By Bob Tutunjian
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (A.W)—The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Greater Boston “Nejdeh” was formed 16 years ago with the merger of the Boston “Siamanto” and Watertown “Gaidzag” chapters. The Siamantos won the Olympics five consecutive times from 1980-1985 while the Gaidzags earned three crowns in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Meanwhile the Nejdehs had placed second twice but had never held the Cup.
That drought ended on Labor Day weekend, when they amassed a total of 197 points. Greater Boston was led by four high scorers: Michelle Hagopian, Anoush Krafian, Eric Movsesian, and Vasken Kebabjian. They dominated the medal race with a total of 17 gold, 9 silver, and 16 bronze along with winning 3 relays.
The interesting battle was actually for second place, as Philadelphia Sebouhs came from behind to edge the host New Jersey Arsens 116.5 to 110.5. The Sebouhs had a pentathlon winner in veteran Jessica Sarkisian while David Barsamian was a high scorer for Jersey. The Arsens even won more individual event medals of each color. They had 7 gold, 9 silver, and 6 bronze versus 5 gold, 8 silver, and 5 bronze for Philly. But the Sebouhs won 3 relays and scored big in both pentathlons to earn the runner up trophy.
Last year Detroit placed sixth and scored only 29 points. This time around team Detroit KT had 71 points and moved up to fourth. They found a high scorer in swim star Berj Vartanian and even won the new coed swimming relay.
Defending champion Providence placed fifth with 35 points, well short of their total of 204 last year. Next year’s host Racine was sixth with 17 points led by swimming rookie high scorer Azniv Khaligian. They also won the Most Improved Chapter award. The New York Hyortiks were seventh as all of their points came from pentathlon winner Ara Markarian.
Washington D.C. was 8th scoring 10 points. Chicago, Montreal, and North Andover were tied at one point behind D.C. San Francisco scored 7 points which was good for 12th place. Worcester and the Western Region tied with 6 points each, while Toronto rounded out the scoring with 2 points. West San Fernando and Granite City entered but did not score.
A total of over 235 athletes entered events during the weekend. The top four teams each had over 30 entrants headed by the hosts with 42. The increased number of entries showed as many events needed preliminary heats—up to four in the track sprints.
New Jersey used their depth to take an early lead over Greater Boston 47-43 after the Friday golf, tennis, and swimming competitions. Detroit was close behind at that time with 35 points while Philadelphia only had 22.
Sunday morning saw most of the field event finals take place as well as the men’s 3200 and women’s 800 runs. When the Opening Ceremonies took place, Greater Boston had taken the lead with 89 points and Jersey close with 78. Detroit and Philadelphia trailed well behind with 42 and 34 respectively.
After the early running events and the balance of the field events, Boston had taken command with 147 points, while New Jersey dropped back with 92.5. Philly had edged ahead of Detroit 61.5-60, but both were still over 30 points in arrears.
The next few events did little to change things but then late in the day the Sebouhs added 30 points from the pentathlons cut the Arsen’s lead to just 4 points. On the next event Eric Papazian won the 400 and Philadelphia had crept ahead by a single point. They then beat Jersey in two of the final three relays to secure second place.
Individual Awards
There were three female high scorers with 15 points each. Most notable was veteran Michelle Hagopian participating in her last Olympics. She won triple gold for a record eighth time and became the all-time AYF women’s scoring leader with 156 career points.
Michelle passed Lynne Tutunjian’s total of 153 established just last year. Hagopian retired undefeated in both golf and the discus throw, having won those events for an unprecedented 11 consecutive times. Harry Derderian of Springfield has the men’s winning streak record with 10 straight golds in tennis. This year Michelle bounced back to win the baseball throw after placing sixth in 2015. In addition to her athletic accomplishments, she has served the AYF in many capacities over the years including chairperson of the Central Executive.
The first triple gold winner of the weekend was 16-year-old swimmer Azniv Khaligian, who became the first high scorer from the Racine chapter. Azniv won the 25-meter butterfly as well as the 50 and 100 meter freestyles. She swam for Harborside Academy High School as well as the local Pleasant Prairie Patriots club team. Azniv is also an accomplished violinist having won an Exemplary Soloist Award from the Wisconsin School Music Association.
