Manchester Central grad Angela Cenesca, right, battles Nashua South's Sarah Witta in the 800 meter run during Sunday's final day of the 49th annual NH Heptathlon at Nashua South's Fran Tate Track. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Angela Cenesca is glad she decided to come back to defend her 2025 New Hampshire Heptathlon title.

That’s because now she owns two of them.

The recent Manchester Central High School graduate captured her second straight Heptathlon crown on Sunday, with a burst in the final lap of the event’s final event, the 800 meter run, on the Fran Tate Track.

“I’m am glad,” Cenesca said, still huffing and puffing 10 minutes after holding off the charge by Nashua South’s Emma Millette and Sarah Witta. “It’s just a day full of opportunities, show your improvement throughout the season. Definitely a blessing to be here.”

Cenesca entered the day up by 83 points, and finished with 3,910, well ahead of second place finisher Nashua South junior Emma Millette (3,691) and recent South grad Sarah Witta, who took third (3,323).

The Little Green standout was leading ever so slightly heading into the 800. South’s Millette and Witta were making a push.Witta wasn’t a factor on Day One because she hadn’t really fully competed due to a dance competition. So she did six events yesterday, and was on Cenesca’s heels after the first 800 lap.

“Once we got on that first curve, I could definitely feel her pushing to get in front of me,” said Cenesca, who is going to the University of New Hampshire in the fall to compete in track and study occupational therapy. “I told myself I wasn’t going to let it happen and I wanted it more. So I went and got it.”

She finished first in that group one heat (made up of the leading point-getters) and second overall in 2:28.29, worth 714 points. In the other two events of the day, she was 20th in javelin (20.94 meters) but the biggie was a first in the long jump at 5.00 meters. Those 559 points were a nice boost to start the day.

Millette was looked on all week as a worthy challenger. She finished third in that 800 heat, fifth overall in the critical race in 2:35.90. She had a consistent second day, finishing sixth in the long jump (4.55 meters) and fifth in the javelin with a toss of 26.82 meters. She could very well be the favorite for next year’s event.

“She (Cenesca) is such a natural athlete, she’s got everything,” Millette said. “I had a lot of pr’s (personal records). Obviously, a lot of these events I don’t get to practice a lot during the season. It was so much fun.

“To beat Angela would be pretty crazy, finishing second is such an improvement for me. … Next year is hopefully my time.”

Witta definitely faded on the last lap because of the incredible workload. This may have been her last track and field event, as she’s going to Boston University in the fall, and dancing will be her school activity, while she studies neuroscience on a pre-med track.

“Yeah,” she said of the fatigue on the last lap. “I mean, I’m kind of used to the heavy load, every meet I’ve been doing four events and I’ve been going to track practice and dance practice every day. But today, yeah, definitely, especially with the hot weather and coming in at 8 a.m.

Still, what Witta did was nothing short of amazing, taking a two-day event and boiling most of it down to one day. She was ninth in the 100 hurdles, 25th in the high jump, 23rd in shot put, ninth in the 200, then fifth in long jump (4.70 meters) and 21st in javelin. She was third overall in the 800 (2:33.74).

“It’s good, I know a lot of the girls here, we’ve done it together the last three years. She (Cenesca) is so good. She’s like effortless, it’s amazing.”

Locally, Bishop Guertin’s Bridget Powers finished11th (3,017) and Campbell’s Jennifer Ouellette was 16th (2,860).

But in the end, the day ultimately belonged to Cenesca.

“It would mean a lot, kind of shows the progress I’ve had my years here,” Cenesca said before the final tally became official. “I started out my sophomore year in eighth place, then junior year a I got first, and I came back looking for top three this season.

“There’s a lot of talented athletes out here. I knew it would be more of a challenge than last year. … I just wanted it more, and I came to get it more.”

And she got it. Again.

(Complete results can be found at Upstarttiming.com)