GORHAM
Just two days after the Lewiston Blue Devils skated away with a state championship in hockey, the girls’ track and field team captured a program- best second-place finish at the Class A indoor track and field state meet at the University of Southern Maine on Monday.
The Blue Devils finished with 49 points, four points behind state champion Thornton Academy.
Scarborough was third with 42 points, followed by Cheverus ( 33), Bonny Eagle (31), South Portland (31), Brunswick (28), Messalonskee (25), Skowhegan (24) and Falmouth (23) in the top-10.
“ The girls were just incredible,” Lewiston coach Paul Soracco said. “For us to finish in second place from the start of the season, just incredible.”
Heather Kendall led the way for Lewiston, winning both the 55-meter dash and the 200. She also served as the opening leg of the 4 x 200 relay that won by almost a full second over South Portland. Kendall finished the 55 in 7.36 seconds and the 200 in 26.37, both personal bests.
The relay team of Kendall, Isha Kasai, Taylor Chamberlain and Adela Kalilwa sent the girls’ team out on a high note, crossing the finish line in 1:50.76. They were 0.47 off of last year’s state-winning time set by Falmouth.
The Lewiston girls grabbed six top-five finishes — five on the track and one in the field. Kalilwa took second in the long jump with a distance of 17 feet, 1 inch, a personal best. She finished behind Thornton’s Tori Daigle, who set a new state record with a jump of 18- 02, breaking her own mark of 18-0.25 set last year.
Perhaps the biggest surprise on the day for Lewiston came in the 55 hurdles. Sophomore Jennifer Martin took second by topping her personal best by more than a half-second. Martin finished in 8.76, 0.15 behind Daigle. She entered the preliminaries with the sixth-fastest time.
Rounding out the girls’ scoring was Isha Kasai, who finished fifth in the 55 dash.
Brunswick long distance runners Tiffany Tanner, Tessa Cassidy, Brooke Escoe and Ruth Van Kampen accounted for all 28 Brunswick points. Tanner won the 800 in 2: 23.86, while Cassidy captured the 2-mile run in 11:43.76 and took fourth in the 1-mile ( 5: 27.26). The foursome hooked up for a fourthplace showing in the 4 x 800, crossing in 10:20.46.
Boys
The Lewiston boys, expecting to be in the running for a state title, took fifth with 32 points. The Blue Devils finished 27 points back of Class A champion Falmouth. Scarborough was second with 56 points, followed by Deering (43) and Brunswick (35).
Although the day ended poorly — with an 18th-place finishinthe4x200relay— it started with a bang. Despite battling a fractured ankle from the beginning of the season and a bout of food poisoning, Sabin Lavorgna cleared 6-feet in the high jump and took home a state title as a result.
Lavorgna wasn’t the boys’ only state champion. Senior Hassan “Speedy” Mohamed edged Thornton’s Derek Boissonault to win the 55- meter dash. Mohamed finished in 6.70, while Boissonault took second in 6.73.
Osman Doorow found himself on the podium twice, placing second in the mile (4:30.47) and sixth in the 2-mile run (10:13.00).
Michael Wong finished on the podium with a seventhplace showing in the long jump with a distance of 19:10.50.
Brunswick received a 1-2 finish from Christopher Tanner and Keenan Welzel in the 800. Tanner won in 2:01.04, with Welzel close behind in 2:01.58. They also joined Jason Higginbotham and John Murphy in finishing thirdinthe4x800relay in 8:24.31.
Shane Lyons placed twice for Brunswick, taking third in the long jump (20-06) and sixth in the triple jump (41- 01.75), while Reed Foster was sixth in the long jump (20- 02.25) and Seth White seventh in the 55 hurdles (8.58).
Mt. Ararat’s lone scorer on the day was pole vaulter Andrew McCracken, who finished second with a vault of 13-00. He was six inches back of Sanford’s Peter Hegarty.
Class B.
Lake Region’s Kate Hall may have completed her final Class B indoor track and field state meet, but her name will live on in the record books.
Hall accounted for all 30 of her team’s points, adding to two state records she already owns and tying another in her three events as the Lakers finished fourth Monday at Bates College in Lewiston. Hall outperformed 24 teams in the 28-team field.
The Lake Region senior tied the state record she set last year in the 55-meter dash, finishing in 7.05 seconds. She won by 0.39.
Her day was just beginning as she dominated both the 200 dash and the long jump. Hall claimed the 200 dash by 1.60 over Orono’s Lauren Stoops, crossing the finish line in 25.17. She broke her old state record of 25.36 in the process. Her performance in the long jump was even more dominating. Hall’s top jump of 19-06.50 more than three inches further than her nearest competitor.
Waterville claimed the championship with 74.83 points. Greely was second with 59.33 points.
Freeport scored in the 4 x 800 relay, as the team of Chloe Hight, Lucy Zachau, Maddie Squibb and Hannah
Schnyder finished fifth in 10:52.33. Schnyder was the lone individual scorer, taking seventh in the 800 in 2:34.34.
The boys’ title belonged to York. The Wildcats accumulated 71 points, winning three events. Their relays finishedfirstinthe4x800 andsecondinthe4x200. York’s other first-place finishers were Colt Santoro in the 55 hurdles (8.04) and Tucker Corbett in the 400 dash (51.69).
Old Town (59), Belfast (47), Mt. Desert Island (46) and Waterville (35) rounded out the top five.
Morse’s Max Lareau was second in the long jump, leaping 20-00.25. MDI’s Ryan Bender won the event with a jump of 20-09.
Lisbon’s Nicholas Harriman was seventh in the 1- mile run (4:50.81), while Freeport’s Chandler Vincent was sixth in the 800 (2:06.90) and helped the Falcons 4 x 800 relay team of Henry Jaques, Erik Brobst and James Saucier to a sixthplace showing (8:57.92).
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