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There were a slew of spectacular performances by local athletes at Saturday’s 70th annual New England Championships in Saco, Maine. Methuen junior Wileshka Samuel broke her own area records with a 12.19 in the 100 meters and a 24.94 in the 200. She placed third in the 200 and finished just out of the money (top 6 score) with a seventh in a loaded 100 field. “It all came together nicely,” said Rangers coach Nick Collopy. “It’s fun to coach her and fun to watch. Her times have improved every week the last four weeks.” The Rangers also came up big in the boys relays with a fifth in the 4x800 and a sixth in the 4x400. John St. Hilaire and sophomore Fernando Damota ran on both. Caveney vs. Coach Andover coach Peter Comeau saw his 31-year-old 300 intermediate hurdles record fall to Golden Warrior senior Sean Caveney. Andover usually runs the 400 hurdles but Caveney made the transition with a 38.64 to place second. That’s considered faster than former New England champ Comeau’s hand-timed 38.6 and the automatic time by AHS’s Steve Shepard with a 39.05 in 1992. ”People think I’m crazy for saying this, but I’d rather be the coach of the guy who breaks it. That was awesome. It was very exciting,” said Comeau. Andover’s 4x400 team brought home the gold with anchor Hamza Naveed running a 48.8 split to make up a 10-yard deficit. They ran a speedy 3:19.61 to move up to second all-time in our area. Naveed teamed with Caveney, Raymond Gorzela and Jeremy Travaglini. Ace high hurdler Sebastian Silveira was just off his school record with a 14.24 for fourth. Duffy, 4x800 records North Andover’s super sophomore Erick Duffy soared 15-3, continuing his remarkable recent stretch of personal bests, to take third in the pole vault. The 4x800 team of Zach Frahlich, Chris Dalke, Chris Lord and Marty Conrad nipped their own school record for a fourth place. Howes another record Londonderry’s Natalie Howes added over two feet to her own area javelin record with a 139-1 to win the event. She also placed fifth in the pole vault while Skyler Goss of Pelham was runner-up (11-9). Faucher, Pettis shine Haverhill junior Jack Pettis took fifth in the javelin with a personal best 171-9 while another talented junior, Timberlane’s Kyle Faucher. uncorked a big 184-11 heave, smashing his own school record by more than seven feet. He brought home the silver.

Reigning Eagle-Tribune indoor track MVP Starlin Ortiz won the long jump (20-10.25), high jump (6-2) and 110 hurdles (15.16), starring on his home track at the Londonderry Invitational.

Londonderry's Starlin Ortiz and Kyle Foden won a combined five events to help lead the Lancers to a 94-45 win over Salem on Tuesday. Ortiz took first in the long jump (21-2 1/4), 110 hurdles (15.1) and 100-meter dash (11.3), while Foden won the shot put (42-5) and the discus (113-7).

Pinkerton's Ryan Lynch, Sam Lanternier, Kevin Johnson and Matt Robinson smashed their season best with a 3:27.91 in the 4x400 relay. That second place vaulted the Astros to the title at the Merrimack Invitational. The Astros scored 89 points while runner-up Nashua North, which didn't scored in the event, had 85.

Londonderry's Starlin Ortiz (21-1 long jump, 6-8 high jump), Andover's Hamza Naveed (22.31 200, 51.97 400) and Andover's Sean Caveney (14.86 110 hurdles, 40.59 300 hurdles) were double winners in impressive fashion at the Nashua North Invitational. Naveed's 200 is 15th all-time in the area and Caveney's 110s is also 15th. Ortiz's high jump is tied for fourth and just off his school mark (6-8.25 indoors).