Amesbury boys overcome odds to win Div. 2 North sectional championship

WESTON — With a revised format this spring, even a veteran coach like Amesbury’s Ernie Bissaillon with more than three decades under his belt didn’t know what to expect Sunday morning at the Div. 2 North Track and Field Championships.

Typically a Div. 4 squad, the Indians were competing against considerably larger Div. 3 programs in the combined sectional. In the end, Amesbury proved it was quality over quantity as a late push delivered the title with 88 points, 10 clear of runner-up Wakefield.

“I think the big thing for our kids is that Kevin (Johnston) and our assistants put them in a lot of different scenarios so they are not always stuck in the same event, so if you ask them to do a certain thing they won’t fight you on it,” said Bissaillon. “Tremendous group of kids and a tremendous group of assistants. I’m just blessed to be on the ride as an old distance runner.”

Amesbury, which only has about 25 athletes on the boys team, scored in 14 of the 19 events, but the key one was the discus as a 1-2 finish from junior Max LaPointe and senior Ryan Perkins gave the Indians their first lead. LaPointe was the top seed and held up his part of the bargain with the win in 140-8, but Perkins outperformed his sixth seed by over 13 feet in 128-7.

LaPointe, who was also sixth in the shot put, was Amesbury’s only winner but senior Ethan Rowe posted a second in the 200 meters and the pentathlon, which was contested Friday, while Brady Dore was runner-up in the long jump.

Senior Nick Dahl was a highlight for host Weston, pulling off an unusual double with victories in the shot put and long jump, throwing 52-2 and leaping 21-10, both personal bests.

Dahl, who hopes to walk on at Dartmouth, said he was recruited to throw as a freshman at Weston because of his size and decided to give jumping a try as a sophomore after watching some teammates practicing in the pit.

“I was optimistic,” said Dahl of his chances to win both. “I was more hopeful in the shot put because I was seeded (No. 1) with a mark I wasn’t too happy with. In the long jump, I was seeded sixth or seventh but I had some jumps in practice that outdid my mark by a lot.”

Newburyport senior Trevor Ward matched Dahl with a pair of firsts in the 200 and triple jump, and anchored the Clippers’ winning 4×400 team.

Also earning wins on Sunday were North Reading’s Grayson Budny in the 100, Wakefield’s Bradley Diaz in the 400, Burlington’s Joe Mitchell in the 110 hurdles, Triton’s Reilly Gagnon in the 400 hurdles, and Marblehead’s Cam Heafitz in the high jump.

KIPP Academy took the 4×100 relay, coming out on top from an unseeded heat.

Wakefield came into the day with a 12-point lead after Friday’s seven events on the strength of its distance runners as the trio of Ben Stratton, Michael Roberto and Ajay Haridasse took the top-three spots in the mile and joined with Diaz to win the 4×800.

Tewksbury’s Derek Munroe also shined on Friday, competing in the pentathlon and javelin simultaneously and winning both.

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