HANOVER — A potential three-way battle for the Division II boys indoor track championship among Oyster River, Portsmouth and Windham never materialized.
Instead, a Windham runaway happened.
The Jaguars won the D-II title with 79 points, easily outdistancing the runner-up Clippers (53) and the third-place Bobcats (41). Coe-Brown (33) and Merrimack Valley (26) rounded out the top five Sunday at Dartmouth College.
The girls championship was a two-horse race with Souhegan edging Milford, 67-65. Manchester West (49) was third, while Portsmouth (43) and Oyster River (36) rounded out the top five.
It came down the the last event with Souhegan winning the girls 4x200-meter relay, edging Portsmouth at the finish by 3/100ths of a second in 1:51.70. Had Portsmouth won, Souhegan and Milford would have shared the title.
On the boys' side, Clippers coach Mike Lyford was in awe of Windham’s performance
“Windham had a great day," he said. "They maxed out their points. They performed where they needed to. They were exceptional. The sprints they were great. They were great all around. They had it today.”
The 4x400 relay won in 3:35.34 with Brian O’Malley, Ryan Prinz, Spencer Leger and Jacob Grant.
That was the only win, but Prinz was second in the 600, Will Fahey was second in the 55-hurdles and third in the high jump, Cam Duncan was third in the long jump, and the 4x200 relay was third and the 4x800 took fourth.
“We had a good day,” Lyford added. “This is about what I thought we were going to do. I was hoping to do a little better. Even at our best we top out below what Windham did.”
Other local winners included Oyster River’s Kieran Murphy in the 3,000 (9:07.42), catching Merrimack Valley’s David Reynolds with a late kick. He was also third in the 1,500.
Coe-Brown’s Orion Clachar won the 55-hurdles in 7.91 seconds. He was also fourth in the 55-dash and sixth in the 300. C-B’s 4x800 relay took first in 8:37.48 with Luke Tkaczyk, Porter Heigis, Wyatt Mackey and Evan Tanguay.
Those shining on the girls’ side were Oyster River’s Devan McClain and Portsmouth’s Acadia Momm-White.
McClain won the 55-dash title in a personal best time of 7.34 seconds over West’s Corinne Robitaille and Momm-White. She was also fourth in the 300, while running a leg of the 4x400 relay, which won the title for the third straight year and McClain has been part of each title. The other legs were run by Laurel Gordon, Evelyn Fischer and Amelia Concannon.
“Looking at those prelim times I was a little nervous at first,” said McClain of the 55-dash, where the top three were separated by 2/100ths of a second. “But at the same time I’ve been on an upward trajectory during the season; my times kept improving. I PR-ed in my prelim and PR-ed again in the final. It was a really good day for me in the dash.”
McClain also ran a leg of the top-seeded 4x200 relay that placed sixth. A late baton drop with the Bobcats leading the race ended a shot at a third straight title in that event.
“I’m so proud of the way we ran on that one,” McClain said. “I think it’s really hard to come back from something like that. But still to be able to turn around and keep running, especially with all the work we put in, I’m so proud of these girls.”
Momm-White won the title in the 55 hurdles in 8.97 seconds. She was also fifth in the long jump as well as third in the 55 dash.
Other locals to place in the top three on the girls' side included Oyster River’s Concannon (300, third), Newmarket’s Camryn Young (600, third, setting a new school record in 1:42.93), Coe-Brown's 4x800 relay (second), Portsmouth’s 4x800 relay (third), St. Thomas’ Mady Buchalski (shot put, second) and Coe-Brown’s Kathleen Collins (shot put, third).
For the boys, Coe-Brown’s Tanguay was third in the 3,000; Oyster River was second in the 4x200 relay, and Portsmouth was third in the 4x200 relay.