HOLYOKE — The Western Massachusetts Division 1 Championship was headed north, but the Northampton boys track & field team wanted to put an exclamation point on the meet.
The Blue Devils were in front of Longmeadow in the standings, and they wanted to make sure that was the case in the 4×400-meter relay, Saturday at Holyoke High School.
Senior anchor Ethan Cooper made sure that happened. The Blue Devils finished first in 3 minutes, 33.6 seconds to beat Longmeadow by just under a second.
It was the third straight sectional championship for the Blue Devils, who closed with 120 points. The Lancers were second with 98.
“Great end to a great day on a great season,” Northampton senior Benjamin Gordon Sniffen said. “It’s awesome.”
Gordon Sniffen ran the third leg of the 4×400, which was one of four first-place finishes for Northampton. Seniors Ethan Salem and Tucker Quinlan ran the first two legs, respectively.
“Today was really about points,” Gordon Sniffen said. “The wins are important because they’re 10 points not really for any other reason. Everyone contributed so much. I did my part and it’s just such a great feeling right now.”
Northampton had three second-place showings and four thirds. The Blue Devils had a trio of both fourths and fifths. They added one sixth and one seventh.
Gordon Sniffen won the 800 in 1:56.61. He was second in the 2-mile in 9:50.69.
“Everyone raced hard and competed,” Gordon Sniffen said. “Everyone performed and did exactly what we needed to.”
Senior Cole Lavalle was first in the 200 dash in 22.53 seconds. He edged Amherst Regional teammates Kai Bailin (second, 22.62) and Becket White (third, 22.90).
This came after Bailin took first (54.32) in the 400 hurdles ahead of Lavalle (second, 57.34).
“I knew going in Kai Bailin was going to go out there and do something crazy like 54,” Lavalle said. “I knew I had the 200 prelims in the next event so I went out with the mindset to run for place, run hard and do enough to put myself in position to come in second.”
Lavalle did just enough in the prelims to have the top time of 23.27 heading into the finals.
“The prelims were rough but I was able to gut that out,” he said. “In the 200 I just pushed hard.”
Senior Benjamin Raivel’s victory in the pole vault at 11 feet rounded out the top finishes for Northampton’s graduating class.
“It’s awesome for the senior guys because it’s our third time,” Gordon Sniffen said of the championship. “It feels better every time but it’s also just so awesome for the younger guys, the freshmen and sophomores, to get this feeling and hopefully carry it on.”
Senior Ryan Long added a third (145 feet, 11 inches) in the javelin and a fourth in the shot put (40-5). Senior Jason Michel was fourth (133-2) in the javelin.
Tim Jacques (third) and Tobias L’Esperance (fifth) placed in the 2-mile.
Benjamin Howe (third), Riley Cole (fifth) and L’Esperance (sixth) placed in the mile.
Cooper was second in the 400 and Simon LaClair added a fourth in the 800 for Hamp. The 4×800 was third and the 4×100 fifth.
“We came in with the hope to win,” Lavalle said. “We knew it was looking good coming into all the relays and it’s just amazing to get a team victory. You have the individuals and then you have the whole team winning.”
Amherst Regional was fourth (78) behind West Springfield (83).
Bailin is following in the footsteps of his older brother Sage, who won the NESCAC Championship and the New England Division III Championship in the 400 hurdles for Colby this spring.
“I was seeded first by four seconds and I was just trying to get through it,” Kai Bailin said. “I was running as hard as I could and I tripped over a couple hurdles around the second curve. I tried to recover and just went for it.”
Darius Robinson grabbed a third (43-7½) in the triple jump and a fifth (19-5) in the long jump for the Hurricanes.
Aidan Shea was fourth in the mile (4:32.6), and anchored the winning 4×800 relay (8:21.15) of Patrick Cooper, Jack Yanko and Willem Goff (fifth, 800).
Junior Pontes da veiga was third (11.23) in the 100 while Devin Dixon was fourth (16.74) in the 110 high hurdles.
Amherst’s 4×100 and 4×400 were both third.
The Central-West Division 1 Championships will be held Saturday at Fitchburg State University.