REGION — On Wednesday afternoon, the talented Ayer boys track team took control in the field events and never looked back as they rolled to a MidWach D championship. The Panthers easily outdistanced the competition, amassing 187 points, far ahead of second place Maynard, who finished with 77 points. Bromfield was third with 43 points while Littleton (29) and West Boylston (18) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The question of what could the Panthers possibly do for an encore was answered quickly with another outstanding effort in the Central Mass. Class C Championships on Saturday. Ayer captured their second championship of the week, again in impressive fashion, relying on the same formula. The Panthers finished with 118 points, winning a three-way fight for the top spot over Lunenburg, who was second with 109 points, and Sutton, who finished third with 106 points.
”We won the league championship last season as a young team,” said Ayer coach Jamie Lamoreaux. “We are still a young team and we are sophomore and junior dominated. In the league meet we had enough points after the field events to win, and on Saturday we were very strong in the field events and we were able to build an early cushion.
”The competition in the Central Massachusetts championships was very good, but we have a strong nucleus of kids who came up big,” added Lamoreaux. “All of these kids work hard and these two championships are a reward for that effort. A lot of kids have been performing well and there is a contagious enthusiasm in place. Everyone is interested in how their teammates are doing.”
Wire to wire at the league meet
Kilpatrick was instrumental in getting the Panthers off to a quick start along with junior D.J. Trinque, who captured both the shot put with a toss of 45-4 and the javelin with a toss of 160-6. Charlie Jones finished off the field events by winning the high jump with a leap of 5-10, and after six events Ayer had registered 89 points, compared to only 37 points for the other four teams combined.
Garrett Lockard came up big early for the Panthers, gaining seconds in both the shot put and the discus, while Antoine Payne chipped in with a a second in the triple jump and a third in the long jump.
Kilpatrick and Isiah Connor finished first and second in the 100 meter high hurdles to lengthen the lead, before Jones and Derreck Bacon were second and third in the 100 meters.
The Panthers never let down and continued to pile up the points.
After Ayer’s 4 X 100 relay team blazed home on top in 48.1, Connor rolled to victory in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles in 43.6, with teammate Walter Lahood finishing third.
In the 800 meters, Skylar White struck gold for the Panthers with a time of 2:15.7, while teammates Mike Racca and Munson were third and fifth, respectively.
Kilpatrick finished off his sensational day, by winning the 200 meters with teammate Bacon finishing second.
No let up on Saturday
The Panthers registered six first-place finishes on Saturday on their way to claiming their Central Massachusetts title.
Trinque rose to the occasion with a couple of sensational throws to capture the shot put and the javelin. The junior easily outdistanced the field by more than two feet to win the shot put with an effort of 47-3, and bounced back to trounce the field by more than 20 feet in the javelin with a throw of 168-6.
Lockard was instrumental in building the early advantage, winning the discus by ten feet with a toss of 135-6, and adding a fourth in the shot put.
The triple jump proved to be a pivotal event for the Panthers as they registered a 1-2-3 finish. Kilpatrick prevailed with a leap of 40-11.25, followed by Paine in second (40-9) and Isiah Connor in third (40-5.25). Kilpatrick also struck gold in the 110 high hurdles, blazing home first with a time of 15.74.
Charlie Jones came up big for the Panthers, winning the high jump with a leap of 6-2 and adding a fourth-place finish in the 400 meters.
Other point scorers for the Panthers included Derreck Bacon (second in the long jump and third in the 200 meters), Skylar White (fourth in the high jump and fifth in the 800 meters) and Mike Racca, who notched a fifth in the javelin. Also, the Panthers 4 X 400 relay team earned a fifth.
