DETROIT, Mich.—The Detroit “Kopernik Tandourjian” AYF-YOARF chapter has won back-to-back AYF Olympics Cups for the first time in 23 years. At the 2024 Olympics hosted in their city, the team racked up a grand total of 253 points. The last time they won two in a row, they retired their third cup the following year in Philadelphia. This year marked the 17th time that Team K-T has won an Olympic Cup, a total that is second only to Providence’s 41.
Detroit entered 63 members and scored 82 points during the Friday events, starting off with a huge 42 point lead over New Jersey. They continued to dominate on Sunday with 171 points in track and field, almost double the 90 points scored by Greater Boston. Detroit was led by five high scorers, as well as both pentathlon winners. Armen Vartanian swept three events in the pool, and newcomer siblings Gina and Nicholas Couyoumjian won all six distance events on the track. Melanie Sarafian dominated the sprints once again, while Mher Tcholakian won two jumps and the hurdles. Mher’s brother Sasoun won the pentathlon for the fourth straight time, and Teny Topouzian won the women’s pentathlon. Detroit almost had a sixth high scorer, as swimmer Natalya Katcherian took 13 points. Overall, Detroit grabbed 31 golds and 13 silvers, with 10 of the firsts coming in relay events. With the lengthy list of relay events, winning all 10 of the relays has never been done before.
Greater Boston scored 93 points, which was more than 60 less than last year’s effort. They brought only 25 members to Motown, which was 13 fewer than last year. Once again, their leader was Anoush Krafian who won three golds, one in record fashion. She has been undefeated for nine consecutive years, the longest such streak in AYF history. She was helped by sister Knar who scored 13 points in the field events. Knar would have won a third event if she wasn’t beaten by teammate Sena Changelian, who helped the effort with 10 points. The Nejdehs brought home seven golds and seven silvers, and four of those silvers came in relays.
The battle for third place has particular significance, since only the top three teams are allowed a chapter dance at the Sunday Grand Ball. Before the final three relays, Providence had 65 points, which was one more than New Jersey with Philadelphia not far behind with 57. But the Varantians were shut out in those three events, and the Arsens scored a third and a fourth to finish with 67 points. Philly closed strong but ended up with 63. New Jersey entered 45 members and started with 40 points on Friday. Their only gold medals came on Friday in women’s golf and tennis. Aside from those golds, they won five silvers and a total of 15 bronze medals, the most of any chapter. No individual from New Jersey scored more than six points, so they earned their Sunday chapter dance solely on their depth and teamwork.
Providence took fourth place, led once again by high scorers Natalia Oganesian in the pool and Zach Semerjian in the throwing events. They were helped by Hagop Taraksian, who won tennis for a record eighth time and placed second in the hurdles. Philadelphia was close behind the Varantians headed by Vahe Minasian’s 10 points with Alex Dardarian and Aram Keshgegian each adding nine.
North Andover secured sixth place scoring 25 points, with rookie Matt Janian taking 13 in the pool and veteran Meline Almasian getting 10 on Sunday. Chicago was next with 19 points followed by Granite City with 11 and Racine with 10.
Pasadena came from the West Coast to rack up seven points for 10th place. New York had five while Middlesex County West scored four. Toronto and San Francisco tied for 13th with three points each. Orange County (West Coast) and Washington scored two and one, respectively, completing the chapter scoring list. There were five other chapters that entered events but did not score. A total of 277 members entered events, which was short of last year’s record of 326 entrants.
Individual awards
Eight high scorer trophies were awarded this year to four men and four women. This total matched the previous record number set in 2010. One of these women set a record in the pentathlon last year, while two others won the same three events that they did this year. A brother-sister combination competed for the first time and swept the distance events. Two of the other men were first time high scorers, while the other turned the trick in 2021. Five of the high scorers were from Detroit, similar to the 2010 record for a single chapter.
