The Hurricanes won their first team title since 2004, edging out four-time defending champion Northampton and Holyoke.
NORTHAMPTON - Welcome back Amherst, the reigning king of indoor tack.
The Hurricanes won their first Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference Indoor Track Championship in eight years, clinching the team title during the meet's final relay Friday night.
Amherst, which had won four straight from 2001-04, claimed team honors with 57 points despite not posting a first-place finish in any of the 10 individual events at Smith College.
"I am so proud of these guys, they put so much work in all year,'' Amherst coach David Thompson said. "We don't have a big team and only a half dozen seniors. They say it's lonely at the top, and it's nice to be there.''
Four-time defending Northampton (55 points) was runner-up, while Holyoke finished third with 50 points.
Westfield (36) was fourth, and Central and Longmeadow shared fifth place at 34.
Amherst senior Conlan Brown (55 and 300) had recorded the team's two runner-up finishes, to add to its second-place in the 4x800.
"This team has so much depth,'' Brown said. "We got a crop of cross country runners and we just took care of the distances.''
In addition, the Hurricanes had two thirds, four fourths, two fifths and a sixth.
Individually, Chicopee Comp senior Alex Niemiec stole the show with victories in three events.
"I felt great coming in and it feel so great to win (all three),'' said Niemiec, whose previous best career PVIAC finish had been a runner-up. "I would have been disappointed to not win all three.'
Niemiec won the won 55-meter dash (personal record 6.73 seconds), the high jump (6 feet 3) and long jump (21-6).
"The 55 was the best because I wasn't seeded first and I wasn't sure if I would win it or not,'' said Niemiec, who said Springfield College is his top collegiate choice. "I had everyone pushing me there and I really wanted 22 (feet in the long jump).''
Alex Sullivan of Northampton won the 1,000 for the third time, breaking his own PVIAC record with a time of 2:35.57.
The senior pulled ahead with 1 1/2 laps left and never looked back. He broke the lone PVIAC record, which he set earlier this season, and was also the lone repeat champion.
Holyoke had three individual winners and placed top-six finishers in eight of the 10 individual events
Holyoke senior Cody Hodgins won the mile in 4:28.93, staying two steps behind runner-up Joe Hegarty (4:31.54) of Cathedral until the start of the final lap.
"It turned out more strategic than I thought,'' said Hodgins, who is considering Rutgers and Holy Cross. "It wasn't how I had envisioned it, but it doesn't matter. I knew I had extra in the tank and that I would have the kick. I was exactly where I wanted to be throughout the race.''
"Cody ran a very smart race,'' Holyoke coach Bob Lastowski said. "He ran a very tactical race . . . he sacrificed his time to win the race for points.''
Sam Coates-Finke, senior, won the 2-mile with a time of 9:49.84 after being edged out last year.
"I have been thinking about that for the last week, you always wish you you had leaned a little bit more,'' Coates-Finke said. "It's one race that you never quite get over. I didn't think I would do it tonight. But with 1 1/2 laps to go . . . my kick was for fear of the guys behind me, the ones I couldn't see.''
Top seed Blake Croteau, junior from Westfield, was half-step behind at 9:50.08.
