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Poland runner leads a day of highlights

Three victories, part of a winning relay – Kendra Lobley, like others, has a day to cherish in a conference meet.

By Rachel Lenzi rlenzi@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

FALMOUTH - Somehow, Kendra Lobley covered 6,400 meters in one day -- roughly four miles.

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Carley O'Brien, right, of Traip Academy focuses on the finish and beats Doe Leckie of Lake Region in the 100-meter hurdles. O'Brien was named best in field events.

Photos by Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

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Asa Arden of Yarmouth gives his best effort in the triple jump. Jack Peters of Gray-New Gloucester won the event with a distance of 42-5 3/4.

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But Lobley, a Poland High senior, didn't take the typical Point-A-to-Point-B route. She took a circular route, and some rest between each of her distance events, at the Western Maine Conference championships Saturday.

In the morning, Lobley ran a leg of the 3,200 relay to help the Knights win in 10 minutes, 3.23 seconds.

At the start of the afternoon, Lobley won the 1,600 in 5:15.92, pulling away from Kirstin Sandreuter of Greely on the first turn of the final lap. Then she won the 800 in 2:25.61.

Lobley finished the day by winning the 3,200 in 11:25.44, using a strong kick on the final lap to outdistance Sandreuter by more than 8 seconds.

"It comes down to what you do behind the scenes and what you do at practice," said Lobley, the meet's top girls' track athlete. "It comes down to training and how you prepare for the day. If you've done enough running and enough preparation, I think you'll stay fresh for the whole day."

With the meet split into large- and small-school team competition -- athletes competed against each other but teams and events were scored by school size -- Lobley helped Poland finish third in Division I (large-school) with 80.5 points, behind Greely (160.5) and York (108).

Greely won its first title since 2007 despite only three individual victories: Kaley Sawyer in the high jump and triple jump, and Katherine Harrington in the discus.

The key, Coach John Folan said, was a combination of depth and simple math. A first-place finish is worth 10 points, second is worth eight and third is six. Greely had 12 second- and third-place finishes.

"Depth is what wins conference meets," Folan said. "We had a lot of high depth, seconds and thirds and fourths. For example, in the long jump we didn't have a winner, but all our points together were more than the winner. Fours, fives and sixes are nice, but twos, threes and fours are terrific, and we had a lot of twos."

Paced by Carley O'Brien, Traip Academy won the Division II girls' title with 162 points, ahead of Sacopee Valley (138) and Wells (94) in the eight-team field.

O'Brien, the top girls' athlete in the field events, won the 100 hurdles (15.94), long jump (16 feet, 8 inches) and triple jump (34-8), and ran a leg of the winning 400-meter relay.

The Falmouth boys continued their run of titles, winning their fifth straight by scoring 179 points in the seven-team Division I field, ahead of York (144) and Greely (110)

"We find ways to step up and really perform in these kinds of meets, and it's a testament to the character of our team," said Will Wegener, who won the 100 and anchored the Yachtsmen's winning 1,600 relay team. "This meet, it's the final chance for a lot of our athletes to qualify for states. And it's almost a proving ground, a way to test your competition."

Sacopee Valley, the defending Class C boys' champion, won Division II with 228 points, ahead of North Yarmouth Academy (112) and Traip (83) in the eight-team field.

Mitchell Watson of Sacopee won the 100 (12.11), 200 (23.90) and 400 (51.65) and ran a leg of the winning 1,600 relay.

Michael Burgess of Greely, the top boys' athlete in field events, set a league mark of 55 feet, 3½ inches in the shot put. Gray-New Gloucester's Jack Peters was the boys' top track athlete, winning the 200 (22.53), 300 hurdles (41.35) and triple jump (42-5¾).

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:

rlenzi@pressherald.com

Twitter: @rlenzi