Souhegan athletes and fans cheer on Tanner Kent as he runs a leg of the 4x400 relay during Sunday's Division II meet. For more photos, go to the Photo Album.
HANOVER – The Souhegan High School boys indoor track team had 13 individuals record points in Sunday’s Division II championship.
Far different from when the Sabers won their first title in 2010.
That year, Souhegan had a sprinter by the name of Michael Peret who scored 40 points on his own and the Sabers tied Lebanon with 50 points. This year, the Sabers scored 87 points and cruised past second-place Oyster River (60) to win the championship at Dartmouth College in Hanover. Merrimack Valley came in third with 30 points and Goffstown was fourth with 28 points. Milford came in ninth with 14 points and Bedford was 10th with 13.
Souhegan won just two individual events and took first in all three relays, but got plenty of support from its depth in the middle distance events.
“We have depth in every middle distance event and we piled up some points that other teams have trouble getting,” Souhegan coach John Eastman said. “I think the key is that most of them ran cross country together. But there, you run only one event. In the winter, you’re sixth-place guy (in cross country) might be your best guy in the 1,500, and someone else might be the best in the 600 and someone else might be the best in the 3,000.”
Souhegan's Ben DeForest clears the final hurdle during the 55-meter hurdles.
Ben DeForest won the 55-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.17 seconds, and Bert DeForest came in first in the 600 in a time of 1:25.30. The Sabers showed their depth in that event, as Jacob Kittredge was second in the 600 while Nathan Kittredge was fourth and Drew Prescott came in sixth.
Souhegan also had two runners place in the 1,500, with Eli Moskowitz coming in fourth and Patrick Lynch taking sixth. Lynch was also fifth in the 1,000.
Ryan Hinrichs came in third in the 3,000 while Chris Chininis took fourth in the 55, James Tabor was fourth in the shot put and Ryan Sickler came in fifth in the 300. Ben DeForsest also came in sixth in the high jump, while the Sabers took first in the 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 relays.
Milford’s Jarad Asselin and Parker Lyttle finished second and third, respectively, in the high jump, and Bedford’s Joseph Thibeault won the shot put.
Bow’s Jonathan Vinnenberg turned in a stellar performance, winning both the 1,000 and the 1,500 and setting a division record in both. Ethan Druskat of Oyster River also set a division record in winning the 55 , and also took first in the 300.