BATH — Just in case it wasn’t already set in stone, Denzel Tomaszewski further confirmed his place among greatest Maine high school sprinters of all-time Saturday by adding three more state titles to his already-impressive résumé.
The Wells senior took the individual sprint double in the 90-degree heat at the Class B track and field state championship meet at McMann Field, defending his title in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.01 then later taking the 200-meter with a 22.86.
Tomaszewski also ran the first-leg for the Warriors’ victorious 4×100-meter relay team, with Sam LaPointe’s strong anchor leg pushing the second-seeded Warriors across the finish line in 44.11, setting a new school record and better their seeded time by nearly a minute.
“It’s crazy. Three wins was my goal coming in and I just took it one event at a time,” Tomaszewski said. “Just an awesome day for me.”
Already the state record holder in the 100, thanks to his blazing 10.76 at last Monday’s Western Maine Championships, Tomaszewski set the tone in the heats on Saturday with a breezy 11.14, the second-quickest time of the day.
It was bettered only Tomaszewski’s 11.01 in the final, nearly a full half-second ahead of second-placed Nicolas Bouton of Old Town and just one one-hundredth of a second off former Warrior Justin Vigeant’s meet record set back in 2007.
“Didn’t get the state meet record but I was just off so that’s not bad,” Tomaszewski said. “It is what it is. I won and I broke the all-time state record last week so it’s all right.”
About three hours later Tomaszewski was again at the top of the charts in the 200, an event he was third in at the state meet a season ago.
A great reaction out of the blocks had Tomaszewski in front the whole way as he came out of the turn and pulled away down the front stretch, in the process dethroning defending champion Jacob Buhelt of Falmouth ”“ who finished second with a time of 23.34.
“It was important. Jacob always beat me in indoor but I got the best of him today,” Tomaszewski said of winning the 200. “Coming out of the blocks was big. The first 40 meters I hit and then I was just off to the races.”
While Tomaszewski was the heavy favorite in both his individual races, the Warriors went into the 4×100 as the second seeds with a best time of 44.93, .22 behind Falmouth.
But another great start from Tomaszewski had Wells out in front from the onset, with Sean Roche keeping the lead down the backstretch before handing off to Jake Moody.
The Yachtsmen’s Andy Gowen made up some time in an inner lane around the corner in the third leg, but Moody used a strong last few meters to just barely give LaPointe the lead heading into the final 100.
“(Gowen) was coming up hot and I knew I just had to hold that inside lane,” Moody said of the moment. “Right before I handed off I could see him coming out of the corner of my eye and I just had that extra little drive to get it to Sammy.
“Him and I had a perfect handoff and he brought it home from there.”
LaPointe then outkicked Falmouth’s Andy Clement to the line, coming across .25 ahead to secure the Warriors’ place as the fastest boys team at the meet.
“I was feeling pretty confident,” LaPointe said. “We went up against them at Western Maine’s and I was a little bit faster than their anchor. So I just knew if Jake could keep it neck and neck I’d have a good chance to pull ahead at the finish.”
“It was neck and that last little kick Sam had there was unreal,” Moody added of LaPointe’s closing leg.
The dominance in the sprints was enough to help the Warriors’ to 36 overall points and a seventh-place overall finish in the boys team event, won by Waterville with 96 points.
The Purple Panthers were also dominant on the girls side, winning their seventh-straight title with 136 points, a full 72 ahead of second-placed Lake Region.
The Wells girls’ lone point on the came from sophomore Reilly Boyle, who shaved 2.45 off her seed time to finish seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:02.88.
— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 323.
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