Winnacunnet's Oliver Duffy is all smiles during the second day Sunday of the 67th annual NH Decathlon at Nashua South. Duffy won going away with 5,648 points, 560 points ahead of the nearest competitor. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Oliver Duffy, by his own words, had a long weekend. But a productive one.

That’s because the Winnacunnet High School senior was crowned the 67th annual New Hampshire Decathlon champion Sunday at Nashua South’s Fran Tate Track.

“The weekend was very, very, very, very, very very, very long,” Duffy said after recovering from the 1500 meter run. “Couple new events I had to learn. Mainly the throws didn’t go as planned, but I’m happy with my performances. … I had a lot of fun. Great energy here.”

Well, this Warrior certainly had some. Duffy, who will run track at the University of Kansas next year, finished with 5,648 points, well ahead of Phillips Exeter’s Dan Mussulman (5,088) and third place finisher Peter Hogan of Mount Royal (4,966).

The top local was right behind them, Nashua South’s Barion Perry, who had 4,961 points. Nashua North’s Gavin Suchecki was also a top 10 local, finishing seventh at 4,754 while South’s Ethan Schnyer was ninth at 4,620. Schnyer was second after the first day.

Also in the top 20 locally were Souhegan’s Cole Henderson (15th, 4,4401), South’s Preston Bois (17th, 4,366) and North’s Darius Smith (19th, 4,330).

Duffy had a slim lead over Schnyer of 137 points after Saturday’s Day 1, but he began Sunday with a big win in the 110 hurdles in 15.77 seconds, and that’s when he began to pull away. He held his own in the discus, finishing 24th – Nashua South’s Elyza Mercado (47.32 meters) and Smith (42.04) were actually one-two. While his teammate, Wyatt Patterson cleared 15 feet to win the pole vault (4.60 meters), Duffy was tied for fifth with Nashua South’s Preston Bois and Plymouth’s Gabriel Kean and Merrimack Valley’s Mychal Reynolds (3.20 meters). That was worth 420 points. He was 25th in the javelin, won by Kean with Smith second, and 26th in the final event, the 1500, in 5:05.65. That still got him 528 points.

“The 1500 was hard,” Duffy said. “I like to think I’m more of a sprinter and jumper than a distance runner.”

Mussulman felt the same; he lost some valuable points to Duffy in the pole vault but especially in the hurdles, those combining for more than a 500 point deficit.

“I had a lot of fun,” Mussulman said. “This was my first Decathlon ever, certainly a great experience. A lot of competition, really great competition here. … I love that.”

South’s Perry was certainly part of that competition. He was sixth entering the day and moved up two spots with an 11th place finish in the hurdles, 20th in the javelin, 21st in the 1500, and was 33rd in the pole vault. But, he lost ground by finishing 50th in the discus, certainly not his normal event.

Nashua South’s Barion Perry, just ahead of Winnacunnet’s Oliver Duffy in the 1500 meter run, was the top local in Sunday’s Decathlon with a fourth place overall finish. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Nashua South’s Barion Perry, just ahead of Winnacunnet’s Oliver Duffy in the 1500 meter run, was the top local in Sunday’s Decathlon with a fourth place overall finish. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

North and South had a good showing overall.

“I think it’s because they were seniors,” South coach Doug Booth said of his athletes. “This was one last time to prove, ‘Hey, we contributed at Nashua South, contributed in a big way.'”

Smith, who will be a senior in the fall, was second in the javelin (43.23 meters), ahead of South’s Sawyer Penny (43.21). Suchecki was 21st in the javelin, 24th in the pole vault, 38th in the hurdles, 57th in the discus, but a 15h place finish in the 1500 helped him keep his spot from the first day.

Duffy, meanwhile, did the same thing. Long weekends aren’t so bad.

(For complete results, go to upstarttiming.com)