NORTHAMPTON — Mahar’s Stellina Moore couldn’t have had a better start to the PVIAC indoor track season on Thursday at Smith College. 

Competing in the early meet, the sophomore hit a mark of 5 feet, 2 inches in the girls high jump which placed her first overall on the day. Moore added a run of 9.98 seconds in the 55- meter hurdles, good for a second place finish. Both the mark and the time were Mahar school records, as Moore was able to cross off a pair of season goals during the first meet of the campaign. 

While there was some debate last year, her time in the 55 hurdles allowed Moore to officially surpass her sister, Sienna Moore (who competes at Holy Cross), for the school record. 

“It was my sister’s record,” Moore said. “I thought I broke it last year but we weren’t positive if I did. Now I know I did. I tried bragging to her last year but she told me I didn’t. Now I know I did. We didn’t have much time to do hurdles getting ready for this meet. We did it once outside and once on the tiles inside. I think it went well. I had competition to push myself.” 

Moore — who added a sixth place finish in the long jump (14-3.5) wasn’t the only Senator to impress on Thursday. 

Mathieu Soucy placed second in the boys 55 (6.84) and third in the 300 (38.39), Mitchell Krasco took second in the boys 55 hurdles (8.18), first in the boys high jump (5-10) and second in the boys long jump (19-5.5), David Phelps came in sixth in the 55 hurdles (8.96) while Danny Quigley came in eighth in the boys 300 (39.61). 

Kathryn McGinnis added a seventh place finish in the girls high jump (4-6). 

For Soucy, already putting up times that qualified him for states was a big accomplishment during the opening meet of the year. 

“Got a PR in the 55,” Soucy said. “It was great qualifying for states in the 55 and the 300.” 

Krasco and Phelps also qualified for states.

“We have a young team,” Phelps said. “It’s hard to compete against all these big schools but we don’t mind the competition.”

With a larger team than usual this winter, hopes are high on the Senator squad. 

“What I’m feeling best about is how many more people we have this year,” Krasco said. “We have a way bigger team this year.”  

Pioneer’s Louise Flagollet took second in the high jump at the MIAA Div. 5 indoor state championship meet last year. She opened her 2024 campaign on Thursday, coming out with a top jump of 4-10 which placed her second overall. 

Her final jump came just after Flagollet had run the 4x400 relay, which made going for a PR difficult. 

“It's really chaotic and I’m not used to that,” Flagollet said of the opening meet. “Hopefully it will just get better from here but I’m happy with how it went. I don’t think I could have done much better in the high jump than I did today based on all the running around.” 

Flagollet added a third place finish in the 300 meters (45.65) to get the season going on the right foot. As a medalist at states last year, the sophomore is pushing herself to get back to that spot this winter. 

“It does motivate me,” Flagollet said. “It’s just a little stressful. I definitely want to hit 5-4 because I haven’t cleared that yet in indoor. In the 300 I’d like to get 40 seconds.”

It was a big opening meet for Pioneer’s Sahana Heilman. The senior took first in the girls 55 hurdles (9.80) and second in the long jump (15-0.5), using a new technique to get the top spot in the hurdles. 

“My hurdle race went really well,” Heilman said. “I started three-stepping the hurdles and it’s going much better than it did last season.” 

Like Mahar, Pioneer has a bigger roster this winter. Heilman’s start to the season has her eye on a school record in the hurdles. 

“We have a lot of girls,” Heilman said. “The girls team is really doing well. I want to get the hurdle school record which is 9.45 [seconds] so I’m not far off.” 

Daniela Teaca placed 10th in the girls 55 (8.17) and sixth in the 300 (47.80), Ryan Spofford came in seventh in the boys mile (5:02.67) and Natalie Johnson earned ninth in the girls shot put (24-6.5) for the Panthers. 

Mohawk Trail sophomore Virginia Krezmien — who placed sixth in the girls mile at the Div. 5 state meet last winter — earned a first place finish in the mile (5:48.78), a second place finish in the 1,000 (3:28.10) and a ninth place finish in the high jump (4-4) on Thursday. 

