By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
DURHAM, N.H. — Several athletes saw a lighter load than usual during the regular season finale at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on Saturday, Feb. 1.
With the state meet only days away, most of the competitors at UNH focused on fine tuning their skills in one or two events.
Newport’s Callie Dixon only competed in shot put, but she made her mark by winning the event with a heave of 31’6.75″. Dixon held off Pinkerton’s Autumn Haggett by a quarter of an inch to claim victory. Dixon is expected to be one of the top seeds in shot put at the state championships.
Dixon’s teammate Maddox Lovely also competed, placing eighth in the 55-meter dash (7.84) and 12th in the 300-meter dash (45.39). Lovely will be looking to earn individual titles at the state meet after earning runner-up spots in the 55-meter hurdles and long jump a season ago.
Kearsarge featured five girls finishing in the top 16 in their events, including Javiera Eliessetch (12th in high jump), Gabrielle Lamb (12th in shot put), Juliet Faria (13th in 55-meter dash), Riley Raynes (13th in high jump), and Sydney Pourby (16th in shot put).
On the boy’s side, Kearsarge’s Daniel Dalbec had the top performance among local athletes by finishing third in the 1500-meter run (4:17.11). Dalbec is another local athlete who will be competing for a state title after finishing third in the 1500 last season.
Newport seniors Cayden Forand and Bryce Palmer also competed. Forand finished ninth in the 600-meter dash (1:32.36) and Palmer placed 16th in the 1,000-meter dash (2:56.51).
Newport and Kearsarge will head to Plymouth State University on Sunday to compete in the NHIAA Division 2 Indoor Track & Field Championships.