Nkamebo wins third straight triple jump title
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WESTFIELD - Amherst Regional's junior Tchuijo Nkamebo maintained his personal dynasty in the triple jump event at Saturday's Western Massachusetts Track and Field Championships at Westfield State University.
Nkamebo won the title for the third consecutive year by setting a personal record with a distance of 47 feet, 3.5 inches, just several minutes after winning his preliminary heat in the 200-meter dash.
"It took a while for my legs to come back," Nkamebo said.
After returning from the 200, Nkamebo was visibly disappointed with his first final-round leap of 44-6.5, but his legs came back for his last leap, the final attempt of the event, which won him the gold medal, beating the previous high of the day by over a foot.
He came in second in the 200 with a time of 22.45 seconds.
TAYLOR REPEATS IN STYLE - Frontier Regional senior Tilly Taylor won her second straight javelin title and established a new meet record with a throw of 124 feet, 11 inches.
"This is all about working hard in practice," Taylor said. "Last year, I didn't have great technique. So I had to get down the proper technique, and it paid off."
Taylor took up javelin just last season, but has become the best thrower in the area.
"I definitely felt more relaxed after the experience of last year," she said. "I'm happy, because I'd been throwing 122 all season, so to break that is nice."
Teammate Cara D'Antonio also qualified for the all-state competition with a fourth-place throw at 109-7.
TABIN DOMINATES - South Hadley senior Brianna Tabin continued to impress in sprint races with a sectional championship in the 100-meter dash.
She finished in 12.27 seconds, 0.43 seconds ahead of runner-up Diamante Spencer of Central. Tabin improved on her seed time of 12.55.
"Today I wanted to go as fast as I could, and I told myself to stay calm," Tabin said. "It was a good feeling to go out on a high note in my final western Mass. meet. There's a lot of talent here, so even though I was the top seed, you never know what can happen."
GRANGER RUNS AWAY WITH MILE - Belchertown's Madison Granger opened up a huge lead and never looked back in an impressive win in the mile.
The junior clocked in at a personal-best 5:07.91, nearly 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher and defending champion Jenny Dudek of Agawam. Granger did have a 10-second advantage over Granger in the seeding times, as both girls improved by about a second in Saturday's race.
"I had the top seed, so I was pretty confident going into the race," Granger said. "I didn't know if I'd have to take the lead from the beginning, it's hard to tell who will get off to a fast start. I went off on a fast pace, and was consistent throughout. I wanted that PR, so I was pretty happy."
HORSTMAN HONORED - Jon Hortsman of South Hadley won the Nathan Hale Award, given to the athlete that exemplifies success on the track, in academics and in the community. The South Hadley senior was encouraged to apply by his coach and he received the honor during Saturday's event.
"It's for people who excel in school and on the track," Hortsman said. "So I'm going bananas right now."
CALHOUN LONG JUMP CHAMP - South Hadley senior leaper Wes Calhoun grabbed 10 points for the Tigers by posting the best distance of the event on his last jump, soaring 22-1.
Calhoun also placed third in the high jump at 6-2.
ONE TITLE FOR GAELS, ONE NEAR MISS - Holyoke Catholic senior Hailey Cox took first in the triple jump at 37-1.5.
Teammate and fellow senior Alisha Ciolek, the Division 2 champion in the 100 hurdles, just missed out on a sectional title in the same event. She crossed the finish line in 16.08 seconds, just 0.03 seconds behind Dynasty Harris of Central.
OTHER LOCAL STATE QUALIFIERS - The top four finishers in each event earned the right to compete in the All-State meet next Saturday at Bridgewater State University.
For the girls, Amherst Regional junior Kamillah Smith ran the 100 in 12.87 seconds, good enough for fourth overall.
South Hadley eighth-grader Caroline Sullivan qualified with a third-place showing in the mile at 5:23.06. Also coming in third for South Hadley was junior Julia LaMontagne in the 400 hurdles at 1:07.19.
Beth Drake of Frontier Regional will compete in the high jump next weekend. The junior tied for third with a leap of 4 feet, 10 inches. Her teammate, sophomore Amanda Mozea, came in third in the shot put with a throw of 35-0.25. She won the event at western Mass. last year.
Hampshire Regional senior Shelby Benoit's fourth-place (34-0.5) showing in the shot put lands her a spot at all-states.
The South Hadley 4x100 relay squad, comprised of Hannah Kelleher, Anna Sullivan, Hannah Spring and Tabin, finished fourth at 51.35 to qualify.
On the boys side, Amherst's John Latour qualified in two events with a pair of second-place showings. He threw the discus 137-1, and shot putted 44-9.75. Also for the Hurricanes, Gary Burnett came in second in the 400 hurdles at 58.67 to qualify.
The Amherst 4x100 relay team of Devin Clarke, Nkamebo, Folajimi Onadipe and Ariel Vallellanes ran 44.05 to place third.
Hampshire Regional junior Tyler Phillips finished fourth in the long jump at 20-7.5.
Gazette contributing writer James Bucklin contributed to this story.
Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.
