Frontier’s Abi Howard surprised herself on Friday in a meet against Greenfield.
Howard set a PR of 5 feet, 2 inches in the high jump, breaking her previous best by nearly two inches to finish with the top jump in the girls meet.
“When I get to a meet, my adrenaline is going through the roof,” Howard said. “It improves my jumping. I’m very surprised with myself today.”
Howard also took first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:47.9 on Friday as the Frontier girls earned a 127-18 victory.
Caroline Crocker won the long jump (16.25 feet) and 100 hurdles (16.7), Alena Maes-Polan won the pole vault (9-6) and 400 hurdles (73.1), Sadie Ross took the javelin (79-6), Lilly Novak won the discus (80-1), Sophia Leone took the 100 (13.8) and 200 (29.0), Hannah Mackin won the mile (6:07), Josie Fosnot took first in the 400 (67.0) and Bianca Peura won the 2-mile (14:19) in the win for the Redhawks.
Howard hopes to continue raising the bar and challenging herself to top her personal best.
“My goal is to get 5-4 this season,” Howard said. “I just have to get over my fear of 5-3 now. I’ll just keep practicing, working on my form and I’ll get there.”
Fellow Redhawk Jack Vecellio hit the high mark in the pole vault on Friday, finishing with a top leap of 15-6. He continues to push himself in hopes of breaking the state record before he graduates.
“I’m just working my way back into it,” Vecellio said. “I’m waiting for it to get warm. Every practice has been chilly. I’m not really in a big rush but I’d like to break the state record of 17-2. I just want to jump high in the postseason. I’m trying not to set too many expectations right now.”
The Frontier boys came away with an 84-60 triumph over the Green Wave.
Vecellio won the 100 (11.1) and 400 hurdles (59.5), Erich Brown won the 800 (2:14), Luke Howard won the mile (5:08) and 2-mile (11:24), Alex Schreiber took the discus (94-2) and Aiden Dredge won the javelin (106-2) for the Redhawks.
Hampshire 6, Ludlow 2 — Winning pitcher Jack Boyle threw six innings for the Raiders in a tidy 6-2 win over Ludlow on Friday.
The fourth inning was the difference for Hampshire. With the game tied 2-2, the Raiders knocked in three runs to make it 5-2, scoring what would ultimately stand as the game-winning runs.
Luke Gaida finished the game with two hits, including a double, and three RBIs. Teammate Justin Meunier collected two hits and a run in the victory.
Belchertown 10, Palmer 0 — Josh Misiaszek pitched all seven innings for the Orioles, striking out six batters and allowing just five hits in a shutout victory over Palmer. Belchertown improved to 2-0 with the win.
Joey Mankowsky went 3-for-4 at the plate, also scoring a run. Tim Mitus, Brady Perkins and Aiden Torna all went 2-for-3, combining for five runs between them; Torna and Perkins also drove in two RBIs apiece.
Eli Sayball-Wimmer and Tyler McDonald also collected two hits each.
Franklin Tech 7, Smith Academy 5 — The Falcons loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to get the tying run across, falling to the Eagles in Hatfield on Friday.
Logan Graves scored a pair of runs for Smith Academy in the loss.
South Hadley 12, Athol 2 – A four-run sixth inning gave South Hadley an early victory over Athol via the 10-run mercy rule.
Tyler Evans threw five innings for the Tigers, striking out nine batters. Relief pitcher Matthew Drobiak struck out all three batters he saw in one inning of work.
Evans was also dynamite at the plate, cranking out three doubles and driving in three RBIs. Matt McDermott picked up two hits, two runs, and an RBI. Senior Boston Kelly also doubled in the win.
Easthampton 13, Chicopee 0 — The Eagles bounced back against Chicopee in convincing fashion after falling to Wahconah earlier in the week. Easthampton rolled to a 13-0 win, cementing the victory with a walk-off home run from Abigail McClaflin.
Sophomore pitcher Rosie Follet threw all five innings for the Eagles, allowing three hits and striking out nine batters. Follet also blasted a home run in a 2-for-2 performance at the plate with two RBIs. McLaflin and Lauren Morse both managed doubles and each finished with two hits; McLaflin picked up a team-leading three RBIs.
Jessica Cloutier also finished with two hits and had two RBIs and two runs. Aziza Menendez brought home two runs and got one hit in the win.
Monson 9, Belchertown 1 – The Orioles managed just one run in a loss against Monson on Friday.
Gina Camerota picked up one of Belchertown’s three hits in the loss. Pitcher Olivia Lafayette threw five innings, allowing nine hits and striking out one batter.
Belchertown 5, Central 0 – Belchertown won all five of its matches in straight sets in a dominant performance over Central.
No. 2 singles player Carson Boscher (6-0, 6-0) didn’t drop a game in his defeat of Ocean Elliston. Kieman Corish (6-1, 6-0) won his No. 1 singles match while teammate John Holt (6-0, 6-1) took the win at No. 3 singles.
Christopher Adzima and Michael Alves teamed up to win their No. 1 doubles match (6-1, 6-0) while Nicholas Adzima and Adam Cooper cruised through their No. 2 doubles match (6-0, 6-0).
PVCICS 5, St. Mary’s 0 – The Dragons bested St. Mary’s in every match on Friday afternoon.
Hugo Shin (6-2, 6-1) picked up the win in No. 1 singles and James Scott (6-1, 6-0) was victorious at No. 2 singles. St. Mary’s forfeited the No. 3 singles match.
Clayton English and Teddy Scott (6-0, 6-2) and Devan Ye and Derek Ye (6-0, 6-2) both won in straight sets at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, respectively.
Amherst 5, Agawam 0 – The Hurricanes bulldozed Agawam on Friday afternoon, winning all five of its matches in convincing fashion. The win improved Amherst to 2-0 on the season.
Zach Richards took home the ‘W’ in No. 1 singles (6-0, 6-1) while teammates Miles Jeffries (6-0, 6-0) and Woojin Kwon (6-0, 6-0) won at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively.
Both doubles teams also won in straight sets, as No. 1 team Siddu Sitaraman and Rohan Shenoy (6-0, 6-0) won No. 1 doubles and Josh Kellogg and Ben Oates (6-0, 6-0) took home the No. 2 doubles victory.
Frontier 4, Turners 1 — The Redhawks won three of the four matches that got played to defeat the Thunder on Friday in South Deerfield.
Frontier’s Robert Fuqua earned a 6-0, 6-1 win in No. 2 singles over Alex Sabin and Jacob Han beat Jacob Reich 6-0, 6-0 in No. 3 singles.
In No. 1 doubles, Caiden Manning and Harry Wright defeated the Turners pair of Dane Lupien and John Carmichael 6-0, 6-0. The Redhawks won No. 2 doubles via forfeit.
Northampton 3, Minnechaug 2 — The Blue Devils out-dueled Minnechaug on the tennis court on Friday evening, winning a tight 3-2 battle.
Ethan Metz won No. 2 singles (6-0, 6-0) in straight sets, as did his teammate Reilly Fowles at No. 3 singles in straight sets.
Max Cahilane and Durrell Patrick won No. 1 doubles (6-0, 6-2) to seal the win.
Aiden Metz lost a heartbreaker in No. 1 singles (6-3, 5-7, 11-9), dropping the third set after a long back-and-forth fight.
Central 3, Belchertown 0 – The Orioles fell in straight sets (25-10, 25-9, 25-20) to Central on Friday.
Connor White led the Orioles with six kills and three aces. Gabriel Ibekilo finished the game with five kills and Rainer Kristensen had nine assists and two aces.