The third female high scorer was Anoush Krafian, who also scored 15 points at her rookie Olympics last year. She defended her titles in the long and high jumps and won the 200-meter dash in between. Krafian added three more golds in both of the women’s relays and the coed track relay. She even helped Greater Boston to two seconds in swimming relays. Her total of 6 golds and 2 silvers is surpassed only by the 8 golds won by Joe Hanovnikian of Chicago in 2004. Her performance is even more impressive considering that she has been injured from January to August and missed her entire outdoor track season for Belmont High School.
On the men’s side, there were four high scorers with 13 points each. It marked the first time since 1985 that no male won triple gold (the same thing last happened for the women in 1994).
On Friday, Eric Movsesian and Berj Vartanian scored 13 points each. Vartanian won both the 50 and 100 freestyles and took second in the 50 breaststroke. He is also a 16-year-old rookie and has sharpened his skills on the Novi High School swim team as well as the South Lyon Aquatics club. Movsesian is a 22-year-old Olympics veteran. He won the 50 backstroke and breaststroke but lost to Berj in the 50 freestyle. Movsesian is a recent graduate of Bentley University majoring in accountancy. He was a four-year member of the Bentley swim team after swimming for Acton Boxborough High School.
On Sunday, two men scored 13 points on the track. AYF rookie Vasken Kebabjian took gold in the 100 and 200 meter dashes but settled for silver in the 400. Kebabjian is a senior at Watertown High School where he plays football and runs for their track team. He was supposed to compete last year in Providence but was sidelined with a hip injury. The fourth male high scorer was David Barsamian. Last year Barsamian competed only in the 1600 meter run which he won by over 20 seconds. This year he defended his crown in that event and added gold in the 3200. Barsamian also ran the 800 where he showed a furious kick that fell just short of winning. He is a junior at Northern Highlands High School where he competes for their track and cross country teams.
Both of the pentathlon champions placed third last year in Providence. New York’s Ara Markarian had competed in the event four times in years past, winning two silvers and two bronzes. In 2015, he scored 2342 points but this year he improved to 2671. He won the shot put, long jump and 200 dash and stayed close in the discus and 1500 run. Aram Keshgegian from Philadelphia took second with 2607 points and Boston’s Daron Hamparian was close behind with 2560. In the women’s pent, Jessica Sarkisian from Philadelphia scored 1815 points—a large improvement over her 2015 total of 1541. Sarkisian won the 800 meter run as well as the long and high jumps. It was fourth time she had competed in the event having won in 2009. Defending champion Nairi Krafian won the shot put and 200 dash but had to settle for silver with 1739 points. Sarkisian’s sister Kelsey won the bronze.
Last year an amazing total of nine records were broken or tied but this year no marks were set. The Ernest Nahigian Award for sportsmanship and fraternal spirit was presented to Garo Youssoufian from Greater Boston. Racine won the Most Improved Chapter trophy.
Men’s Track and Field
The men’s field events were won by six different athletes. Greater Boston’s Shant Mahrokhian placed 5th last year but added almost two feet to win the long jump with a leap of 21’3.5”. Armen Almasian from North Andover edged Varak Ghazarian of San Francisco for second place but both were two feet behind Shant. Ghazarian bounced back in triple jump to win with his final effort of 39’0.5”. Armand Keosian of the Western Region won the silver and Nareg Mkrtschjan of Providence the bronze. In the high jump, Boston’s Sam Chakmakjian did 5’4” to win after being a runner up three times. Nareg took second while Shant Topouzian from Detroit was third.
Last year Alex Avakian from Greater Boston set a new record in the discus. This year he trailed newcomer Alek Gulbenkian (N.J.) until his fifth throw of 145’8” to win by just over two feet. Kevork Ourfalian of Greater Boston won the bronze. Earlier in the day, Gulbenkian bested defending champion Avakian in the shot put with a throw of 48’11”. The Western Region’s Armen Nercesian was third. Mark Santerian from Philadelphia won the javelin for the third straight time with a heave of 153’1”. Alex Avakian took another silver while Michael Nercesian (Detroit) followed behind.
On the track, high scorers Vasken Kebabjian and David Barsamian dominated the sprint and distance events respectively. Vasken won the 100 in 11.30 and the 200 in 23.90 but fell short in the 400 to Philly’s Eric Papazian who ran 56.00. The 100 was the closest event of the day as Masis Mardirosian (Philadelphia) was second on a judge’s decision. Long jump champ Shant Mahrokhian placed third in the 100 and then second in the 200. Matthew Selverian from Philadelphia was the third medalist in the 200.