Anoush Krafian from Greater Boston has scored 15 points for nine consecutive years, an AYF record streak. “While I would love to just do events that I have the best chance of winning to keep the streak alive, I also have to pick events that put my team in the best position to win,” Krafian said. She first won the 100 meter hurdles and then set a record in the triple jump. Krafian completed her individual events by winning the high jump, where she tied on height but won on fewer misses. The Dartmouth-Duke MBA graduate is now working as a project manager at SMMA, an architectural firm in Cambridge. Krafian shared that it has been difficult to find a new way to stay active since she is no longer competing on an NCAA track team. She recently became certified as a track and field official to stay around the sport she enjoys.
Melanie Sarafian from Detroit dominated the three sprint events for the fourth time in her career. She increased her career total to 91 points in her seven years of participation and is third on the active scoring list. Sarafian graduated from the University of Michigan and recently started dental school at Boston University. Since leaving Michigan early this summer, she has not been able to attend many chapter practices, and she missed spending that extra time with her teammates. Sarafian said it was very exciting to win again at home this year, and she is “determined to keep the good energy going as a chapter and retire the cup” next year.
Natalia Oganesian from Providence was a high scorer for the third time in four years. She won the 100 yard freestyle and 50 yard butterfly and set a record in the 50 yard breaststroke. Oganesian is in her last year at the University of Rhode Island in a five-year master’s degree program in chemical engineering. Oganesian has competed for the URI club swim team but had to stop swimming this past spring due to academic commitments. She used the summer to get back in shape and focused on the breaststroke, since she was close to the record last year. Oganesian said she enjoyed the team bonding and doesn’t remember being on her phone once during the whole weekend.
Providence’s Zach Semerjian won the three throwing events, just as he did in 2021. He also won the shot put and javelin, just as he did in 2023. However, this year he topped Greater Boston’s Alex Avakian in the discus, the event where Avakian was the undefeated record holder. Semerjian is a senior at Rutgers University and a member of their track team. He placed ninth in the javelin at this year’s Big Ten Championships with a personal best throw of 196’1”. He has been selected to the Academic All-Big Ten list twice while on the team. Semerjian also enjoys playing baseball and showed his hitting skills as he helped Providence 3-peat in softball this year.
Armen Vartanian of Detroit competed in his fifth Olympics. He had never won a single gold medal previously. This year he won the 50 yard backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, where he won by a margin of only 0.04 seconds. Vartanian said that this year he practiced in August for the first time, and he thinks that may have made the difference in the butterfly event. Vartanian enjoyed the enthusiasm of the home crowd and said the pool was louder than usual. He is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan with a degree in biomedical engineering. Since then, he has traveled while searching for a job.
Vartanian’s teammate Mher Tcholakian also participated in his fifth Olympics. Last year, Tcholakian won the hurdles and triple jump but had to settle for second in the high jump after a jump-off tie breaker. He said that result left a sour taste in his mouth as he fell short of his goal of being a high scorer. This summer, he made it a priority to practice more than ever to achieve that outcome. Tcholakian played football at Ohio Wesleyan University where he majored in sports management and business marketing. He said the best part of winning is doing the chapter dance at the Sunday Ball. He gave special thanks to Hachig Kazarian for leading them in their “monumental” halleh dance.
The other two high scorers this year were a brother-sister pair from Detroit who won all three of their distance events. Nick and Gina Couyoumjian hail from Northville, Michigan, where they competed on the high school track and cross country teams. After placing fourth in the 800 at the 2019 Michigan HS State Championships, Nick went on to run for the University of Indiana. He placed eighth in the 800 at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. Couyoumjian had personal bests of 1:50.00 in the 800 and 4:08.72 in the mile (indoors). He was selected to the Academic All-Big Ten list three times. He majored in finance and business analytics, completed a master’s in management at Cornell this year and currently works at Abbott Laboratories in their finance professional development program. He enjoyed his first Olympics and said he ran just to win his events, not to pursue any records. He is looking forward to joining team DKT again next year in Boston.
Like her brother, Gina Couyoumjian has also wanted to join the AYF for several years. She learned more through members of the Armenian Club at Michigan State University, where she is a junior majoring in organizational communication with minors in business and public relations. Gina posted a personal best in the 800 of 2:20.54 while placing fifth for Northville High at the MHSAA Region 05-1 Meet in 2022. The previous year, she also ran 5:27.38 in the 1600 meter run. Couyoumjian has enjoyed her AYF experience so far and eagerly awaits Boston next year.
