Nashua North's Eric Muite took first in the 110-meter hurdles at the Class L meet.
MERRIMACK – It was easy to spot Eric Muite during and after the finals of the 110-meter hurdles at the Class L track and field championship on Friday.
Throughout the race, the Nashua High School North junior was the lone participant not popping up every time he leapt over a hurdle.
After the race was a different story.
When he crossed the finish line first, Muite turned to look at his time on the giant digital clock. Seeing something that he liked, Muite began to celebrate, skipping and yelling as he raised a fist toward his North teammates who were watching.
“It’s a big day for our school and everyone out here,” Muite said when explaining his excitement. “This is what we work for all year. All the other meets throughout the year, all the times I’ve been cutting down, it was for this one meet.”
With perhaps one of the smoothest strides a high school hurdler can have, Muite was the only hurdler to break 15 seconds (14.83 in the final) on the day. In fact, his time of 15.23 in the prelims was topped only by Timberlane’s Jarret McKallagat, who was second overall and ran 15.02 in the final.
Being on the big stage made Muite a little more nervous than he might normally be, but he was able to keep it from getting to him
“I was just nervous in general, just being in these surroundings, this environment,” he said. “A little nervous, but I was pretty confident. I knew I was coming to win it. I put a lot of work into what I do. I worked pretty hard, I practice every day and I put a lot of work in in the weight room.”
Getting to the final was the first step, and Muite was able to do that without using up too much energy. Once he saw the rest of the field, Muite had an idea of what to expect. From there, it was time for him to go to work.
“I knew who I was expecting in the final,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen. I knew what I had to do.”
Muite also finished third in the 300 hurdles, and although he felt like he could have finished better in that race, getting points for the Titans was what was really important.
“Got us some points,” he said. “I was glad to help my team out, too.”