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The Andover 4x100 team of Troy Cayon, Adam Carrington, Brian Knapp and Patrick Farnham placed 10th yesterday at the New Balance Nationals in North Carolina. Their time of 42.48 places them second all-time in the area to Andover’s 42.37 last spring.

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Sanborn’s Ginny Lavallee and Londonderry’s Lyssa Winslow were the top local performers at the rain-drenched 66th annual New England Track and Field Championships. Winslow won the most recent edition of the local discus wars. Her 127-4 was good for second while Salem’s Amy Desrosiers was third with a 122-0. Ginny Lavallee ran a speedy 14.71 in the 100 hurdles. That’s a new personal best and the second-place finish ranks her third all-time in our area. Bishop Guertin’s Betsy Garnick of Pelham took sixth. Salem’s Melissa Higgins (300 hurdles) and Pinkerton’s Margaret Barrie (200) also finished sixth in their respective events. Timberlane’s Matt Dionne, who won the All-State title, tied for third with a 6-3 in the high jump. The Timberlane girls’ 4x400 team placed 10th but more importantly fell just shy of cracking four minutes with a 4:00.23. South of the border there were some standout performances. Andover’s Moira Cronin did something few area tracksters would even dream about. The University of Virginia recruit won her third straight New England title. She endured the damp conditions to clear 5-9 and won on misses. The Warriors were also Golden in the 4x100 with Adam Carrington, Brian Knapp, Troy Cayon and Patrick Farnham winning in 43.26. Andover coach Peter Comeau feared his foursome might be disqualified. “They threw the yellow flag up. But there was someone else that was out of the zone,” he said. Some thought this might be a bit of a rebuilding year for Andover in the 4x100 after the graduation of the great Christopher McConnell. Instead they made history. “All the great sprinters we have had and this is the team that brings home the title,” said Comeau. Farnham also placed third in the 200 in a time of 22.38. Cronin also ran on the third-place 4x400 team. She teamed with Rae Bronenkant, Eve Bishop and Sydney Eberth to run a 3:58.22. The Central Catholic 4x800 team took 10th with a 9:29.29, moving to third place all-time in the region. Interestingly, neither Lanie Jowett, Danielle Goglia, Hannah Carey nor Nicolette Pelrine do cross country. All four, however, were on the state champion soccer team. Julie Solimine of Haverhill continued to rack up the personal bests. Her 10:59.45 in the 3,200 didn’t score but it moved her into eighth place all-time in the region.

North Reading enjoyed hosting the North Sectional Heptathlon, rolling up 9,832 points to finish second overall to Ipswich-Georgetown’s 10,668-point effort.
Lauren Hebert led the way for the Hornets, scoring 3,704 points over the two-day, seven-event competition to place sixth overall highlighted by third-place finishes in the shot put (8.95 meters) and the javelin (30.98 meters).
Emily Shaw (13th, 3,179 points) and Lauren Witzgall (19th, 2,949) also contributed to the team’s runner-up status. Georgetown’s Holly Sullivan took seventh.
Sparked by Lexi Kitsakos, Pentucket broke a couple of school records in finishing third.
Kitsakos rolled up a school-record 4,007 points to finish third individually. She broke her own mark by over 300 points.
Kitsakos finished second in the high jump (1.55 meters) and tied for fourth in the 200 (25.9 seconds).
As a team, the Sachems also placed third, setting a new standard with 9,620 points.
Also scoring for Pentucket were Victoria Castiglione (22nd overall with 2,865 points) and Liz Beauregard (25th, 2,748).

MERRIMACK — Having already won New Hampshire’s Meet of Champions high jump title, clearing 6-foot-4, Matt Dionne appeared a little addled on what to do next.

“I don’t even know,” Dionne replied when asked what height he wanted to try next.

See highlights and plenty of interviews from the 2011 Eastern Mass. Division 1 state track meet.

Central's Tori Catanzano had her leaping shoes on yesterday at the Eastern Mass. Division 2 track championships.

Central's Tori Catanzano had her leaping shoes on yesterday at the Eastern Mass. Division 2 track championships.

ANDOVER — Moira Conin’s winter slump is far in the rear view mirror now.

The Andover senior tied her all-time area record in the high jump with a 5-10 yesterday.

More amazingly, she didn’t have a single miss before trying to set a new all-time mark of 6-feet.

Lexi Kitsakos placed first in the high jump (5-2) and fourth in the 200 (26.23) to help Pentucket to a sixth place finish in the 36-team Division 3 state meet, at Oliver Ames High School (North Easton). Becca Morse finished second in the two-mile with a time of 11:26.59.

MERRIMACK — Melissa Higgins needed some help coordinating her day, but the Salem senior ended up doing all the hard work herself.

Running from one event to another, Higgins defended her New Hampshire Division 1 300-meter hurdle title and also placed in three other events yesterday afternoon at Merrimack High School. Her 22-point effort helped Salem finish fifth with 45 points, far behind girls winner Bishop Guertin’s 94. Londonderry was third with 62 and Pinkerton was fourth with 58.