Track & field: Amherst’s Moriah Luetjen, Logan Alfandari impress at MIAA Meet of Champions

Amherst’s Moriah Luetjen, shown here during the state meet, finished second in the 400 meters at the MIAA Meet of Champions in Fitchburg on Saturday.

Amherst’s Moriah Luetjen, shown here during the state meet, finished second in the 400 meters at the MIAA Meet of Champions in Fitchburg on Saturday. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

By GARRETT COTE

Staff Writer

Published: 06-01-2024 10:39 PM

Modified: 06-02-2024 11:59 AM


The MIAA Meet of Champions came to a close on Saturday afternoon at Fitchburg State, with three area schools fielding participants on Day 2 of the state’s biggest outdoor meet.

Amherst, Northampton and Holyoke all saw athletes post strong times and placements, just as they did on Thursday during Day 1.

Below is a look at how each individual did over the weekend.

Amherst

Star sprinter Moriah Luetjen posted a strong time of 55.74 seconds in the 400 meters, grabbing second place overall after coming in as the event’s No. 1 seed. Her second-place mark was the best of any Hampshire County athlete on either day at the MIAA Meet of Champions.

Luetjen then anchored the Hurricanes’ 4x400 relay team, with Ruby Austin, Ella Austin and Ololara Baptiste playing key roles in the team’s fourth-place finish (4:00.44).

The Austin sisters and Baptiste also participated in the 4x100 relay earlier in the day, posting a time of 50.08 seconds to nab 11th place.

Kora Brissett ran a 12.98 in the 100-meter dash prelims to finish 27th, rounding out Amherst’s girls competitors on Saturday.

On the boys side, Logan Alfandari followed up his PR in the discus on Thursday with a PR in the shot put (55 feet, 10.50 inches) on Saturday. Alfandari finished in fourth overall in an impressive outing.

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The 4x800 relay team of Nico Lisle, Calvin Miller, David Pinero-Jacome and Miguel Pinero-Jacome finished in 8:01.60, good for seventh place. Angel Hernandez threw a 10-6 in the wheelchair shot put to finish in first place.

Northampton

Only two athletes were in action for the Blue Devils, each of them competing in long-distance events on Saturday.

Teddy King-Pollet posted a sub-10 minute time of 9:49.84 in the boys 2 mile, taking home 27th place, while Maeve O’Neil ran a 5:21.72 in the girls mile to nab 28th.

Holyoke

Yasani Thompson finished off her brilliant individual season on Saturday with a 59.97 (23rd place) in the 400, then anchored the Purple Knights’ nationals-bound 4x100 relay team to 21st place (51.31).

Veronica Colon, Kayshaly Garcia and Siobhan Armstrong were also a part of the relay, with freshman Kyra Lippman – who usually is the third leg instead of Armstrong – not competing.

That relay team is headed to Oregon for nationals on June 14.