Nashua North's 2024 4x400 relay team of, from left, Jhanelle Thomas, Christina Juris, Allison Frye and Tiana Brown captured a state tite; this year Thomas and Frye will be keys to defend it along with Rosalie Neveu and Charlotte Wilson. (File photo)

Nashua High School South boys indoor track coach Doug Booth was smiling a lot in late December.

Why? After a couple of meets sizing up the competition, Booth felt his team, which finished third last year with a clutch relay finish, can possibly pull off a championship at Saturday’s NHIAA Division I Meet at Plymouth State University. Originally set to start at 10 a.m., the meet has been moved up an hour to 9 a.m.

“The boys are prepared and anxious for the opportunity to show what they can do against the best competition in the state,” Booth said.

No matter what, there will be a strong Nashua presence at this meet in both the boys and the girls.

In the boys meet, besides North and South, Pinkerton, Bedford, and Portsmouth are viable contenders. This may be the entire makeup of the top five; it just depends on what the order may be.

“Each of these teams will be looking to see where they can take scoring opportunities away from the others,” Booth said, “and at the same time making sure their best athletes are in the right events to be successful.

“Depth is going to be a key to winning a championship.”

Booth feels the South relay teams are all viable scorers, and that’s where the Panthers will look to do a lot of damage. In the 4×200, look for Leonel Lopez. Ryan Jansen, Tim Staveley and Marcell Perry, and South will be strong in the 4×800 as well as the second seed, just ahead of North.

South’s Ryan Jansen is a key in the 300 and Camdon Brien will look to score in the 600. Matthew Motherway has an outside chance to score points in the 1000 as the sixth seed.

The top seed in the 1500 and 3000 should be no surprise – Bishop Guertin’s Matt Giardina.

In the boys, in terms of scoring, keep an eye on Nashua North’s Luke Peters in the 55 dash, and North’s Mason Dandeneau and Alvirne’s Joey Marcotte in the 55 hurdles.

In the field events, North could do well with the Darius Smith the clear favorite in the shot put, and fellow Titan Noah Pasterczyk could be right behind him. Plus Titan Gavin Suchecki a contender in the high jump. There’s a lot of points to be had right there. Merrimack’s Luca Kabel could make some noise in the long jump.

The girls meet should feature Titan senior Jhanelle Thomas, the top seed in the 55 dash and the 300.

North’s Rosalie Neveu could pick up points as the third seed in the 600. Same for Titan Laura White in the 1500 and 3000. North is the third seed (Thomas, Tiana Brown, Allison and Sarah Frye) in the 4×200 relay, but they’re numero uno in the 4×400 (Thomas, Allison Frye, Neveu and Charlotte Wilson). Alvirne could score points as the fourth seed in the 4×800. For other local points, Merrimack’s Lilly Anderson and South’s Chloe Cruz are seeded fourth and fifth in the shot put, respectively.

In the Saturday online cycle we’ll take a look at the Division II meet, scheduled for Sunday but with the weather that could change.