Raiders Claim Four Wins at Div. 4 Outdoor Track Championships

IPSWICH — Watertown High School’s boys and girls track and field teams claimed four individual titles, and the boys finished third overall at Saturday’s Eastern Div. 4 Outdoor Track Championships on Saturday.

Sprinter Mange Camara continued his dominant season by winning the spring events at the meet at a sweltering Ipswich High School track. Distance runner Emily Koufos won a title of her own, and Ben Landry got two second places during the championships. They boys also finished in the top three for two relays.

Top Sprinter

Boys Track Coach Tom Wittenhagen called Camara’s performance “amazing.” The junior had to run four races to win his two individual titles. Each time the junior had the fastest time, though he did not quite set personal bests. He won the 100 meters with a time of 11.07 seconds in the final, and won the 200 meter final with a time of 22.03.

“They were a little slow. This is my fifth race today, and the heat,” Camara said after running in a relay. “It’s been a tough day.”

Camara will run at next weekend’s All-State Meet, but has his sights set beyond that.

“I want to get to Nationals,” Camara said. “I don’t mind if I lose, there are some quick guys up there. I want to get to North Carolina.”

Distance Duo

The Raiders’ girls duo of dominant distance runners ran their last race of their careers together on Saturday. Emily Koufos and Elizabeth Powderly both seniors competed in the mile, with Koufos completing a wire-to-wire win in a time of 5:12.56.

“It was a little hot. Coach (Kim Usseglio) told me to go out fast in front of everybody and keep up the pace,” said Koufos who will run for Holy Cross next year. “I felt good despite the conditions. I’m really happy how it went.”

Powderly finished just out of the points in ninth place. She completed a successful career in which she was a Middlesex League All-Star 12 times — four times each in cross country, indoor and outdoor track.

Having a running partner has been a bonus, Powderly said.

“In practice we are pushing each other everyday, and when we see each other out of practice she makes sure I’m hydrated,” Powderly said. “Knowing her game plan in a race helps me, too.”

Multievent Athlete

Watertown senior Ben Landry missed out winning one event by the narrowest of margins Saturday, and he also took second in the pentathlon on Thursday.

Landry ran the 400 meter hurdles race for the first time a couple weeks ago in a dual meet. On Saturday, he was caught at the line by Pentucket’s Jack Lohisy. Landry finished in 57.09 seconds, .01 behind the winner.

“I didn’t feel him at all. Normally I feel people around me,” Landry said.

The senior said the 400 hurdles was not his main event.

“I am definitely a better multi-eventer,” Landry said. “I’m better at more stuff and not really good at one thing.”

On Thursday, he finished second in the Div. 4 pentathlon with 2,872 points. The competition includes five events: 110 meter hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put and 1500 meters.

“I knew the kid in first was going to beat me, because he’s a really good athlete,” Landry said. “I got (personal records) in multiple things so I was real happy about it.”

Next year, Landry will compete in the decathlon at Bob Jones University.

Relay Success

Two Raiders’ boys relay teams ran fast enough Saturday to make the All-State Meet next week in Fitchburg.

In the final event of the day, Camara anchored the 4 x400 relay team, which also included seniors Nick Cordeiro, Gus Brouiliard and Kian Rice. Watertown was in third when he started his lap around the track and Camara got within shouting distance of first, but could not catch Weston. Watertown finished second with a time of 3:31.66, .68 behind Weston.

Brouiliard had just run the 4 x 800 relay less than an hour prior. In that race, he anchored the team, which also included junior Jack Barry, sophomore Kai Landry and junior Nathan Follett.

When he took the baton, Brouiliard was in fourth but he closed the gap with the Weston runner on the first lap.

“On the second lap I got behind him and passed him at the 200 mark of the second lap,” Brouiliard said. “(Down the stretch) I looked behind and he was there, so I felt comfortable.”

The team’s third place finish booked a trip to the All-State Meet. The time of in 8:35.96 was 4.25 seconds faster than their seeding time.

Team Scores

Coach Wittenhagen was pleased with the performance of the Watertown boys team, which took third place with 50 points, behind winner Weston (62) and Amesbury (60).

“Coach (Larry) Sullivan and I sat down at Dunkin’ Donuts on Thursday to see how many points we thought we would get,” Wittenhagen said. “We were trying to get 46.”

The Watertown girls finished with 10 points, which put them in 24th place. The winner was Amesbury with 93 points.