Granite State Flash

Granite State Flash, a NH-based youth Track & Field program, competed at the USATF junior Olympics Northeast Regional Championships July 7-10 in Albany, NY. 19 Flash athletes from southern NH, MA and VT competed at U Albany among almost 1,300 other top athletes that had previously qualified at Association races in ME, NH, VT, MA, CT and NY. Athletes compete in 2-year age divisions, with Top-5 athletes in each division qualifying for the National Championship July 25-31 in Sacramento, CA.



Two Flash girls braved the multi-event Pentathlon, competing in the 5 events of hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and the 800m run. Hollis’ Audrey Murrin (11-12, 1405 pts) and Bedford’s Marie Hamill (13-14, 1171 pts) both finished 7th in their respective age-division. This was the first time either competed the pentathlon. Audrey also finished 4th in the High Jump (4’ 1.25”) and 9th in the long jump (12’ 5.25”).



In the individual events the Flash girls continued to perform well. Meredith Partridge (Milford) dominated the 11-12 Girls Discus, throwing a PR 66’ 3” to win the event by almost 8 feet ahead of the 2nd place thrower. She also placed 12th in the Shot Put (22’ 2.25”). 2nd places were earned by Fiona Doherty (Manchester) in the 11-12 1500m run (5:16.96) and Addie Berglund (Durham) in the 11-12 3000m run (12:12.39). Addie also placed 10th in both the 1500 (5:49.12) and 800 (2:48.16). Keegan Pepin (Manchester) placed 3rd in the 13-14 Pole Vault (6’ .75”) and 7th in the 1500 (5:16.58), with twin sister Katelyn finishing 7th in the 200m Hurdles (33.53) and 8th in the 800. Sylvia Caddell (Salem) ran dominantly for a 4th in the Girls 13-14 800 (2:27) and 5th in the 400 (1:03.07). Lotta Berglund (Durham) took 5th in the 8 and Under 1500 (6:44.43) as well as 6th in the 800 (3:08.47). Delaney Collins (Ashburnham, MA) took a hard-fought 7th (1:06.42) in the 15-16 400, Daphne Bartkus (Westminster, MA) placed 6th in the 15-16 High Jump (4’ 9”), and sister Marlena took 9th in 17-18 Shot Put (26’ 3”) and 10th in Javelin (47’ 2”).



On the Boys side Flash also had much success qualifying athletes to Nationals with top-5 performances. Leading the boys with the sole 1st place finish was Kevin Doherty (Manchester) in the 8 and Under 800 (2:56.80), holding off 2 other close finishers. Kevin also took 3rd in the 400 (1:18.25). Competing all 3 of his events on a single day, Ryan Hauser (Amherst) fought hard for 2nd in the 13-14 High Jump (5’ 1”), as well as 4th in the 100m Hurdles (17.40), and 6th in Long Jump (15’ 9.75”). Joining Ryan in the 13-14 Long Jump was Spencer Bartkus (Westminster, MA) taking 13th with a 13’ 6.75” jump. Evan Thornton-Sherman (Waterford, VT) ran smart races to place 3rd in the 11-12 3000 (10:37.89) and 4th in the 1500 (4:58.15). Younger brother Andrew placed 10th in 9-10 Long Jump (11’ 4.75”) and 17th in the 100 dash (16.18). Jaden Preston (Manchester) qualified on with a 5th in 15-16 Javelin, PR’ing with a throw of 97’ 6”. He also finishing 6th in high jump with 4’ 11”. Parker Cheyne (Brookline) ran exciting races for a pair of 9th places in the 9-10 distance events, running a 5:50.77 1500m and 2:55.58 800m. And Josan Williams (Concord) earned 9th in 8 and Under Javelin (37’ 9”), 16th in Long Jump (7’ 2.75”) and 17th in the 100 (17.79).



Congratulations to all the Flash athletes, parents and coaches on another spectacular season!

Congratulations to Audrey Murrin, Marie Hamill, Evan Thornton-Sherman and Addie Berglund on their events. Marie and Audrey both did the Pentathlon and both finished 7th in their age groups. Addie took about 12 seconds off her last 3K to finish 2nd in her race, and Evan ran for a strong 3rd place in the 3K after battling with the eventual runner-up. Lots of excitement! Full results from all events can be found at http://www.sub5.com/wp/wp-content/liveresults/2016reg1/ .m
A pic of the 3K runners with Coach Jan!

Tuesday practice: Coach David has his high school team’s banquet tonight so he won’t be at practice. Not sure of the weather- may be lightning tonight- but Jan and Justin and hopefully the other coaches will be there as long as the weather cooperates.

It was a wet meet today in Milford, but despite the rain, the athletes came ready to compete, GO GSF!