Track & field: Concord’s Goulas and Barton; Coe-Brown’s Bistany, Cox and Demas win state titles at Meet of Champions
Published: 06-04-2023 5:22 PM |
Last weekend area track and field athletes established themselves as the best in their division. On Saturday they battled to be the best in the state. Now, some of them will compete against the best in New England.
Concord’s Ella Goulas and Kendall Barton, and Coe-Brown’s Aidan Cox, Gavin Demas and Zachary Bistany won state titles, and even more qualified for New Englands via top-six finishes, at Saturday’s NHIAA Meet of Champions held at Oyster River High School in Durham.
Goulas, a sophomore, cleared 5 feet, 3 inches in a jump off against Spaulding’s Hannah Drew and Bedford’s Grace Crowder, to win the high jump title. Goulas also qualified for New Englands in the triple jump with a third-place finish.
Barton, a junior, also needed a jump off to earn her title, clearing 10 feet. Londonderry’s Marline Fitzgerald and Amanda Robinson were tied with Barton through regular competition at 9-6.
Concord junior Morgan Doherty (second 100 hurdles), senior Katie Muller (fourth 300 hurdles) and junior Chloe Gudas (sixth 800) also qualified for New Englands as individuals, while the Tide’s third-place 4x400-meter relay of Katie Muller, Maddie Muller, Molly Nyhan and Gudas, and the sixth-place 4x100 of Caroline Quirk, Grace Saysaw, Rachel Gridley and Caroline Cooper also advanced.
Coe-Brown seniors Anushka Chavda (third 100, sixth 200) and Madeleine Grenier (third discus), sophomore Emma Zeblisky (fifth javelin) and the fifth-place 4x800 of Samantha Perron, Anna Bergeron, Mallory Taylor and Paige Murdough advanced for the Bears.
Other area girls qualifying for New Englands were Bow senior Maya Brochu (second 3,200), Kearsarge junior Molly Ellison (third 1,600) and freshman Maelle Jacques (fourth 1,600), Hopkinton’s third-place 4x800 (Reese Bove, Hannah Bennett, Shaylee Murdough and Sofia Upton) and Grace Hall (fifth triple jump), Belmont sophomore Adeline Takantjas (fourth triple jump), Merrimack Valley senior Victoria Leak (fourth discus), Pembroke senior Natalie Longacre (fourth javelin) and Winnisquam senior Becca Kulengosky (fifth shot put).
For the boys, Demas, a senior, clocked a 1:55.08 in the 800 meters, and Cox claimed yet another state title in this final NHIAA meet, winning the 3,200 in 9:00.32.
Article continues after...
Yesterday's Most Read Articles
Demas also ran the anchor leg of Coe-Brown’s title-winning 4x800 relay, finishing off an 8:09.38 performance with juniors Sanjith Nomula and Jamie Lano, and senior Ben Robinson.
Bistany, a senior, won the discus with a toss of 153-4, more than 9 feet farther than the runner-up.
Coe-Brown senior Tyler Tkaczyk (fourth 3,200), Lano (sixth 800), junior Elias Warner (sixth discus), and third-place 4x400 of Matt Corriveau (fifth long jump), Robinson, Lano and Demas also qualified.
Concord’s third-place 4x100 of Deagan Hines and Tim Fahnbulleh (both freshman), Jackson Borkush and Quinn Marino, and junior Alain Twite (second triple jump), sophomore Colby Nyhan (second pole vault) and senior Sam Foulds (third discus) advanced to New Englands for the Tide.
Bishop Brady senior Josh Gentchos finished second in the 100, sixth in the 200 and ran on the fourth-place 4x100 relay with Chris Messmore, Alan Yap and Jack Beauchesne.
Winnisquam senior Aidan Donahue (third high jump), Bow junior Ben McDowell (fourth pole vault) and John Stark sophomore Rio Calle (fourth long jump) round out the area qualifiers.
New Englands will be held on Saturday at Cameron Stadium in Bangor, Maine.