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Astros soar to title

Behind gutsy performances from Grant Langevin and the 4x200 meter relay team, Pinkerton edged out Merrimack to take home the Division 1 state title for the first time since 1993.

In a meet at Dartmouth College that came down to that final relay, the Astros scored 68 points for the title, five more than Merrimack.

"It was an incredible night," said Pinkerton head coach Ian French. "Literally every guy we needed to do something did something. It's what you ask for as a coach. It was incredible to watch and I'm blessed to be a part of this." 

Langevin more than did his part, locking up with Alvirne's Aaron Bellomo in an epic 1,500 meter battle that the Astro senior won by a whisker. His 4:17.06 won the title by a mere 0.01 of a second. Then he garnered a valuable third-place finish in the 3,000.

"Grant stepped up like he needed to," French said. "It's what you look for from your leaders and his effort really made a difference."

But the meet-winning effort came from the 4x200 relay, put under added pressure from Merrimack's winning 4x400 that made the final race winner-take-all.

But the Astro quartet of Emmitt Smith (also third in the dash), Zach Cicio (sixth in the 300), Tyler Calderone and Chris DeCarlo ran the race of their lives. Their 1:33.30 crushed the school record by almost two full seconds, beat runner-up Merrimack by 0.66 of a second, and earned Pinkerton the crown.

"We had to run perfect and the kids ran an incredible relay," French said. "Perfect handoffs and everything."

Salem's Jerickson Fedrick repeated as state champion in the 55 meter dash, running a 6.52, while teammate Eric Tahtamoni won the 600 by almost 1 1/2 seconds. The Blue Devils finished seventh as a team.

Londonderry, who wound up in a three-way tie with Nashua North and Bishop Guertin for third place with 40 points, saw its 4x800 relay squad easily with the title.