Campbell senior Tori Allen is all smiles, celbrating her win in the state Heptathlon with her coach, Jen Platt, at Nashua North on Friday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Campbell High School senior Tori Allen was running the last lap of the 800 meter run, the last event in Friday’s 44th State Heptathlon when she turned to her chief competition, Nashua North’s Olivia Mazerolle.

“We’re coming around the corner, and she goes, ‘C’mon, Liv, you’ve got to come with me,'” Mazerolle said. “And I said, ‘Tori, I don’t think I can. You take it away.'”

And that’s exactly what Allen did, winning her heat in the 800 in a time of 2:42.19 and the 548 points to go with it to pass by Mazerolle and win the Heptathlon, 3,728 points to Mazerolle’s second place 3,597.

It was the last two events that did it, as Allen blew the field away in the javelin with a throw of 108 feet, nine inches for 537 points, and that surged her ahead of Mazerolle 3,180-3,153, as Mazerolle was sixth in the jav. Luehrs had faded back to third after finishing 27th in the javelin.

And then she grabbed 548 points in the 800 finishing sixth, while Mazerolle was 15th. Game, set, match.

Nashua South’s Madeline Stevens had an impressive showing to finish third with 3,444 points, ahead of Plymouth’s Katherin Luehrs (3,406) who took fourth. April Weeks of Portsmouth rounded out the top five at 3,245.

But the Campbell senior reached for her inner Allen, even while thinking a top three finish overall would be nice.

“Something came out of me in jav, and something bigger came out of me in the 800,” she said. “I just went with it.”

Allen didn’t expect to win it this weekend, feeling Mazerolle would be too tough to beat.

“In the javelin, I was just excited, I practiced all season to be good at javelin, that was my goal,” Allen, who will compete at Southern New Hampshire University next year, said. “The 800, I was ready three weeks ago. I had no clue how it was going to work out.”

Thus in that final event she tried to channel what she learned from watching her brother, former Cougar Jeff Allen, now at UMass-Lowell. It worked.

And former Cougars AD Jarod Mills came back to work with Allen in the javelin this spring, and it paid off.

“She broke the school record,” Cougars coach Jen Platt said. “And the 800, she’s not a mid-distance or a distance runner. Tori just decided she was going to see what she had in her. That was awesome, she did a great job.”

Allen finished fourth in the 100 hurdles (16.87 seconds), 10th in the 200 meters (28.98), second in the high jump (5-1.75), 13th in the shot put (23-11.50), fifth in the long jump (14-8), and all that put her fourth with 2,643 points, trailing the leader at the time, Luehrs,who had 2,771 going into those final two events, the javelin and the 800.

Mazerolle, the Titans junior, was also second in 2019. Yesterday she finished ninth in the 100 meters (18.11), fourth in the 200 (27.76), she won the high jump (5-3.75), seventh in shot (25-7.50), and won the long jump (15-6).

“I was very impressed with (Allen) in the 800,” Mazerolle said of Allen. “I knew it was going to be rough, especially with everything in one day.

“I was going for it today, but Tori’s a senior, she deserves it, I’m very happy for her.”

Stevens was also impressive, her day highlighted by a win in the 200 (26.52), a third in the high jump and a fourth in the 800, which ironically was won by her Panther teammate Nadia Zhecheva in 2:30.91. Zhecheva finished 12th overall.

“I think as a senior, and it’s been a couple of years since she’s been able to compete in this event, but she stayed focused all day,” South coach Doug Booth said of Stevens. “She knew what she had to do to try to get into the top five. For her to finish in the position she finished, I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

Other top locals included Bishop Guertin’s Kathleen Messer, who was seventh with 3,153 points, just ahead of eight place Nashua North’s Isabel Di Vernieri (2,988)

But they were all behind Allen, who had a great season in basketball in the winter as well.

“She’s just like an all-around, awesome athlete,” Platt said.

And that’s who usually wins the State Heptathlon, right?

DECATHLON TODAY

Today (Saturday) at North is the boys day with the 64th State Decathlon, but unlike the girls it will be a two-day event beginning at 8 a.m.with the 100 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400 meter run.

It will wind up on Sunday with the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and1500 meter run.

All complete results from today’s even and throughout the weekend can be found at www.northstartiming.com.

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