Goffstown’s Alex Leahy is about to heave the javelin downfield at Merrimack High School during the Class L Track and Field Championships. He finished 14th. (Goffstown News/Sapna Pathak)

By Sapna Pathak
Staff Writer

As Neighborhood athletes gathered at this year’s Class L Track and Field Championships, most had one thought in mind: performances should peak at this meet.

The theme was evident among coaches and their athletes at Merrimack High School on Saturday, May 27.

“Different workouts give different results,” said Salem senior Mike Holmberg. “Speed workouts will give results two weeks down the road, as opposed to long distance ones.”

Holmberg, who ran the 400-meter dash and the 4 X 400-meter relay, said he stopped lifting weights the week before the meet to avoid any extra strain on his muscles.

West girls head coach Leo Ducharme agreed with Holmberg, saying he lessens the intensity of team workouts the weeks leading up to the title meet. He places the focus on fine tuning skills with each athlete in specific events.

Tim McCormick heads up the boys of Manchester Central track. For the past two months, McCormick has been challenging his runners to high-mileage runs during practices. This differs from his original shorter runs at the start of the season.

McCormick said changing the workouts allows his athletes to peak for the championship meet, the Meet of Champions, and the New England regional meet.

Goffstown’s only female qualifier, Taryn Murphy said her coaches brought in event-specific coaches the week before the meet. Murphy, who competed in the javelin and high jump, said having specialized training helped pace her for the championships.

Crimson Tide head coach Barbara Higgins said her biggest challenge was adapting from 109 girls to 25 who competed at the meet. She said she cut out the team’s “generic” workouts and turned to more skill-specific routines.

Holmberg’s teammate, senior Justin Navarro, said he explained the reasoning behind the changes in pre-meet preparations to Salem’s underclassmen.

“You kind of have to be at your peak right now,” said Navarro. “So we went from a lot of long-distance running to more sprinting. This way you’ll see results in a quicker time and can change things up easier if you need.”

Auburn’s Stephanie Day represented the Manchester Memorial Crusaders. The sophomore looked to her senior teammate, Christina Bourbeau, to guide her until the championships.

Crusaders head coach Guy Guildford said Bourbeau and Day began their pole vault workouts indoors, but moved outdoors as the meet neared.

As the meet continued, Neighborhood mentors maintained their mantra: Proper planning opens the door to good results.

“This is when we peak,” said Ducharme. “This is when everyone peaks, so you can really expect some good events coming down to some close numbers.”

Memorial results

The Crusaders took home fifth place in boys competition with 47 points. Brian LaMarche and Jonathan Harkins finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 300-meter hurdles. Harkins came in first in the high jump with a jump of 6-4, and third in the pole vault with a height of 13-6. The 4 X 100-meter relay team crossed the finish line with a race time of 44.11 seconds, good for fourth place. A 3:33.53 finish in the 4 X 400-meter relay earned the Crusaders fifth place. Chris Lemieux came in fourth in the high jump, also at 6-4. David Irving placed fifth in the discus throw, and William Wrobel was second in the javelin.

For the girls, 23 team points earned the Crusaders 10th place. Mindy Hardy won the javelin with a distance of 116-9, while Charlene Dobson came in seventh. Defending Class L pole vault champion Christina Bourbeau placed fourth with a height of 9-0.

The Lady Crusaders 4 X 100 relay team finished fourth, the 4 X 800 team finished 11th, and the 4 X 400 team came in 16th. Kaley Griffin placed third in the 100-meter hurdles and eighth in the 300-meter hurdles.

Central results

The Little Green boys finished seventh in team competition with 33 points.

The 4 X 800-meter relay team took home first place with a time of 7:57.02, setting a new Class L state record. The boys 4 X 100-meter relay team finished fifth and the 4 X 400-meter relay team took sixth.

Aku Musafer came in fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.51. Alex Hall, with a time of 1:55.75, and Matt Paulson, who finished in 1:56.03, came in second and third, respectively, in the 800-meter run. Dante Vitigliano finished the 1,600 in 4:33.46, good for fifth place. Craig Brown came in fifth in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:59.51.

The girls team took fourth place with 39 points. Stacy DiSabato took second in the javelin with a distance of 114-6. Whitney Fremeau came in third in the high jump with an effort of 5-2. The girls 4 X 800 relay team came in second, finishing in 9:57.85. The 4 X 400 squad placed ninth, and the 4 X 100 team came in sixth. Melissa Guenther placed second in the 3,200-meter run, while Fremeau finished second in the 400-meter dash.

For a complete list of results, go to www.lancertiming.com.