The pentathlon trophies went to Sasoun Tcholakian and Teny Topouzian, both from Detroit. Tcholakian was victorious in the pentathlon for the fourth straight year. In December he will graduate with a master’s degree in sports leadership from Northeastern University. He practiced most of the summer with his brother Mher and said the hard work makes the celebration even sweeter. Tcholakian added that this year’s pentathlon win was his favorite, since he competed against “AYF legend” Aram Keshgegian and then stood next to Topouzian and his sister Patil, who took first and third in the women’s pent. Topouzian competed in her fourth pentathlon and won for the first time. She said it felt special to win her first one at home with family and friends. She is a senior at Michigan State University studying psychology with minors in youth and society as well as leadership of organizations. Topouzian practiced two to three times each week with Team DKT and continued on her own at college. She never did track in high school but was a competitive club gymnast in West Bloomfield and was on her high school team for three years.
Two records were set this year by the same two women who set records last year. Natalia Oganesian broke the mark in the women’s 50 yard breaststroke in 34.64. The old record of 34.80 was set by Lynne Tutunjian (also of Providence) in 2009. The next new record went to Anoush Krafian in the triple jump. Krafian leapt 33’5” to break the old record of 33’2.5” set in 2018 by Philadelphia’s Lindsey Santerian. The final record was set by Hagop Taraksian of Providence, who won tennis for the eighth time. Harry Derderian (Springfield) and Dave Mossoian (Detroit) held the old mark with seven golds each. Last, but not least, the Ernest Nahigian Award for sportsmanship was shared by Ani Comella of Providence and Michael Ohanesian from Detroit.
Men’s track and field
The men’s events were dominated by three high scorers who won nine of the 13 individual events. First was distance runner Nick Couyoumjian from Detroit. In all three distance events, Couyoumjian outkicked last year’s high scorer, Alex Dardarian from Philadelphia, with New Jersey’s Bedros Maldjian winning three bronze medals. In the morning, Couyoumjian clocked 11:33.10 in the 3200 meters to win by three seconds. He ran the 800 in 2:12.81 and the 1600 in 5:15.16 to win his third gold.
All the medals for the throwing events were won by three athletes, who did the same last year. Zach Semerjian won the javelin for the fifth straight year with a throw of 172’5”. Detroit’s Michael Nercesian took second place over Alex Avakian from Greater Boston. Semerjian then won the shot put with a heave of 47’3.75″, and Avakian beat Nercesian by almost three feet for the silver. The men moved to the discus circle, where Avakian is the AYF record holder and undefeated in six Olympics. After three throws, Avakian led with a throw of 130’10” with Semerjian at 124’6” and Nercesian at 123’. On his fourth throw, Semerjian unleashed a heave of 135’10” to take the lead and the gold medal.
The third men’s triple winner was Mher Tcholakian from Detroit. Tcholakian first faced off against Anto Keshgegian and Vahe Minasian, both from Philadelphia, in the high jump. Minasian won last year’s event in a jump-off tie breaker with Tcholakian. This year, he jumped 5’6” while both Sebouhs went out at 5’2” with Keshgegian taking the silver on fewer misses. Tcholakian won the 110 meter hurdles in 16.88, which was over three seconds faster than Hagop Taraksian from Providence and Avedis Najarian of Greater Boston. Tcholakian then won the triple jump with a leap of 39′. Chicago’s Tavit Hardy and Richard Hovannisian from San Francisco placed second and third.
The sprints were won by three different athletes this year. In the 100, Vahe Minasian edged Ivan Mardirossian from Toronto by 0.06 seconds with a time of 12.02. New Jersey’s Levon Nishanian was close behind in third. Michael Ohanesian from Detroit won the 200 in 25.75 while Nishanian took silver and Sevak Glorikian (Greater Boston) won bronze. Philly’s Matthew Santerian took gold in the 400 in 59.49 as Van Adishian from Jersey and Hampton Trout (Greater Boston) trailed behind.
