NORTHAMPTON — Three Hampshire County schools competed in the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference Large School Indoor Track and Field Championship at Smith College on Sunday, in Amherst, Northampton and Holyoke.
On the girls’ side, the Hurricanes put together a dominant performance. At the conclusion of the day, the team sat comfortably on top of the overall leaderboards, finishing with 117 points, 40 points above second place.
It took a full team effort from Amherst on Sunday, with two first-place finishes in individual events, and another pair in the relays.
“There were many excellent performances,” Amherst distance coach Bob Rosen said. “Overall, we’re very pleased.”
Ella Austin was one of two individual winners, emptying the tank for a narrow victory in the 600m. The junior ran a 1:40.30, with second place just six tenths of a second behind her.
Tansy Warwick was the other Hurricane to take the top spot in an event, earning first in the High Jump, measuring in at 4-10.00.
Amherst nearly won all three relay races to end the day, with first-place finishes in the 4×200 (1:48.71) and the 4×800 (10:48.00). In the 4×400, the Hurricanes nabbed second place, finishing with a 4:13.96.
Sunday saw many different runners for Amherst competing in three events, continuing to place near the top each time. The team had trust in its best players to pull the weight, and they did just that.
“Sometimes you have excellent people who, just because of how good they are, they have to triple,” Rosen said. “And that’s what happened [on Sunday].”
The Blue Devil girls had a successful day as well, finishing in second place overall with 77 total points. Northampton had three first-place finishes on the day.
Mairead O’Neil showed out for her squad in her individual events, nabbing the top spot in both the 1 Mile (5:25.58) and the 2 Mile (11:54.78).
“[O’Neil] has really seemed to be able to handle that kind of responsibility, and started to show that last spring,” Blue Devils head coach Ellen O’Neil said. “We could sort of see how it continued on into this indoor season. That’s a lot to ask for in one particular day, but she did that, and did it really well.”
Maddalena Figueroa-Starr also earned the full 10 points for Northampton in the 1,000, clocking in at 3:15.31.
The Purple Knights girls tallied 23 points on Sunday, good for 10th place overall. Holyoke was led by a standout performace from Yasani Thompson.
The senior competed in the 55-meter dash and the 300, earning first place in each. Both were tight, impressive victories, tallying a 7.35 in the 55-meter sprint and a 41.21 in the 300.
On the boys’ side, the Hurricanes again impressed, finishing the day with 54 points in third place. The team finished first in one individual event, along with two relays.
Nicolas Lisle put together a busy day for Amherst, taking the top spot in the 1,000 at 2:34.38. The senior also anchored his team’s winning effort in the 4×800.
“Probably the greatest performance that I saw in the whole meet was [Lisle] in the 1,000,” Rosen said. “He ran away from everyone.”
The Hurricanes won the aforementioned 4×800 at 8:31.35, adding on a victory in the 4×400 at 3:37.83.
For the Blue Devils boys, the team ended in ninth place overall with 22 points. The team excelled in the 2 Mile, with three runners in the top five spots.
Henry Daggett was the first to finish for Northampton in the race (10:26.68), taking third place overall. The junior was closely followed up by his teammates, Charlie Sidoti in fourth (10:35.75) and Owen Daggett (10:38.29).
The Blue Devils had every single person who competed on Sunday contribute at least one point to the overall score.
“It feels like it’s a collective effort when you have everybody contributing to the overall score,” O’Neil said. “We do lean on a couple of people here and there, a little bit more, but I think people are probably a little bit more bought in if they know that they can actually contribute to the overall score.”
For the Purple Knights boys, they tallied 12 points on the day to slot them in at 13th place. Ryan Kennedy led the way, taking home fourth place in the 300 at 36.74.
Jaybriel Rivera Soto also earned a top-five finish, grabbing the fifth spot in the 55m hurdles at 8.49.
Northampton High School’s Mairead O’Neal wins the girls one mile event during the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference Division I Large School indoor track & field championship at Smith College on Sunday, February 1, 2026. Christopher Evans/For the Gazette 
Amherst Regional High School’s Ella Jamate hands off a baton to a teammate while competing in the 4×800 relay race during the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference Division I Large School indoor track & field championship at Smith College on Sunday, February 1, 2026. Christopher Evans/For the Gazette