Other event winners included: Tyler Brunelle (600) of Holyoke, 1:26.42; Devaughn Hill (shotput) of Longmeadow, 47-8; top seed Avi Sheldon (300) of Northampton, 37.57; Perry Nowell (55 hurdles) of Central, 8.14
PVIAC Indoor Track Championships
At Smith College
Team scoring
1. Amherst 57
2. Northampton 55
3. Holyoke 50
4. Westfield 36
5. Central 34
5. Longmeadow 34
7. Chicopee Comp 31
8. Chicopee 24
9. South Hadley 17
10. Cathedral 14
11. Minnechaug 13
12. East Longmeadow 12
13. Agawam 9
14. Greenfield 8
15. Holyoke Catholic 5
16. Mahar 3
17. West Springfield 1
Individual results
Long jump
1. Alex Niemiec, Comp 21-6
2. Alex Vyce, Chicopee 20-8
3. Kieran Presley, Amherst 20-0
4. Conlan Brown, Amherst 19-6
5. Kris Tardy, Holyoke 19-4
6. Chris Roy, Chicopee 19-3.5
High jump
1. Alex Niemiec, Comp 6-3
2. Kory Breiwick, Greenfield 6-1
3. Jack Devine, Minnechaug 5-11
4. Chris Roy, Chicopee 5-11
5. Trevor Lewicki, Holyoke Cath. 5-11
6. Alan Powell, Mahar 5-9
Shotput
1. Devaughn Hill, Longmeadow 47-8
2. James McInerney, Chicopee 44-10.25
3. Anthony Lucia, South Hadley 44-5.25
4. Kevin Rodriguez, Holyoke 44-0.5
5. John Latour, Amherst 42-9
6. Ives Fisher, Northampton 41-5
2 mile
1. Sam Coates-Finke, Northampton 9:49.84
2. Blake Croteau, Westfield 9:50.08
3. Mark Hegarty, Cathedral 9:56.75
4. Jesse Coull, Amherst 10:00.35
5. Rhys Duquette, Holyoke 10:02.09
6. Tim Shea, West Side 10:09.12
55-meter hurdles
1. Perry Nowell, Central 8.14
2. Juan Maysonette, Westfield 8.21
3. Edison Perez, Central 8.24
4. Gary Burnett, Amherst 8.49
5. Ray Grasso, Mahar 8.57
6. Thomas Spring, S. Hadley 8.66
55
1. Alex Niemiec, Comp 6.73
2. Conlan Brown, Amherst 6.79
3. Charles Newman, Westfield 6.84
4. Oushane Lewis, Central 6.86
5. Nelson Estrada, Holyoke 6.94
6. Andrew Deane, Minnechaug 6.96
Mile
1. Cody Hodgins, Holyoke 4:28.93
2. Mark Hegarty, Cathedral 4:31.54
3. Ben Gagne-Maynard, Long. 4:32.27
4. James Traester, Amherst 4:33.07
5. Eugenio De La Rosa, Holyoke 4:40.12
6. Ryan Mathers, Amherst 4:42.54
600
1. Tyler Brunelle, Holyoke 1:26.42
2. Nate Varney, East Long. 1:28.42
3. Michael Stender, Amherst 1:28.61
4. Andrew Pettengill, South Hadley 1:28.77
5. Russell Wells, Minnechaug 1;29.03
6. Richard Schoolcraft, Agawam 1:29.22
300
1. Avi Sheldon, Northampton 37.57
2. Conlan Brown, Amherst 38.03
3. Kris Tardy, Holyoke 38.15
4. Perry Nowell, Central 38.39
5. Matt Montano, Agawam 38.70
6. Kevin Collins, Minnechaug 39.09
1,000
1. Alex Sullivan, Northampton 2:35.57
2. Jacob Bellows, Westfield 2:39.42
3. Tom Nilsson, Longmeadow 2:39.59
4. Mike Andre, Agawam 2:39.75
5. Gabe Fishman, Amherst 2:40.50
6. Richard Landry, Holyoke 2:42.72
4x200
1. Central, 1:35.96
(Oushane Lewis, Joelfi Arias, Adam Guttierez, Edison Perez)
2. Northampton, 1:36.68
3. Westfield, 1:37.04
4. Chicopee, 1:38.44
5. Minnechaug, 1:38.46
6. Chicope Comp 1:39.41
4x400
1. Northampton 3:37.59
(Marcus Neverson, Josh Hirschman, Ben Shulman-Reed, Avi Sheldon)
2. Longmeadow 3:42.34
3. South Hadley 3:42.83
4. East Longmeadow 3:44.71
5. Holyoke Catholic 3:51.42
6. Holyoke 3:52.18
4x800
1. Holyoke 8:30.34
(R.J. Landry, Cody Hodgins, Eugene De La Rosa, Tyler Brunelle)
2. Amherst 8:37.76
3. Northampton 8:40.53
4. Longmeadow 8:43.55
5. Agawam 8:48.19
6. Minnechaug 8:49.42