Demo runs away in duel with Pierce

NORTH ADAMS -- The anticipated duel on the track between the county's two fastest returning sprinters was a little one sided, but not nearly as one-sided as the competition between their respective teams.

Drury senior Wyatt Demo on Tuesday won his matches with Hoosac Valley's Jeremy Pierce by comfortable margins.

Demo and his Drury teammates, meanwhile, won every event on the track, sweeping four events, to swamp the Hurricanes 96-49.

In the girls' competition, sprinter Sara Sworzen and thrower Allie Bleil each were double winners to lead Hoosac to a 94-47 win over its hosts.

But the story of the day -- and of the young season -- is the resurgence of the Drury boys, who stayed unbeaten after three dual meets and has really impressed Hoosac boys coach Ron Namislo.

"I give Drury a lot of credit because it's the first time they've beaten us in at least 16 years," Namislo said. "They have a much better team than we do.

"Congratulations to them. They've got a shot at winning this thing (the county title) for the first time in a long time. ... They're strong almost everywhere with depth."

Drury coach Jim Buffoni was not willing to start handicapping

the county championship race just yet.

"We've got to worry about Mount Greylock on Friday," he said. "To be honest, we're happy whenever we win a meet."

Looking down the score sheet, Buffoni's eye was drawn more toward the Blue Devils' vulnerabilities, particularly in the field events. And he even said there were question marks on the track, despite his team's 75-16 advantage in the 12 running events on Tuesday.

That said, Buffoni recognizes the huge turnout for track this spring (the Devils boasted 58 boys in preseason) is a big plus. Drury goes into almost any meet with a numbers advantage; put that together with arguably the county's top sprinter (Demo) and one of its best distance runners (Alex Schueckler), and Drury is a tough matchup for anyone.

Buffoni's toughest task might be making sure his five dozen boys each get a chance to contribute.

"It's a nice problem to have," he said. "I've got a kid who took second in the hurdles today (Tony Milazzo) who never ran hurdles before. He's an 800 runner. There might be a time when you need him to run the 300, so we put him in. Today was the day. We had a spot for him to run where we didn't need him in two other races."

Schueckler and Drew Boudreau each won two events for Drury. Schueckler won the mile and 800. Beaudreau won easily in both the 100 and 300 hurdles.

In the sprints, Demo won the 100 in 11.05 seconds, a personal record and a clear win over Pierce (11.33). In the 200, Demo was nearly a half-second better than his rival, clocking a time of 22.58 to Pierce's 23.02. Pierce did pick up points in the jumps, winning the long jump with a mark of 19 feet, 3 inches and the high jump by clearing 5-10, four inches better than the field.

Hoosac had a clear advantage in the jumps and throws in the boys' and girls' competitions.

For the girls, Bleil put the shot 28-1 and sailed the discus 101-10.

"She had a great day," Hoosac girls coach Greg Lucia said. "She qualified (for the Western Massachusetts Championships) in shot, and I think she was the first in the county to go over 100 feet in the discus for girls.

"That was a 20-foot jump in the discus for her today. Her shotput has been around 26 (feet). She just had a great day. I'm sure the weather had something to do with it. But being a senior, she is a captain and hopefully she's taking it upon herself to step it up."

Hoosac's Sworzen won the 100 (12.83) and the long jump (13-6.5). The Hurricanes' girls also demonstrated their depth with wins in the 4-by-800 and 4-by-100 relays.

Drury girls coach Jennifer Allard said her squad is still in the building stage, not quite a match for their counterparts on the boys side. But the Blue Devils have shown potential.

Like the school's boys team, numbers are up on the girls' side. And one of the newcomers, freshman Cassie Lincoln, scored in three events on Tuesday, winning the 400 (1:04.86) and 200 (28.30) and placing third in the triple jump (28-2).

"We really didn't know what to expect from her because she's a freshman," Allard said. "When we first had her start to run things, she was really open-minded about anything. We tried her as a sprinter, and she really didn't seem like she fit there. Then we tried her in the long distance, and she didn't really fit there. So we said, 'OK, we'll try her in mid.'

"And it seems to fit her perfectly. She has really good strength. Even though she has little legs, she really moves them. ... I'm hoping by the end of the year she'll get her 400 and 200 times down to Western Mass. I really think she will."

As for Hoosac's boys, despite coming up on the short end of the team score, there was plenty to be positive about on the day, Namislo said. He was especially happy with the performance of his throwers, who took 18 out of a possible 27 points. Scott Wojciechowski recorded three discus throws in the 125-foot to 128-foot range, winning with a toss of 128-11.

Unfortunately for the 'Canes, they do not have the same size team that they are used to fielding, nor do they have a roster that can match Drury's in depth.

"Lacrosse killed us," said Namislo, who estimates his program lost 18 boys and a dozen girls to the first-year program in Cheshire. "The two best (boys track) programs in the county (Monument and Drury) don't have lacrosse. What does that tell you?

"That's not an excuse. Drury has a great team. Even if we had those other boys, they would have won. But the margin might have been different."