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Indoor Track & Field Preview: SMAA heads out of the Expo

There are numerous benefits to shifting meets to USM, but a longtime tradition is gone.

By Deirdre Fleming dfleming@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

The loss of the Portland Expo to high school track meets this winter means a lot of change, shuffling around and adjustment for high school track teams.

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The banks were steep at the Portland Expo, where high school track meets were held since 1924. Now they will be at the University of Southern Maine for the first time.

2011 File Photo

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For some, like Gorham girls' coach John Caterina, it's bittersweet leaving the nostalgic track and field venue where high school meets were held since 1924.

"I literally grew up in the Expo. I went there in third grade to watch my sister, I ran there and then coached there twice. The Expo was awesome for being so close to the meet, especially for the fans," Caterina said.

Still, many like Caterina also say the positives in moving the SMAA teams to the University of Southern Maine indoor track for regular-season meets far outweighs the end of a unique track and field experience.

"We are now able to equate our times to the KVAC teams in Eastern Maine," Caterina said. "It was difficult to do that at the Expo with the tight corners. I think it levels the playing field."

For Gorham boys' coach Jason Tanguay, the move for the SMAA to the USM field house is all good.

"Myself, personally, for our sport, it's a positive. We're moving forward. I'm excited for this change. It's exciting as a coach to have the long jump and triple jump and all those other events. Those athletes, it wasn't fair to them. They never got to score in team scoring," Tanguay said.

The Expo didn't have room for every event.

The positive in allowing field events athletes to score in team meets during the regular season is huge, coaches say.

And the bonus of having a track that can be compared to other venues around the state, such as those at Bates and Bowdoin colleges, is also a big advantage.

And there are subtler pluses, Tanguay said. Like the fact the bigger track at USM will present less stress on the athletes' joints, and may help keep them healthy.

"It's easier on the athlete's body. Rather than doing 25 laps for the 2-mile, they will run 16," Tanguay said.

Plus, with the USM track comes that ability to compare times to other tracks, and Tanguay said that will make it easier to motivate athletes.

"It makes a conversation with athletes much more genuine. Before you'd try to instill belief in athletes and say, 'Yes you can compete at the state level.' But in the back of their mind, the venue was much different," Tanguay said.

To some degree, the effects of the changes will only become apparent over time.

The changed venue means more teams will be competing in regular-season meets, and the bigger multiteam meets are longer, and harder for an athlete to score.

Some coaches think that could motivate or discourage the athletes.

"You have to be a better athlete to contribute. Fewer kids will feel a part of it like they used to," said George Mendros, the Thornton Academy coach.

And for many, it's simply a lost experience.

Bonny Eagle boys' coach Greg Wilkinson, who competed there with his team, is sorry to leave the Expo.

For a team full of talented jumpers and vaulters, Willkinson is glad to have those athletes with the rest of his team at regular-season meets.

At the same time, Wilkinson ran at the Expo as an athlete from 1965-68.

Then he coached there with his dad, as well as his brother.

Capturing the kind of fan support that was ever-present at the Expo will be tough at USM's tight gym, Wilkinson said.

And for him, that change comes the year after Bonny Eagle won the state meet.

"We're coming off a spring when we won the states. We have good fan support," Wilkinson said.

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com

Twitter: Flemingpph