Several local track and field teams took part in the George Steele Relays at West Springfield High School on Sunday, an annual meet that forgoes the typical order of events for an entirely relay-based competition.
The Northampton girls took first overall in the team competition with 69 points, followed by Frontier in second place (56 points) and Amherst in third (45 points). South Hadley placed 11th with 19 points, and Hampshire finished 14th with six points.
Northampton won the 4×400 meter relay (4:23.33) by a full 10 seconds as well as the 4×400 meter relay (10:53.95) and the 4×1600 meter relay (23:42.94). Northampton’s field athletes also won the high jump and triple jump team events, led by Yelena Caldanaro’s jumps of 4 feet, 10 inches in the high jump and 32-07.05 in the triple jump.
Frontier won the shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 1:09.41. Frontier also won the pole vault event with Ayla Starr and Alena Maes-Polan both clearing 9-6, and the shot put event, led by Lilly Novak’s 89-10 mark.
Amherst took first in the 4×100 meter relay with and also won the 4×1600 sprint medley (4:27.07), which featured an 800 meter leg, two 200 meter legs, and a 400 meter leg.
South Hadley took first in the long jump event, led by Emma Sanford’s leap of 15-11.
On the boys’ side, Northampton finished just shy of the podium in fourth with 43 points. Amherst finished a spot behind them with 36 points for fifth, and Frontier cracked the top 10 with 19 points, good for ninth. South Hadley finished 15th with five points and Hampshire placed 17th with three points.
Northampton’s 4×200 meter team out-leaned Commerce for first place with a time of 1:36.81, and also got the top spot in the 1600 meter sprint relay (3:41.93). They also placed third in the 4×1600 meter relay (19:57.54) and third in the distance medley (11:30.55).
Amherst placed third in the 4×400 meter relay (3:35.51), second in the 4×1600 meter relay (19:50.84), second in the distance medley (11:28.41), third in the pole vault relay led by The Saviour Robinson (21-04.5) and second in the discus relay with a leading mark of Logan Alfandari (125-08).
Frontier finished third in the 4×800 meter relay (9:10.25), third in the high jump relay led by Erich Brown (5-10) and second in the long jump led by Jack Vecellio (20-05).
McCann Tech 10, Hopkins 0 – Andrew Ciaglo and Cody West had Hopkins’ only hits of the game in a shutout loss to McCann Tech on Saturday.
Liam Flynn threw 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits and picking up six strikeouts.
South Hadley 5, Chicopee Comp 4 – The Tigers edged out Chicopee Comp thanks to a late offensive push in the sixth and seventh innings. Down by two heading into the sixth, South Hadley posted three runs to take a 3-2 lead. When Chicopee Comp tied it in the seventh, the Tigers picked up a run in the seventh to walk off with the victory.
Benjamin Foley led the team with three hits and two runs. Tyler Evans, Matt McDermott and Brady Mendoza added two hits each; McDermott also drove in an RBI.
Evans threw 5.2 innings for the Tigers, allowing two hits and striking out eight.
Hampshire 19, Turners Falls 3 – Joss Mettey drilled three singles and drove in three RBIs in Hampshire’s blowout win over Turners Falls .
Hailey Wodecki smacked two doubles and two RBIs, while Hannah Wodecki and Teresa Saltis blasted a home run each. Bri Sulowski and Ashley Cortis finished with two hits apiece.
In the circle, Mettey allowed three hits and struck out seven.
Hopkins 11, McCann Tech 6 – Taylor Barry went 4-for-4 at the plate and scored twice as Hopkins picked up a win against McCann Tech over the weekend.
Anna Dyjach finished with three hits and two runs and Gabby Dyjach added a two hits, two runs and an RBI. Jessica Markowski drove in two runs, plated once and picked up a hit.
Minnechaug 14, Northampton 1 – Ella and Lily Pelis got a hit apiece and Kaliya Valentin threw four innings, striking out seven in the Blue Devils’ loss to Minnechaug.
South Hadley 16, Amherst 9 – Owen Dawson finished with nine points (4G, 5A) for the Tigers en route to a win on Saturday morning.
South Hadley’s Ethan Roy netted four and dished out two assists. Averey Haber also collected a hat trick and Kadyn Laramee picked up two goals and two assists.
Shire Thompson led the Hurricanes with four goals and Skyler Ferro potted two goals and two assists in the loss.
Frontier 8, Northampton 7; Northampton 11, Hartsbrook 5; Four Rivers 12, Northampton 7 – The Northampton boys ultimate squad played a three-game tournament at Oxbow Marina over the weekend, winning one of their three contests.
Ro Dunkerley led the team with eight goals, followed by Joe Brooks-Kahn. Alex Hunkins assisted on 11 goals over the course of the weekend, and Hunkins and Zach Guswa finished with 5 D’s each.