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KEVIN GUTTING

Ryan Mathers, left, of Amherst, takes the baton from Jesse Coull to run the anchor leg of the 4x800 relay at the PVIAC Indoor Track Championship held Feb. 10 at Smith College.

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KEVIN GUTTING

Ryan Mathers, left, of Amherst takes the baton from fellow senior Jesse Coull to run the anchor leg of the 4x800 relay at the PVIAC Indoor Track Championship held Feb. 10 at Smith College.

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KEVIN GUTTING

The Amherst 4x200 relay team, from left, senior Kamillah Smith, junior Emma Biggs, freshman Kanya Brown and sophomore Kate O’Brien after placing second at the PVIAC Indoor Track Championship held Feb. 10 at Smith College.

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KEVIN GUTTING

Amherst Regional senior Conlan Brown, center, places second in the 55-meter dash at the PVIAC Indoor Track Championship held Feb. 10 at Smith College.

NORTHAMPTON - Amherst Regional senior James Traester said he never thought he'd experience his Hurricanes boys indoor track & field team winning a PVIAC championship.

On Feb. 10, upon realizing they had captured their first title since 2004, Traester and his teammates stormed into the infield to celebrate their triumph at Smith College.

Despite not winning a single event, Amherst's 57 total points nicked second-place Northampton (55) and third-place Holyoke (50). The Hurricanes came in eighth last season.

"This is great, especially after how we finished last year," Traester said. "Being able to beat a team like Northampton, our archrival, feels really good. That was a top-of-the-world feeling there when we realized we'd won. I've been waiting to do that victory lap for a while."

"I can't possibly be more proud of this group, I'm so happy for them," Amherst coach David Thompson said. "They definitely deserve this. We have amazing depth which allowed us to earn enough points."

The Blue Devils' streak of four consecutive titles came to an end.

A fitting representation of the Hurricanes' performance was senior Conlan Brown, who put up three separate top-4 finishes.

Brown came in second in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.79 seconds, was runner-up (38.03) in the 300 to Northampton senior Avi Sheldon (37.57), and placed fourth in the long jump at 19-6.

"I set personal records in my running events by unbelievable amounts," Brown said. "I was just running on adrenaline all night. We got some points out of nowhere, which allowed us to win this. We won this on our ability to get seconds and thirds."

Traester came in fourth in the mile with a time of 4:33.07 and ran the lead leg of the runner-up 4x800 relay. That event gave Amherst the breathing room it needed, as the 'Canes didn't register points in either the 4x200 or 4x400. Jesse Coull, Ryan Mathers and Gabe Fishman also competed in the 4x800 race.

"We knew we needed a strong time in the 4x800, and even though Holyoke beat us, we got the job done," Traester said. "We all put this together. Despite not having any super elite performers, we all did our absolute best. This is a really strong team we have."

Michael Stender (third, 600), Kieran Presley (third, long jump), Gary Burnett (fourth, 55 hurdles), Coull (fourth 2-mile), Fishman (fifth, 1000), John Latour (fifth, shot put) and Mathers (sixth, mile) all scored points for the Hurricanes.

"Our biggest event of the night was the long jump," Thompson said. "We got third and fourth, which was 10 huge points. That was where we won the title."

Girls meet

Northampton finished second behind champion East Longmeadow (83). Amherst Regional came in fourth as a team with 48 points.

Audrey Gould earned a runner-up in the mile with a time of 5:23.78. Mel Devoney (11:54.61) and Sara Vannah (11:58.89) came in second and third in the 2-mile, and Emma Biggs (43.41) was third in the 300.

The Hurricanes' 4x200 relay team of Kamillah Smith, Kanya Brown, Kate O'Brien and Biggs came in second (1:51.8).

Kanya Brown was fourth in the 55 dash (7.62).