The only other men’s event was the long jump, and it was one of the closest competitions of the day. After the first three jumps, Tavit Hardy of Chicago led with a jump of 17’10.25” less than an inch further than Vahe Minasian. AYF CE Chairman Nareg Mkrtschjan from Providence was six inches behind him. In round five, Mkrtschjan leapt 18’1.25” to take the lead until Hardy quickly responded with 18’7.75”. On his final attempt, Mkrtschjan jumped 18’6.5” which was matched by Minasian, but Mkrtschjan took silver with a better second jump. This was Mkrtschjan’s final Olympics and his best distance in the event since he jumped 19’8” in his first Olympics in 2015.
The relays were both easy victories for Detroit. They took the 4 x 100 meter in 47.83 and the 4 x 400 relay in 3:56.74. Philadelphia and Greater Boston placed second and third in both races.
Women’s track and field
High scorer Melanie Sarafian won the three sprint events for the fourth time. In the 50 meter dash, Sarafian outleaned perennial rival Meline Almasian of North Andover with a time of 6.99. The bronze went to Tara Arouchian from Pasadena (West Coast). Sarafian then beat Arouchian by over a second in the 100 meters clocking 13.38. New Jersey’s Sophia Minassian was third. In the 200 meter, Sarafian and teammate Talene Nercesian went 1-2 as Arouchian won her third medal. The winning time was 29.77.
While Sarafian took care of the dashes, her new teammate Gina Couyoumjian swept the distance events. Couyoumjian began by winning the 1600 meter run in 6:01.63 as Sarah Varadian (Granite City) and Lia Aftandilian (Greater Boston) won silver and bronze, just as they did last year. Then, Couyoumjian ran 2:52.90 in the 800 meters, once again ahead of Varadian and Talene Nercesian in third. Couyoumjian won the 400 with a time of 1:06.05, over five seconds faster than Nercesian and Varadian, who both won their third medals.
Anoush Krafian began her events by winning the 100 meter hurdles, her specialty event, in 15.19. Adene Buckley (Philadelphia) and Tiffany Tufenkjian (Detroit) won the other two medals. Krafian then battled Knar Topouzian from Detroit and Meline Almasian in the triple jump, the winners from the past two years. Krafian bounded 33’0.5” on her first try and was threatened when Topouzian recorded 32’11” on her fourth jump. But Krafian responded by breaking the record on her fourth attempt with 33’5”. Almasian leapt 32’7.5” for third place. Krafian and Topouzian went head-to-head again in the high jump. Topouzian missed her first attempt at 4’2”, but then she and Krafian were clean until they both went out at 4’10”. Taleen Atakhanian from Jersey was third.
Topouzian got her third silver in the discus throw, which was won by Krafian’s sister Knar. While Topouzian recorded four throws over 84’, Krafian had one toss of 89’6” with all her other throws under 70’, but only the best distance matters. Christina Avakian, also from Greater Boston, won the bronze. The younger Krafian earlier won the shot with a put of 28’3”. Lauren Billeh from Chicago and Tsoline Gevorkian of Middlesex West County took the other places. Then in the javelin, Krafian threw 92’5” on her third attempt to take an early lead. But her teammate Sena Changelian threw 94’8” to win on her final attempt, just as she did last year. Tamar Almasian of North Andover was third. Changelian won the baseball throw in a different fashion as her first attempt went 162’9” and held up for the gold. Last year’s victor, Taleen Boman of Detroit, beat 2022 winner Tsoline Gevorkian by two inches to take the silver medal. In the long jump, Meline Almasian won for the fourth straight time with a distance of 14’7.5”. Ani Boman from Detroit and Teny Sarrafian of Chicago took second and third.
As with the men, the women’s relays were easy wins for Detroit. In the 4 x 100, the Motown quartet brought the baton around in 54.28, while their time in the 4 x 200 meter was 2:01.40. Greater Boston and New Jersey took second and third in both those events. The final event of the day was the 4 x 200 co-ed relay, and Detroit completed their weekend relay sweep clocking 1:46.23. Once again, Greater Boston was second and Philadelphia trailed well behind. That brought their point total up to 253 — becoming the first chapter to break 250 since Philadelphia put up 296.5 in 2010.
Bob Tutunjian
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