The 3200 run was held during the morning session to minimize the heat for the athletes. David Barsamian completed the distance in 11:54.90 to best Anto Keshgegian (Philadelphia) and high jumper Sam Chakmakjian by over 40 seconds. But Barsamian was narrowly beaten in the 800 by Boston’s Armen Arakelian who ran 2:18.30. Anto was close behind both of them in third. Barsamian came back to win the 1600 in 5:29.20, over 5 seconds ahead of Keshgegian. Chicago’s Alek Surenian won the bronze. The hurdles were won by Dan Chakmakjian as he did last year as well as 2011 and 2012. He covered the 110-meter distance in 17.20 ahead of javelin medalist Michael Nercesian and Richard Keshgegian.
Philadelphia used their depth to win both the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 400 meter relays in 46.30 and 3:56.90. Greater Boston was second in the sprint relay and third in the 1600. Detroit took third in the 4 x 100 while New Jersey was second in the 4 x 400.
Women’s Track and Field
It was the Anoush Krafian show again in the women’s track and field events. She started her day by soaring 16’8.25” to win the long jump. This was seven inches short of the record she set last year but almost four feet ahead of Providence’s Mackenzie Derderian. Krafian’s sister Araxi was next with the bronze. Krafian also repeated as high jump champion clearing the bar at 4’10”. Knar Topouzian of Detroit and Theresa Jelalian of New Jersey took second and third. In between the jumps, Anoush cruised to victory in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.60. Trailing behind were Detroit rookie Talene Nercesian and Victoria Selverian from Philly.
There were two other double gold medalists at Sunday’s track meet. One was Michelle Hagopian participating in her final Olympics. First Hagopian won the discus for the 11th straight time and retired undefeated in the event. Her throw of 86’11” was well short of her record of 105’2” but won by over 17 feet. The Arsen’s Ani Sarajian placed second while Michelle’s teammate Anoush Gigarjian was third. Hagopian finished her day by winning the baseball throw with a heave of 161’ to beat Boston 16-year-old Sena Changelian and Christine Kutlu from Jersey. The win allowed Michelle to finish as the all-time female high scorer with 156 career points. The other double winner was 200 silver medalist Talene Nercesian who took the 100 and 400 meter dashes. Talene first edged Victoria Selverian in the 100 in 14.50 seconds. Jacqueline Fales, a 16-year-old from New Jersey, collected the bronze. Nercesian easily won her final event, the 400, with a time of 1:07.10. Lia Arakelian (Philadelphia) and Anoush Arakelian (Boston) were about 6 seconds behind. Arakelian had actually won the 1600 meter run less than an hour before. She led almost all the way posting a time of 5:48.60 to beat Julie Thomasian of Washington D.C. and fellow Boston member Alexis Cormier. In the morning, the same three had all medaled in the 800 where Julie outkicked Arakelian in 2:39.00. The other track events were settled early in the afternoon. Two-time event champ Kenar Charchaflian of Worcester beat Mackenzie Derderian from Providence in the 100 meter hurdles in 19.40. Nejdeh Anahis Kechejian was close behind in third. Then Victoria Selverian started her day taking gold in the 50-meter dash with a time of 7.70. Greater Boston won the other medals with Araxi Krafian and cousin Ani Hackett.
The field events for the ladies started with the shot put where the Arsen’s Ani Sarajian added her fifth career gold medal throwing 28’2.5”. Detroit’s 16-year-old Patil Tcholakian was a few inches behind and Nejdeh Talene Sagherian finished third. The other throwing event, the javelin, was not settled until Providence’s Sara Anoushian passed Christine Kutlu (N.J.) with her final throw of 87’8”. Last year Kutlu had beaten Anoushian for second place. Baseball runner-up Sena Changelian was third in the event this year. Before winning bronze in the 100, Jacqueline Fales won the triple jump with a leap of 29’6”. Mackenzie Derderian won her third silver of the day in this event by edging Araxi Krafian on her last jump.
The Greater Boston girls won the 4 x 100 relay in 56.60 ahead of Philadelphia and Detroit. The Nejdehs came back to win the 4 x 200 relay in 2:08.50 as Anoush Krafian overtook New Jersey with a strong anchor leg. Philly settled for third in that event. The day was capped off by the 4 x 200 coed relay and another Boston victory. Their time of 1:48.30 was slightly slower than their record set last year. Detroit and Philadelphia won the silver and bronze.
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