Amherst Regional’s accustomed depth won’t be present at the Western Massachusetts Division 1 Track & Field Championships.
The Hurricanes’ quality remains.
They’ll feature eight top seeds, six on the boys side and two on the girls, when the meet takes place at Holyoke High School on Friday.
Amherst finished second to Northampton in the girls meet last season. The Hurricanes’ boys squad took first, edging the Blue Devils.
“I think we’re really low on numbers of athletes, though I think we have a bunch of athletes who are there that could win or almost win a bunch of events, I don’t think it’s going to be enough,” Amherst girls coach Chris Gould said. “I’m optimistic for the people we have there doing well. I think that there are some other teams that will be able to take two or three places in the top scoring events. We would like to at least scare somebody.”
Frances Duncan and Sophia Jacobs-Townsley shout boo the loudest.
Duncan is the top seed in the girls 800-meter run at 2 minutes, 22.17 seconds and is seeded third in the 400 at 1:00.63, but may not run both events.
She’ll also contribute to the Hurricanes’ relay effort.
“I start to get a little nervous about athletes being able to come back and be at the top of their game,” Gould said. “It’s more about what we think she can handle and still excel.”
Jacobs-Townsley leads the girls 2-mile seeding by nearly 17 seconds at 11:31.61.
Ariel Christie is seeded second in the 100 hurdles at 16.39, just over half a second behind Westfield’s Morgan Sanders.
“I’ve been selling it as the door is at least slightly ajar,” Gould said. “We have to do our part. It’s much more exciting to finish second or third or fourth than eighth or ninth or 10th. Any of those numbers could certainly happen.”
Northampton’s attempt to move from second to first in the team standings will be led by Sierra Loomis.
She’s seeded first in the 400 hurdles at 1:06.98, second in the 800 in 2:23.74 and third in the triple jump at 34 feet, 8 inches.
The Blue Devils also boast the No. 1 4×800 relay in 10:03.17, 12 seconds faster than No. 2 East Longmeadow.
On the boys side, Amherst’s Adawehi Robinson and Northampton’s Liam Sullivan top two events each.
Robinson leads the shot put at 45-10, one inch further than Esdiel De Leon of Chicopee Comp, and the discus at 150-8, outpacing Devin Donahue by 22 inches.
“He has a great coach in Sarah Hickman who works with him as a technician, gets his technique down really good,” Amherst boys coach David Thompson said. “They’ve got a nice weights routine.”
Sullivan earned the top seed in the boys mile at 4:25, three seconds quicker than the field, and is the only one under 10 minutes in the two-mile at 9:47.43.
The Blue Devils will be missing one of their top sprinters in Nik Smith, who will miss the meet to attend his sister’s graduation.
“We were hoping he’d make it back to run some relays, but we’re not crossing our fingers,” Northampton coach Brandon Palmer said. “We’ll rule it out for this week and go into next week.”
Amherst’s other top seeds include Andre Shapard in the 400 (50.27), the 4×400 team (3:29.33) and Sage Bailin in the 400 hurdles.
“He’s also going to give us a strong leg in the 4×4,” Thompson said. “I’m really impressed with him.”
The Hurricanes and Blue Devils will contend with the likes of Longmeadow, Chicopee Comp, East Longmeadow and Minnechaug for the boys title.
“There’s going to be a lot of points to be had,” Palmer said. “But it’s going to be a fight for every one of them.”
Katt Miner will key Frontier Regional’s attempt to repeat as champion much like she helped propel the Red Hawks last season.
The meet is Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Mohawk Regional in Buckland.
Miner is the top seed in the high jump at 5-6, one inch higher than the meet record she set last season.
The 200 field will chase her 26.84 time, while she posted the second-fastest 100 time at 13.10, 0.06 seconds behind Mahar’s Ally Parker.
The Red Hawks 4×100 team also earned a No. 1 seed, while Jaime Byrne is seeded No. 2 in the pole vault at the same height, 9-6, as Pioneer Valley’s Victoria Laskoski.
Hampshire Regional’s Taylor Blow is the top seed in the girls mile at 5:22.01, just ahead of teammate Ally Roessling at 5:22.02.
Sophie Gatzounas, of South Hadley, threw the javelin 121-8 to earn the top seed.
Hampshire’s John O’Connor is the top seed in the boys javelin at 149-10.
Southwick is the defending team champion, while Frontier finished third last year.