By Jerry Liptak
Staff Writer

Concord's Jessica Lanney finished third in the girls. high jump at the Meet of Champions on Saturday, June 4, in Salem. Above, the junior clears the bar at the Class L Track and Field Championships. Lanney is eligible to compete at the New England Regionals in Saco, Maine, on Saturday, June 11. For Meet of Champions results, visit lancertiming.com. (Marc Thaler Photo)

SALEM - While the New Hampshire State Track and Field Meet of Champions included dozens of the best teams and athletes from Class S, M, I and L, you'd need to add an "E" to get a more accurate picture of the scene at Salem High School on Saturday, June 4.

In fact, track and field seems to be the anomaly in high school sports. That's because it's here - on the track, inside the oval, around the jump pits - where you.ll find competitors unabashedly cheering for athletes from other schools.

Of course, these athletes want to do well. Most want to win.

But these high-schoolers embrace the spirit of sportsmanship and enjoy sterling performances - both their own and their foes.

"Everyone here is so good. You know if you want to move up, you.ve got to improve," said Goffstown senior Laureen Ouellet, who finished 13th in the long jump but took the time - like everyone else - to stop what she was doing and watch Hanover's Rita Ciambra break the state record in the pole vault. "I admire (these athletes)."

Ouellet was hanging out, talking with fellow GHS athlete Taryn Murphy, who took SATs at Memorial High School, zipped down I-93, arrived in the middle of her event - the high jump - and couldn't make the height of 5-feet, 2 inches. She didn't turn around and leave.

Instead, the junior stuck around to cheer on her teammates.

"I want to support them," said a smiling Murphy, who played varsity hoops with Ouellet and said the atmosphere at track and field meets is totally different from the us-vs.-them mentality of most team sports.

"It's friendly. But it's competitive," said PA junior Kelly Thomas, who performed well in the 300-meter hurdles, earning a trip to the New England Regionals in Saco, Maine, on Saturday, June 11. "It's fun racing against friends."

Some dueling athletes even train together. Ashley Zielinski, a Trinity freshman, said she felt a bit overwhelmed by the highquality athletes surrounding her in Salem. But she'd been tutored regularly by Central senior Danna Frink in the 100-meter hurdles.

"She's really been helpful with my blocks," said a cheerful Zielinski, who undoubtedly will mentor another young athlete someday. Frink, by the way, won the event. Zielinski finished ninth, but took fourth in the 100-meter dash. Both athletes are eligible for the regionals.

Before the girls shot put, the eventual winner, Erica DesRoches of Exeter, and Trinity's Stephanie Bianchi, who took fifth and was the state champ in 2003, couldn't stop talking to each other. Both seniors said the camaraderie at track and field meets is infectious. Bianchi's coach, Art Connolly, a 30-year veteran of the track-and-field and cross country scene, agreed.

"That's the norm," he said. "It's always been that way."