Mohawk Trail Regional High School flexed its muscle in the distance events and then came through with a victory in the final event of the day — the 4 x 400 meter relay — to win its fourth consecutive league championship with a 73-72 victory over Mahar Regional School in an Intercounty League girls’ track & field meet Monday afternoon at the Woodward Complex in Orange.
Mahar, which never trailed from the onset of the meet, held a 72-59 lead heading into the final two events of the day, the 2-mile and the 4 x 400 relay. The Senators (5-1), who came into the day tied with Mohawk (6-0) atop the IL standings, needed one point to clinch the title and unseat the Warriors. The problem was that Mohawk had already swept all nine points in the mile, and Mahar had to pull its top distance runner out of the 2-mile due to an injury. That left the door open for the Warriors and Meghan Davis (12 minutes, 7.8 seconds), Jackie Wells (13:10.4) and Olivia Parent (13:32.4) took the top three spots to earn the nine points that pulled Mohawk to within 72-68 heading into the relay, which is worth five points.
In the relay, Lily Shearer, Lilly Wells, Alexis Parent and Lucy Carr finished in 4:22.9 to beat Mahar by 16 seconds and pick up the five points needed to complete the comeback.
“The distance events are our strength,” Mohawk coach Joe Chadwick said. “We never led until the end, but the kids never gave up. Each event, we kept trying and trying. It was just a great meet. Whenever you go against a team coached by the Woodward’s, whether it’s Sarah or her father Jim, it’s just incredible. They have such well-coached kids.”
Both teams ran season-best times in the 4 x 400. The 4:36 run by the Senators was 15 seconds better than their average time in the event, and Mahar coach Sarah Woodward said she was pleased with her team despite the loss.
“My team did really amazing today, we had a ton of PRs and people qualified for WMass who hadn’t already qualified,” she said.
The Mohawk trio of distance runners also swept the mile as Davis won in 5:34.8 and was followed by Wells (5:38.7) and Parent (5:41). Lily Shearer swept the hurdles for Mohawk as she won the 100 highs in 18.3 seconds, and the 400 lows in 73.6 seconds. The Mohawk throwers also had a solid day as Mohawk won all three throwing events. Gabby Shean won the shot put (31-¼) and the javelin (83-6), amd Voilet Rawlings won the discus (88-0). Lilly Wells picked up a win in the 400 (60.8), and Jackie Wells placed second in the 800 in 2:35.9.
Kamryn Reilly won three events for Mahar taking the long jump (15-10), 100 (13.1) and 200 (27.5). Sister Kianna Reilly won the high jump (4-4) and the triple jump (32-9¼). Sienna Moore captured the pole vault (7-9) for Mahar, and Anna Wetherbee won the 800 (2:32.2). Mahar’s Kianna Reilly, Delaney Parker, Carissa Johnson and Kamryn Reilly won the 4 x 100 in 54.6 seconds.
Frontier 74, Southwick 62 — On a day where everyone needed to step up, Frontier Regional School received enough big performances to get to a huge win on Monday.
The visiting Red Hawks clinched a share of the Suburban League regular season title, edging Southwick-Tolland Regional High School, 74-62, in a battle of two top teams in Southwick.
“A lot of people came through with seconds and thirds that we really needed,” lauded Frontier coach Bob Smith.
Lisa Portier won two events for Frontier (5-1, 5-1), taking first in the triple jump (31 feet, 7 inches) and shot put (26-5¾). Jenna Martin also snagged two wins, crossing first in the 400 hurdles (76.3 seconds) and leaping to the top spot in the high jump (4-10).
Freshman Olivia Vecellio won key points with a victory in the discus (89-9), while Reilly Isler took the win in the javelin (80-9). Kimani Topoloski-Burgess (200, 27.6) and Fiona Ferry (100 hurdles, 17.7) rounded out the individual winners for the Hawks, which also took a rare win in the 4×400 relay (4:47.5).
The victory ensures Frontier a share of the SL title, as it will split the crown with South Hadley High School thanks to identical 5-1 marks.
Ortiz wins two Voke titles
Franklin County Technical School’s Owen Ortiz won both the long jump and triple jump during the State Vocational Track & Field Championships Monday afternoon at Blue Hills Regional Vocational Technical High School in Canton.
Ortiz leapt 42-6 to win the triple jump, and 20-7 to win the long jump. He also placed eighth in the 100 meter with a time of 11.8 seconds. Teammate Ricky Smith PR’d in the shot put with a throw of 38-8 and finished fifth on the day, while Dalton Wesoloski threw a PR of 37-2 in the shot and placed 12th. Wesoloski also teamed up with Spencer Telega, Joel Farrick and Ortiz to place 10th in the 4 x 100 in 48.83.
Lenox 5, Mohawk 0 — Emelia Seaver played well at third singles but fell 6-3, 6-3 to Morgan Hayden and Mohawk dropped a 5-0 decision to Lenox Memorial High School in an independent girls’ tennis match Monday in Lenox.
Lilly Seaver fell to Victoria Vittori 6-1, 6-1 at first singles, and Mary Monohon dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Alex Trousilek at second singles.
Corinne Freeman and Eva Markham fell to Sarah Barron and Isabelle Colon 6-2, 6-0 at first doubles.
Mohawk hosts Pioneer Valley Christian Academy today in Buckland.