Amherst girls’ 4x400 relay leads strong group headed to Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon

Select athletes of the Amherst Regional track and field team are heading back to the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon as competition is set to kick off on Thursday morning.

Six Hurricanes girls athletes and six boys athletes will make the cross-country trip to compete in multiple relays and a few individual events. Most notably, the girls’ 4x400-meter relay team will look to continue its dominant season on the oval with a strong showing among the nation’s best. The Hurricanes’ 4x400 squad recently won the event at the New England Championships this past weekend by about six seconds.

“I think we’re going to be competitive in all of the relays we’re in,” Amherst girls coach Chris Gould said. “I haven’t gone in and looked at seed times of all the entries, not sure I’m really interested in doing that actually, I’d just rather let things fall where they do. We want to do well at Nationals, but it’s kind of gravy at this point. We, they, the other coaches, have pulled off some great achievements already so far, every step of the way.”

Along with the 4x400, the Hurricanes girls will run in the 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay, the sprint medley relay and a mixed 4x400 relay that includes two girls and two boys runners.

Moriah Luetjen, Ruby Austin, Ololara Baptiste and Skylar Fox will make up Amherst’s 4x400 quartet and Claire Fortin and Ella Austin will swap in for certain relays.

Luetjen (400) and Fortin (100) make up the only two Amherst girls running individual events. The Hurricanes have also been placed in the Championship Division —the top division in the meet – for each event, save for Fortin, who is running in the Freshman Division for the 100.

“This year’s team has been one of the most successful in Amherst history,” Baptiste said. “We’ve broken records, we’ve won titles and we’ve shown what’s possible when you have heart, dedication and teammates who lift each other up always.”

A chunk of the Hurricanes’ girls competitors will be making their second appearance at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon this week after competing in last year’s Nationals meet. Luetjen, Baptiste and the Austin sisters mark the Amherst returners on the girls side while Logan Alfandari is the lone boys returner for the Hurricanes.

“We’ve got some people that know the deal,” Gould said. “That’s great for me, because they get there and I don’t have to go finding out, telling them where to go, they know where to go. That’ll be exciting.”

During the 2024 meet, the Amherst girls’ 4x400 took 16th out of 20th place in the Championship Division and won the girls sprint medley in the Emerging Elite Division.

On the boys side, Alfandari will throw discus and shot put in the Emerging Elite Division. Last year, Alfandari’s best event was a third-place finish in the shot put.

Amherst’s Owen Platt, Nico Lisle, Tylahn Beckett and Miles Jeffries will be running in the sprint medley relay in the Championship Division as well as the 4x400 in the Emerging Elite Division. Angel Hernandez will compete in the para-wheelchair shot put for the Hurricanes too.

Fortin will be the first Amherst athlete to compete on Thursday as the girls’ Freshman 100 preliminary round is scheduled for 10:32 a.m.

Local athletes to compete at New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia

More area outdoor track and field athletes will lace them up at the New Balance Nationals this weekend in Philadelphia.

Amherst’s Juliana Albo (girls freshman high jump & long jump), South Hadley’s Trevor Sullivan (boys Middle School 2 mile race) and Belchertown’s Aubrey Klingensmith (girls freshman javelin) will compete at University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field.

Franklin Field is most recognized for hosting the annual Penn Relays, the oldest organized college and high school relay competition in the country.