TRACK AND FIELD

USATF Junior Olympics

Granite State Flash represent NH at Nationals

Overlapping with the Olympics in London, the USATF Junior Olympics Track & Field National Championships were held July 23-29 in Baltimore, Md. The Granite State Flash had 13 athletes compete in 16 events over the week, representing New Hampshire and New England very well.

Merrimack’s Caroline Fischer earned All-American status and a podium spot with a fourth place finish in an unbelievably competitive 1500-meter race. Caroline also finished 11th overall in the 800 meter. Elise Lambert (Amherst), Rebecca Ntengeri (Nashua), Bailey Carrillo (Merrimack) and Mollie Simpson (Manchester) just missed a podium spot by 1.01 seconds, coming in ninth in the 4×800-meter relay.

Recent Nashua South grads Kevin Shea, Shawn DeCost and Keith Guay competed in multiple events in their final Junior Olympics Nationals. Shea had the busiest week, competing in the Decathlon (5695 points, 12th place) as well as high jump (6’ 4.75”, 15th place) and triple jump (42’ 3.25”, 33rd place). DeCost finished 22nd with 4886 points and Guay finished 41st in the high jump with a 5’ 8.75” best jump. Plymouth’s Veronica Scott also competed in her final JO meet, finishing 49th in the 400.

Other Amherst competitors were Mikayla Hickey (23rd in long jump and 45th in the 100 meter dash), Caelan Behn (35th in Turbo Javelin and 48th in discus), Savannah Behn (24th in Turbo Javelin and 42nd in shot) and Makayla Kilcrease (40th in Turbo Javelin).