I was just out there alone.”

Luke Howard pulled out the win in the 2-mile (9:37.65), with Hedlund right behind him (9:39.41). Both runs were personal bests for the distance runners.

“At practice it’s great because we have similar workouts,” Howard said. “A win for one of us is a win for both of us. It’s always great to see us go one-two.”

The duo wasn’t finished there, the tandem of Hedlund, Howard along with Dean Gray and Adrien Pazmandy placed first in the 4×800 relay.

Athol’s Nicholas LeBlanc crushed the competition in the discus, placing first (156-11) by 13 feet. LeBlanc also placed second (44-1.75) in the shot put.

Mason Youmell won two events for the Green Wave. Youmell won the 110-hurdles (15.53), the 400-hurdles (56.37, PB) and as of publication time was still participating in the pole vault.

“Great PR for the hurdles,” Youmell said. “By about a half a second. I feel great about that. I think I did pretty good. I am happy I got first; it’s a good way to close out the league. “

Greenfield’s Jack Laurie won the javelin (158-03) by two inches over Mount Greylock’s Ward Bianchi. Kymel Ramsey placed third (11:28) in the 100-meter for Greenfield. Oscar Schiff (2:04.23) and Owen Cubi (2:04.64) were second and third in the 800-meter, respectively, for Hampshire. South Hadley’s 4×400 relay team of Anthony Adams, Chase Pecia, Ari Alatalo and Matt Gillis placed second (3:31.70).

Gillis added a second-place finish (44-03.25) the in the triple jump.