BY MATT STOUT

On Saturday, May 26, Pelham’s Kris Fournier brought his best to the Class I track and field championships. Now, he is the best.

With a personal-best and school-record throw of 166 feet, 6 inches, the senior claimed the Class I crown in the javelin at Merrimack Valley High School  in Penacook, earning all 10 of the Pythons’ points in the meet.

Fournier, who finished fourth in last year’s class championships with a toss of 156-00, beat his next closest competitor this year by 5 feet and the third-place finisher by more than 10 feet.

His throw, which came roughly two weeks after he registered a toss of 163-11, would have been the best among last year’s Class I competitors as well.

Fournier also qualified to compete in the Meet of Champions on Saturday, June 2, at the University of New Hampshire. Fournier made the cut last year, but missed the meet to attend an out-of-state funeral service.

This year, he’ll face some stiff Class L competition that featured five throwers who qualified with a toss of 166-11 or better.

Other Pelham competitors on Saturday included Jake Downs, who placed 13th in the 100-meter dash; the Pythons 4 X 100-meter relay team of Downs, Todd Paquin, Cameron Robidoux and Bruce Vieira, which finished eighth; and Max Roth, who placed 11th in the javelin with a throw of 135-08. Andrew Ridlon also competed in the 1,600-meter run.

The girls team’s lone competitor, junior Stephanie Martins, placed 15th in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5-minutes, 56.05 seconds.