Ashley Anderson, Madison Post and Jordan Jowett run the Girls 55 Meter Dash at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
LEWISTON — A season’s worth of hard work paid off in spades Saturday at the Class B state indoor track and field championships at bates College. Twenty-five teams brought their ‘A’ games to the ‘B’ meet, and Mount Desert Island, Greely and Old Town separated themselves from the field as the day wore on.
MDI took the boys’ title, outscoring second-place Greely 58-38.5. It is the first indoor track state championship for the Trojans. Old Town finished third with 36 points. On the girls’ side, Greely beat out MDI by a score of 62.2-53. Old Town scored 39.2, finishing third.
“We did well, if not better today at some of our events that helped push us over the top,” MDI coach Brad Witham said. “We were ranked to finish up near the top but I didn’t prime anyone up, making them thinking we could win automatically. I’m super proud of these kids as they rose to the occasion against some of these southern schools that we don’t normally get to compete with.”
MDI consistently placed in events. Giovanni McKenzie won the triple jump and Noah Hutchinson beat out the competition in the high jump. Micah Hallett placed second in the shot put, and the 4×200-meter relay team was just edged out by Old Town.
“Our shot putters picked up points for us today that we weren’t expecting, that helped us tremendously,” Witham said.
Locally, Mountain Valley’s Kyle Farrar took home first place in the long jump while placing second in the triple jump behind McKenzie.
“Today was an alright day. I really wanted to hit the board in the long jump but was short every time. I still got some good jumps though,” Farrar said. “In the triple jump, I did hit the board and was able to keep my speed constant throughout the jump,” the senior added.
Farrar is looking forward to competing in outdoor track this spring.
On a team with more than 80 boys and girls, Greely seemed to have athletes in every heat of every event. The girls made the most out of their efforts while taking advantage of their depth winning the girls title.
“We are very, very pleased with these kids today,” Greely coach John Folan said. “It wasn’t easy, but they did what they needed to do to win.”
It was the 14th state title in indoor track for Greely since 1991, the first since 2008.
Tia Tardy of MDI won both the 800-meter and one-mile runs while finishing second in the two-mile race. Yarmouth’s Abbey Hamilton won the mile with a time of 11:21.24, outdistancing herself from Tardy’s 11:43.69 second-place time.
Gray-New Gloucester finished ninth, scoring 23 points. Senior Emma MacCallum claimed the top spot in the shot put, heaving it 36 feet, 3 inches.
“My PR (personal record) was a quarter of an inch further, last year indoors, but today was my best throw of the year,” MacCallum said. “I just wanted to finish strong this season. I’m looking forward to competing outdoors in the spring in this event as well as the discuss, and javelin.”
Her teammate, Madison Post, earned three medals at the meet. She earned her first of the day by finishing third in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.62 seconds behind Bridget Tweedie of Fryeburg and Ashley Anderson of MDI.
“It was my best run of the year and a PR. I hadn’t been able to run against Bridget or Ashley all year because I’ve been in the junior division so it was really fun to talk and run with this competition,” Post said.
The sophomore also finished third in the 200-meter dash while anchoring the 4×200-meter relay team that placed seventh.
Poland’s Elesha Pratt finished second in the 55-meter hurdles behind Cape Elizabeth’s Darcy Cochran. The freshman was less than a half a second behind the winner.
“This was by far the best run I’ve had all season. I was a little disappointed in my run as I stumbled a little at the beginning. Fortunately I was able to catch up to them,” Pratt said. “It would have been nice to finish first but I’m really happy with second, my mind is blown away right now.”
Emma MacCallum, from Gray New Gloucester accepts congratulations for her first place win ass Lake Region ‘s Sam DeSouza watches on during the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Jaley Martin sprints the Girls 400 Meter Dash at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Emma MacCallum puts the shot at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Elesha Pratt clears the hurdles during the final girls 55 meter hurdles at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Katie Morrissey and Meghan Goodine runs the 400 Meter Dash at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Benjamin Bernier, from Poland, crosses the finish line ahead of Ben Cotton from John Bapst, Joshua Willey, from Old Town and William Saint-Amour, from Yarmouth at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Tara Migliaccio receives her metal for the Girls 400 Meter Dash at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Laura Pierce, form Freeport, runs the Girls 800 Meter relay at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Megan Reynolds puts the shot at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Kyle Farrar leaps into the air for the long jump at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Faith Davis puts the shot at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Emily Brewer puts the shot at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
Sam DeSouza puts the shot at the Class B Maine Indoor Track meet at Bates College on Saturday.
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