The Nashua North boys track team and coach Art Kobs, far right, celebrate their Divison I state championship last weekend in Hampton. (Courtesy photo)

HAMPTON – Something happened a week ago that has only been done twice in the last 22 years.

And never been done in Nashua.

The Nashua High School North girls and boys track teams captured their respective Division I state championship meets at Winnacunnet High School, and it’s only the second time that the boys and girls teams from the same school won the titles. Exeter did it two years ago, 2019.

Since there was no spring meet last year due to the pandemic, that means the Titans are basically keeping up with the trend as now it’s two straight years for a sweep.

It’s the track and field monster that is Nashua North, and neither day would it be denied. Usually, the meets are held together, but thanks to the pandemic and the desire to not only keep the gathering numbers down and also speed up the meets, they were held on back-to-back nights.

The Nashua North girls track team is all smiles after it won its first Division I state title. (Courtesy photo)

NORTH GIRLS TITLE

The Titans embarked on an epic, history-making field trip as they

won three of the seven field events – scoring a whopping 62 points off the track – to claim the school’s first outdoor girls state championship.

“We knew we had potential for a pretty good day,” said North coach Renee Archer. “The win we were secretly hoping for in the back of our minds but it’s never happened for us. So we weren’t coming in here too cocky. We were pleasantly surprised.

“It was the field events and really the throwers. The throwers drove it home for us.”

They needed every inch on every performance to edge cross-town rival South, 83-72, in the end. Exeter was third at 67.

North junior Olivia Mazerolle won the high jump at 5-4 and added a massive second-place in the 300 hurdles (46.75).

As one South trackster told her dad/Panthers athletics coordinator Nate, “Your daughter was fire today!”

Senior Victoria Conrad led a 1-2-3 Titan sweep of the shot put. Her top throw of 39-7.5 just dusted teammates Natalie Burgess (35-9.5) and Madelyn Novak (35-7.5). The 24 points there got the North train moving.

The sophomore Novak then tossed in one of Doc Brown’s explosive logs into that engine, unleashing a 123-foot, 4-inch bomb to win the javelin. Oh yeah, it was on.

Teammate Aliana Mercado grabbed second at 114-2. And just for kicks Novak flexed in the discus, taking fourth at 100-7, good for four more points.

“Madeleine Novak had the day of all days. Tori Conrad wins the shot put, and Nat Burgess bounced around with all her throws,” said Archer.

“Madeleine Novak, I can’t say it enough times. She won javelin and we just weren’t expecting that. It’s just a great day.”

Junior Dantia Braccio was third in the 1600 (5:17.35). Sophomore Kelechi Okorie cleared 5-feet for third in the high jump.

The 4×100 team of Lilly Baker-Ollivierra, Isabella DiVernieri, Rosalinda Tavarez and Mazerolle added a fifth place. Tavarez, DiVernieri and Mazerolle were joined by freshman Lily Jenkins on the fourth-place 4×400 team.

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NORTH BOYS FOLLOW SUIT

The Titans boys team took a similar, yet still unique route to their title.

In the end, North simply crushed the competition, piling up 96 points for the day. Runner-up Concord seemed eons away at 60.33. Pinkerton Academy (56) took third, while Nashua South (10th, 24 points), Merrimack (13th, 12) and Bishop Guertin (14th, 11.33) rounded out the local contingent.

“I had us down by 10 to 15 points to Pinkerton and Concord coming in,” said elated Titans coach Art Kobs, whose club last won the state outdoor title in 2015. “Overachieving. Hard work. They like one another and they feed off of one another. It’s a nice crew. The whole team came to play today.”

Points came from all over the track and the entire facility – points that even an optimistic Kobs couldn’t have predicted.

Junior Jack Washam obliterated his qualifying mark of 108 feet with a 134-foot discus bomb for his state title. Lucas Cunningham stunned the field in the javelin, winning by over 15 feet with a throw of 164-9.

“He came in with a (season best around) 140,” said Kobs. “Pat Cunningham is a javelin coach supreme, and the kids just feed off of one another. It’s a real tight-knit crew (of throwers). As you can see, all the girls are here (supporting them). They’re really tight. It’s been a fun year.”

But it was a pair of stalwarts, who the Titans were certainly counting on that rose to the occasion as you might have expected.

“Connor Dunning was crazy good,” said Kobs. “Jack Sullivan was crazy good.”

The sophomore Sullivan cleared 5-6, 5-8 and 5-10 on the first attempt, and that proved to be the difference as he claimed the state high jump title.

He then added to the Titan point total, grabbing second in the triple jump (40-11) and fifth in the long jump (19-8.75).

The Villanova-bound Dunning did all his work on the track, finding his top gear when it mattered.

He crushed the 200-meter field and nearly doubled when he took second in the 100.

“I was happy. That was the second time I’ve ever run the 100,” said Dunning. “I ran it in the last meet before this and I did all right. I was more than happy to take second for the team.”

Dunning wasn’t done. He anchored a 4×100 relay victory, closing the deal at 43.64 after Xavier Provost, Isaac Smith and Curtis Harris-Lopez put him in the perfect spot to do so.

Provost, Dunning, Sullivan and sophomore Preston Thompson added a little icing with a fourth-place effort in the 4×400.

“It was a long day, but definitely worth it. I didn’t care about the individual stuff, I wanted the team championship more than anything,” said Dunning. “Our guys in the field stepped up. They did way better than their seedings. Senior year, you couldn’t ask for anything better. Not having a season last year really set us up for success this year.

“You could tell who took the time to train and get better for this season and who didn’t. All our guys put in the work during the off time and it finally paid off.”

Dunning’s second in the 100, paced a wild 2-3-5-6 effort from the Titans, with Smith, Arthur Santos and Harris-Lopez providing heavy North flavor on the podium. Sullivan and Provost went 2-3 in the triple jump.

The freshman Santos was fourth in the 200. Smith and Sullivan went 5-6 in the long jump. Thomas Mason was fourth in the javelin to close out the Titans’ scoring.

And complete perhaps the best 48 hours in North’s brief 18-year athletic history.

Telegraph staff writer Tom King contributed to this report.