“It was a good first race,” Krezmien said. “I just finished the cross country season and had some good races but states was rough for me. I’m glad to be back. I’m excited and I love it so much. I’m feeling really strong this season.” 

Krezmien has big goals for the winter and hopes to test herself against the best in the state once again. 

“I want to break 5:25 and qualify around there,” Krezmien said. “I want to be somewhere around there. I don’t really have a meet goal, just some times. I definitely want to go to some Boston meets.”

Tanner Biagini placed 10th in the boys 55 (7.17) and sixth in the 300 (39.03), Rex Kuoppala came in eighth in the boys mile (5:03.20), Peter Healy took fifth in the boys two mile (10:46.48), Crimson Helenek came in eighth in the boys shot put (34-3) while Avery Johnston placed fourth in the girls shot put (27-2.5) for the Warriors. 

“We’re a pretty tiny team,” Krezmien said. “There’s not a lot of us but we’re really close and I love that. We’re all working hard together.” 

Mohawk Trail will have to wait for the full return of Chay Mojallali, as the senior suffered an injury and can’t yet compete in the high jump, an event he placed second at Div. 5 states last year. 

Mojallali was able to compete in the shot put on Thursday, where he placed ninth (33-7.5). 

Greenfield had an impressive season on the track last winter and had a strong showing on Thursday. 

Mason Youmell took third in the boys 55 hurdles (8.73), third in the 600 (1:32.88), seventh in the boys high jump (5-4) and ninth in the boys long jump (17-5), Dylan Breiwick came in ninth in the boys 1,000 (3:04.02), Alex Scotera took eighth in the boys two mile (11:39.68) and Jerry Ven came in fourth in the boys shot put (36-9.75). 

Suhani Patel placed eighth in the girls high jump (4-6), as the Green Wave are hoping the extra time put in during practice will continue to pay off during meets. 

“I think we all need to work very, very hard in practice,” Scotera said. “In the past we’ve slacked off a bit but this season is going to be different.”

With a talented team returning, the Green Wave are hoping to make a run at a championship. 

“We are hoping to win Western Mass. again,” Javion Williams, who placed 13th in the boys 55 hurdles, said. “We lost one really good talent in Jackson Caron but most of our talent is back and we’re trying to make a run.” 

Late meet

Frontier and Athol competed in the late meet on Thursday at Smith College. 

For the Redhawk boys, Oliver Brown won the high jump (5-8), Ben Cachiguango won the 55 hurdles (8.09) and took fourth in the 55 (6.90), Casey Bestler placed 10th in the 600 (1:43.41) and seventh in the 55 hurdles (10.68), Tavo Vincent-Warner came in eighth in the 55 hurdles (10.82), Adam Paul took fifth in the mile (5:38.89), Hengxi Yue placed seventh in the mile (5:39.63) and Caleb Libbey earned second in the two mile (12:28.51). 

For the Redhawk girls, Lilly Novak won the shot put (30-01.25), Perla Ordaz earned second in the 600 (1:54), Josie Fosnot took fourth in the 300 (45.59) and sixth in the 55 (8.11), Hannah Davis came in second in the 55 hurdles (9.89), Olive Klaus took fifth in the 55 hurdles (10.81), Julia Morse placed ninth in the 55 hurdles (10.95), Madelyn Antes came in 10th in the 300 (49.29), Phoebe Radner took fifth in the 600 (1:56.19), Claire McFarland came in sixth in the 600 (1:58.02). 

Sasha Malo placed sixth in the mile (6:42.98), Maia Christensen came in eighth in the mile (6:50.43), Liv Christensen placed third in the two mile (14:02.53), Paisley Severance came in seventh in the two mile (15:38.72) while Abbigayle Grover came in fourth in the shot put (27-5). 

Athol’s Karleigh Chase earned second in the girls shot put (28-11.75) while Ethan Okeke came in 10th in the boys 55 hurdles (11.15) and eighth in the high jump (5-0). 

For the full story on the late meet, visit www.recorder.com.