Merrimack boys take second at D1 indoor track championship

HANOVER – The Merrimack High School boys track team knew it was going to be a tough to win the Division I indoor championship.

With two events left Sunday, it was going to take a near miracle.

The Tomahawks trailed Pinkerton by 12 points entering the 4x400-meter relay, and with the Astros running in the slowest heat, Merrimack knew it had a chance.

“We were down by 12 going into the relays and I said we’ve got to win the 4x400 and hope that Pinkerton doesn’t score,” Merrimack coach John Snell said. “We won, but they got sixth, so it was a three-point meet.”

Merrimack needed to win the 4x200 relay – and out of the second heat – and hope the Astros finished no better than third. The ’Hawks did their part, setting a school record with  a time of 1:33.96, but it wasn’t enough, as Pinkerton won the event in 1:33.3, and the meet, 68-63.

“We’ve got to win it out of that,” Snell said. “Pinkerton just ran faster.

“We had a great performance. We thought if we had a really good meet, we’d scored 55 points; we scored 63 points. Everybody on our team had a great day. I can’t complain.”

Nashua North, Bishop Guertin and Londonderry finished in a three-way tie for third with 40 points, while Nashua South took sixth with 23 points.

Merrimack got a first-place finish from Chaz Myers (35.83) in the 300, where he edged out Pinkerton’s Emmitt Smith (37.14). The two also placed in the 55, with Smith taking third and Myers finishing fifth.

Merrimack’s Devin Martin was also third in the 300, and took first in the long jump with a leap of 21-0. Alex Doyle also won the 55 hurdles in 8.18, while John Conlin came in fifth in the 600 and Chris Busby finished sixth in the 1,000. Merrimack also placed fourth in the 4x800.

North got a first-place finish from Devin Motivala in the 1,000, as he came in with a time of 2:35.45. Mike Lynch (second) and Deric Wagner (fourth) both placed in the shot put, while Brandon Davis-O’Donnell was third in the 1,500.

Andrew Dwyer took fourth in the 55 hurdles and Craig Hammond came in fifth in the 3,000, while North’s 4x200 relay team finished third.

Bishop Guertin got second-place finishes from Kent Horsley (600) and Chris Cogliano (1,000) while Brody Smith came in third in the long jump. Griffin Gangon was fourth in the 1,500 while Brandon Latham turned in a fourth-place finish in the 3,000. The Cardinals also placed third in the 4x800 and fourth in the 4x400.

Kevin Shea led South with a first-place finish in the high jump, tying a division record by clearing 6-6. He also came in second in the 55 hurdles. Keith Guay also placed in the high jump, coming in fifth, while Shawn DeCost took sixth in the 55. The Panthers’ 4x200 relay team came in fifth.

Alvirne got all of its points from Aaron Bellomo’s second-place finish in the 1,500.