NORTHAMPTON — South Hadley did not make it easy on itself.
The Tigers girls indoor track and field team needed to win the closing 4×400-meter relay and for Northampton to finish fourth or worse to repeat as PVIAC champions on Feb. 8 at Smith College.
South Hadley coach Nick Davis told the relay team the meet was close and they needed to win. He kept the specifics for himself.
It’s a familiar position for him and the team.
The Tigers
“It always comes down to the wire,” junior Lindsay Marjanski said. “I feel like every time it happens I have déjà vu and I know I can do it because I’ve done it before.”
Marjanski, Maddie Doolittle, Farrell Dawson and Jocelyne Rondeau torched the field in 4 minutes, 13.99 seconds. Westfield was second at 4:18.49.
But that didn’t matter nearly as much as Northampton placing fourth at 4:20.17. The Blue Devils were .39 seconds from forcing a tie for the championship.
The win gave South Hadley 71 points, just edging the Blue Devils, who had 70.
“That was one of the most stressful wins ever,” Davis said.
The Tigers gave themselves a chance late with standout individual performances.
Rondeau, a senior, won the 1,000 in her final meet at Smith College. She crossed the line in 3:08.38.
“It’s kind of bittersweet since this is my last time racing here,” Rondeau said. “It’s nice to finish with a win.”
Marjanski and Savannah Sudyka balanced running events with field triumphs. They both briefly left queues in the field to compete in relays or individual runs.
It’s a familiar rhythm for Marjanski, who won the high jump at 5 feet, 3 inches and placed seventh in the 300 (43.32).
“I just love high jump so much compared to my running. I’m at the point where it comes very naturally to me,” she said.
Sudkya relied on a strong first shot put throw and broke away to run the 4×200 relay. Her first throw cleared 37-4, the longest of the night. South Hadley finished fourth in the 4×2 (1:54.1).
“I mainly focus on shot to get a good one out at first, and if I don’t make it for finals I have one good one out,” Sudyka said.
South Hadley’s overall relay performances brought it back ahead to win. The Tigers trailed by 23 points at one point. Then Davis watched them work back enough to have a chance at the relays.
Their 4×800 team placed second in 10:16.83.
“We put them through the ringer in practice every single day. They know going into it that they’re ready,” Davis said. “It’s just mentally can they handle it when the pressure’s on?”
Amherst Regional finished third with 52 points.
Sophia Jacobs-Townsley led the way with a win in the 2-mile (11:02.98) that she negative split. Her second mile was faster than her first. She trailed Mohawk’s Meghan Davis for the first mile then kicked into gear.
“Once that mile ends, I can just go,” she said. “I was really surprised with the way I executed the 2-mile after such a tough mile.”
Jacobs-Townsley finished third (5:12.84) behind Northampton’s Mary Yount and Pope Francis’ Emily Boutin, who out-kicked her on the final stretch of the mile.
Jacobs-Townsley also ran on Amherst’s winning 4×800 relay with Julia Hopley, Isabela Shepard and Eliza Dole (10:10.42).
“It’s really fun even though everyone’s tired and beaten up,” Jacobs-Townsley said.
Shepard defended her title in the 600, taking first in 1:41.19 – a season best.
“That was tiring,” she said. “It’s seeing the work I put in paid off.”
Northampton took home first place at the championships for the second year in a row.
Amherst overcame a disqualification in the 4×200 to win the 4×400 and place second.
When Kai Bailin received the baton he was at least 10 meters behind Tucker Quinlan, the anchor runner for Northampton, but as they rounded the final corner, the senior had a kick that overcame the deficit and won the race for Amherst by a nose, 3:32.93 to 3:33.08.
That kick gave Amherst 63 points to move into second place over West Springfield (63).
“First lap I was still tired and nauseous from the (4×200).” Bailin said, still gasping for air. “I just tried to take it easy and hang on behind him. By the end he was maybe five meters in front of me and I said ‘I’ve got to make this back, got to make up for that handoff so I just gave it everything I’ve got.”
Bailin also placed second in the 300 in 36.46.
Amherst’s Junior Pontes de veiga came in first in the 55 dash with a time of 6.59 seconds.
Amherst’s Ben Fang ran 6.75 to place fifth. South Hadley freshman Jonas Clarke was third (6.62).
Devin Dixon was second in the 55 hurdles (8.13) for Amherst. The Hurricanes were also second in the 4×800.
South Hadley finished fifth in both the 4×400 and 4×800.
Freelancer Elliot Weld contributed to this report.