FITCHBURG — The Lunenburg girls indoor track team continued its multi-generational dominance Saturday afternoon, as the Blue Knights throttled the competition en route to yet another Mid-Wach championship at Fitchburg High School’s Doug Grutchfield Fieldhouse.
While Lunenburg, which took 148 of the available points with Quabbin Regional finishing second (69) in Mid-Wach C, did not take firsts in the two field events, the high jump or the shot put, the Blue Knights earned enough points in those two events to give them a boost headed into the running events.
“We have a great group of girls, and a great group of seniors; we have 11 seniors, and they’ve been the heart and soul of this team for five or six years,” said longtime Lunenburg coach Steve Kyajonian. “They come to play on game day.
Elle Owusu, Karynna Long, and Aliya Holden took 3-4-5 in the shot put, while Chloe McKenna, Long, and Lilia Baril took 2-3-4 in the high jump.
Lunenburg then unleashed itself as it dominated on the 150-meter Fieldhouse oval and also swept the first three places the 55 hurdles, with Long (9.42), Daisy Lafountaine (9.61), and Brielle Spleen (9.68, personal best) taking 24 points in that event to get LHS out to a commanding lead.
Jill Dionne’s 12:51.14 time in the two mile run was enough for Lunenburg to claim 10 points, her time nearly 11 seconds better than the runner-up. Iliana Thomas and Julie DiPerri also claimed valuable points in the event with their fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively.
Junior Olivia Coronella edged Littleton’s Cassidy Forsberg in the mile by nearly four seconds, 5:58.29 to 6:01.97, with Thomas all picking up two points in this event. Coronella also won the 1,000 in 3:07.10, with Dionne taking second in 3:12.55.
Sophia Viveiros and Casey Corey took 1-2 in the 600, with Viveiros, a sophomore, beating her senior teammate by .47, 1:50.83 to 1:51.30. It meant a hearty 18 points for the Blue Knights.
Norah Browne and Long took third and fourth in the 300, with their times of 48.37 and 48.91, respectively, enough to take 10 points.
Lunenburg also captured the 4×400 in 4:48.33, beating out the second-place Hudson squad by over 14 seconds, to claim another 10 points for the Blue and White Express.
Lafountaine, Claire Nolan, Viveiros, and Corey claimed those points.
“Olivia Coronella won two events, and we placed well. We got the quality depth to place two or three in an event. We also got good coaches under me; (Fitchburg High Hall of Famer) Brandy Green came aboard this year, Mike Spear with the throws, Karma (Tousignant, a Fitchburg High legend in cross country and distance running) in everything. We have a good core of coaches,” Kyajonian said.
The Lunenburg boys were runners-up to Quabbin, 95-83.
Junior Ray Beardmore hucked the shot put 55 feet nine inches, beating the second-place thrower by nearly 12 feet. Teammate Alex Rabinow finished fourth (38-3) and Jeremiah Burney had a second-place finish in the high jump (5-6) and that set up Lunenburg for a nice run.
Junior distance king Matthew Pilon — Tousignant’s son — secured second-place points in the two mile (10:22.02, just edged out by .3 by Littleton junior Maxwell Thompson), and also grabbed third in the mile run.
Matt Agnese and Jake Burns took 1-2 in the 300, with Agenese edging out his classmate by .04 of a second (38.72 to 38.76), to claim the league championship in that event.
Lunenburg’s 4×200 team also took first place points in 1:46.31.
Ayer-Shirley Regional’s girls team was Mid-Wach D with 150 points, while the Panthers boys’ team finished second in D with 100 points to league champion Clinton with 111.
Oakmont Regional was the lone school to withdraw from the Mid-Wach championships due to the Saturday’s snowy weather.
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