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Scarborough vaulters make all the difference

On a record-strewn day in the SMAA meet, the Red Storm girls and Bonny Eagle boys triumph.

SCARBOROUGH - Pole vaulters Andrea Tolman and Catherine Bailey aren't often the deciding factors at track and field meets.

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Teddy LeFay, left, and Adrian Reid of South Portland celebrate Saturday after helping the Red Riots win the 400-meter relay in the SMAA meet at Scarborough.

Photos by Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

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Zach Dugas of Westbrook stretches Saturday in an attempt to clear 6 feet in the high jump during the SMAA meet at Scarborough. Dugas placed third at 5-10. Malcolm Smith of Cheverus captured the event with a leap of 6 feet.

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But on Saturday, after the relays were run, the distance races had finished and the field events were compiled, their 1-2 finish in the pole vault secured the SMAA championship for the Scarborough girls.

The Bonny Eagle boys, who legged out a dramatic win in the last relay, won a boys' title with 99 points.

"It has proved to be crucial before, but I'm not usually the one (who clinches the title)," said Tolman, who cleared 9 feet, 1 inch. Bailey cleared 8 feet. "I feel like a lot of our team really stepped it up today."

Scarborough scored 98 points. Cheverus (86) was second and Bonny Eagle took third (84 1/2).

The Cheverus boys also were second with 86 points and Gorham third with 81½.

Scarborough got a banner day from sprinter Nicole Kirk: She won the 100 and 200 and ran the go-ahead third leg of the winning 1,600 relay that beat Bonny Eagle by almost 5 seconds. Their winning time was 4 minutes, 9.19 seconds.

"We said to each other, 'just run as hard as you can,' " said Kirk. "I'm competitive. So it's always easier to run fast when there's someone in front of you to catch."

Kirk took the 100 in 12.85 seconds and the 200 in 25.58.

Jack Terwilliger of Cheverus won three events -- the 800 (1:57.18), 1,600 (4:25.89) and 3,200 (9:39.51).

After winning the 800, he collapsed in exhaustion.

"My legs felt like Jell-O. And I knew the 800 would be the biggest race," he said. "I felt around the 300 mark that I could take off and just did. I felt great."

The Cheverus girls collected a big victory in the 3,200 relay in 9:46.10, beating South Portland (10:15.16) and Bonny Eagle (10:29.77).

The Bonny Eagle girls got a nice day from the Dostie twins.

Amber Dostie won the 1,600 in 5:09.54, and Peyton Dostie set a meet record in the 300 hurdles at 45.32. The old record was 46.55, set in 2007 by Gorham's Leigh Maniscalco.

"Going in, my coach told me I had a faster seed," said Peyton. "My time was good but I didn't feel great."

Multiple meet records were broken, none perhaps more striking than Abbey Leonardi's performance in the 3,200 for Kennebunk.

Pulling away by large gaps on each lap, she blew away the field in 10 minutes, 27.36 seconds, beating the record by nearly 40 seconds (11:05.18 Erica Jesseman, 2006).

"I was hoping to run a little faster," said Leonardi. "I started a little faster than I wanted and really wanted to be more conservative and consistent."

Katie Flanders of Gorham broke a 12-year-old record in the 1,600 racewalk in 7:53.5, set by Westbrook's Amanda Bergeron (7:58.8) in 1999.

"I felt good today so I just kept going. I was in the zone," said Flanders. "I had no clue I was about to break a record. Wow. That's really cool."

The Bonny Eagle boys were anchored by Joey Collins in the last relay (1,600). He out-kicked South Portland down the final straightaway to secure the win in 3:32.16.

"I heard South Portland fans screaming their heads off so I knew he was right on me," said Collins.

His coach, Greg Wilkinson, said it was a combination of runners and field events that gave his team the win.

"We knew this was going to be a tough meet. There are a lot of great teams in the SMAA," he said. "Today was the day to build character and get kinks out before states."

Wilkinson was joined by his brother, John, in coaching the team to victory.

"I wish our dad (Jack) was alive to see us," he said.

Joey Collins also won the 400 in 51.07, and his brother, Jeremy, took the 300 hurdles for the Scots, winning in 40.50.

Staff Writer Jenn Menendez can be contacted at 791-6426 or at:

jmenendez@pressherald.com