Souhegan may have enough to keep Division II title

The Souhegan High School boys track team made history during last year’s indoor season, starting the Sabers on a championship run. Souhegan captured the second boys indoor track title at the Division II meet, and followed it up with the school’s first spring title, and this fall, the first cross country title. The Sabers have a lot of the pieces back to make another run, including hurdler Ben DeForest, who won the 55-meter title a year ago as a sophomore. The Division II title could be a three-team race between Souhegan, Stevens of Claremont and Lebanon. In Division I, Merrimack finished second to Pinkerton a year ago, and the Tomahawks should again be in the hunt for the indoor title. Nashua North and Bishop Guertin, which both tied for third with Londonderry last year, both return a lot of key contributors and hope to put themselves in position for a title. The best individual battle might come in the shot put, where North’s Mike Lynch, last year’s D-I runner-up, and Bedford’s Joe Thibeault, the winner in D-II a year ago, are now in the same division. DIVISION I Alvirne COACH: Tom Daigle. LAST SEASON: finished 15th at the Division I meet. RETURNING ATHLETES: Aaron Bellomo, sr.; Phil Demers, so.; Cameron Murphy, jr.; Connor Sakati, jr.; Anthony Cestron, so. and Ryal Doyle, so. PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Collin Mulligan, fr.; Mike Gagnon, fr.; Gavin Boucher, fr. and Brendan LaValley, fr. COACH’S COMMENT: “If the underclassmen can learn from the upperclassmen’s experiences this past season, we should do fairly well,” Daigle said. Bishop Guertin COACH: Steve Hunt. LAST SEASON: tied for third at the Division I meet. RETURNING ATHLETES: Griffen Gagon, sr., distance; Robert DeSisto, jr., distance; Dan Sypek, sr., hurdles; Jack Barowski, so., sprints; Isaaic Liu, sr., sprints; Mike Devereaux, jr., sprints and Jonathan Sheehan, so., distance. PROMISING NEWCOMERS: William Arling, sr., mid-distance; Nicholas Marino, sr., sprints/jumps and Aiden Loftus, jr., jumps. COACH’S COMMENT: “Gagon and Desisto are both strong returners from a distance group that lost some key runners from last year,” Hunt said.