Daily Hampshire Gazette – Athletics: Northampton and Amherst share the last dual meets of the season (PHOTOS)

NORTHAMPTON — No matter the sport, it always means more when Northampton and Amherst meet for the “Battle of the Bridge.”

Both schools were busy again Monday afternoon, as the Blue Devils and Hurricanes track and field teams met in the final dual meet before the Western Mass championship. which will take place in less than two weeks.

The two rivals share boys and girls clashes, each equally competitive and entertaining. Northampton beat Amherst 74-71 on the girls side while the Canes took over the Blue Devils boys, 67-57.

Even Northampton head coach Eric Pfalzgraf admitted there was a little extra motivation when those maroon uniforms came to town.

“If you look at the league, there are better teams than us and Amherst, but there’s something with Amherst that motivates us,” Pfalzgraf said. “A lot of them are friends and talk to each other, so there’s more of a friendly vibe than other rivalries. But the coaches know each other, especially in cross country, we see each other all the time. It’s fun but still competitive.

Maeve O’Neil was terrific in the distance events for the Blue Devils girls, winning both the two miles (13:20.1) and the 800 meters (2:38.3). Camilla Brewer won three events, dazzling in the 100 hurdles (16.4), long jump (14-8.5) and triple jump (34-8.5), while Malia Silver (mile, 5:40 .8) and Ella Hoogendyk (javelin, 90-07) also had solid days for Northampton.

On the boys side, Davis Wheat tried his hand at several different events – scoring points in all of them. He won the 110 hurdles in a time of 18.6 seconds as well as the pole vault to mark his big day.

Pfalzgraf was pleased with his upperclassmen’s efforts Monday.

“Camilla had a season-best triple jump today, so that was nice to see because her triple was out of place this year,” Pfalzgraf said. “Davis is still up there, and he was doing different things to train for the decathlon later this season. He scored in everything today. Ella won the javelin and she had a huge PR on her second or third throw. She also scored in the long jump, she’s another multi-type athlete.

Owen Dagget (two miles, 10:38.6), Silas Knight-Richard (400 hurdles, 1:05.8), Liam Ewers (800, 2:06.7) and Dev Patel (javelin, 122-10) put in a strong performance for Northampton. boys, and their outings should put them in better heats at Western Mass.

“In throwing and vaulting, we had a lot of season bests and personal bests, which was great,” Pfalzfgraf said. “Many of them also came from the lower classes. The young athletes really understood this today. This is good because it puts them in position to be in the Western Mass playoffs.

As for Amherst, Moriah Luetjen shined in the sprints and also helped the Hurricanes’ 4×100 relay team finish in first place. Luetjen clocked 25.5 (first place) in the 200m, beating second place by more than two seconds.

Elizabeth Sawicki (400 hurdles, 1:10.0), Kora Brissett (100, 12.6), Ruby Austin (400, 1:06.4) and Yairelis Bachand (discus, 73-07) also each claimed first room for the ‘Canes.

The boys were led by David Pinero-Jacome’s time of 52.5 seconds (first) in the 400, as well as a blast from Ty Beckett in the 100 (first, 11.3). Peter Nedeau won the mile (4:54.1), Owen Platt took first in the 200 (23.2) and Sabir Douglas’ jump of 20-00.5 in the long jump was also good enough for first place.

Northampton and Amherst now turn their attention to the Western Mass tournament. in two weekends.