GORHAM — The Edward Little girls’ indoor track team beat Bonny Eagle in the last event to edge the Scots in the overall standings and take home the program’s first Class A state championship Monday at the University of Southern Maine.

Meanwhile, the Scarborough boys won their fifth state title in six years by a landslide, beating defending champion Falmouth 74-45.

The girls’ meet was decided by the final event – the 800-meter relay. Edward Little and Bonny Eagle went into the relay tied with 42 points, and Falmouth was just four points behind.

Edward Little, with four seniors on its 800 relay team, clinched the championship by winning the event ahead of Bonny Eagle and Falmouth. Anna Beaudet, Katie Ferrara, Morgan Knowlton and Kailey Norcross turned in a school-record time of 1 minute, 48.60 seconds, while Bonny Eagle was second in 1:51.63.

“It seems it all came together like yesterday,” Ferrara said.

“We’ve worked so hard at practice all winter. Edward Little is always looked at as the underdog. We wanted to change that,” Knowlton added.

Advertisement

Ferrara also took second in the 55-meter hurdles (8.90), while Beaudet finished second in the 55 dash (7.41) and third in the 200 (26.79). Knowlton added six points by finishing third in the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 11 inches.

Edward Little also had a third-place finish in the pole vault by sophomore Lauren Berube (9-6).

Bonny Eagle senior Elisabeth Redwood won the 200 (26.32), took second in the 400 (58.74) and ran a leg of the 800 relay, but it wasn’t enough.

“The fact we got our PR as a relay in the 800 relay means we tried our best,” Redwood said. “We never raced Edward Little all season since they’re in the (Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference). They’re pretty fast.

“I wanted (to defend my title) in the 400, but I redeemed myself in the 200.”

Westbrook freshman Nyagoa Bayak won the high jump with a Class A state-record jump of 5-7 to erase the 2010 record set by Grace MacLean of Bangor.

Advertisement

She had the event won after clearing 5-4, but continued jumping to get the record. Then Bayak tried for 5-8 and just missed.

She still got a huge ovation from the Westbrook girls’ basketball team, which came to see their teammate and starting center. After the meet, Bayak headed to Portland to play in a basketball playoff game.

“I wish I had gotten 5-8, but it’s OK,” Bayak said. “I was pretty tired after the long jump and triple jump. And I was nervous. That was the thing. States is different than (regular-season) meets. And I didn’t want to let the team down.”

In the boys’ meet, Scarborough was fueled by the early momentum created by junior Sam Rusak, who opened the meet winning the high jump (6-2), and by the winning 3,200-meter relay team that set a Class A state record of 8:10.32 in the first final on the track.

The relay squad of Connor Doherty, Shamus Malia, Andrew Sholl and Colin Tardiff erased the old mark of 8:12.25 set by Cheverus in 2010.

Advertisement

Rusak also captured the pole vault title with ease (15-6) and finished sixth in the 400 (52.30).

Meanwhile, Tardiff went on to an upset victory in the mile, where he was seeded third but finished first in a time of 4:29.16, improving his personal best time by a second. He also finished fourth in the 800 (2:02.76).

“When I took the lead in the mile with a lap to go, I just tried to hold it. I was worried I’d get outkicked. I was surprised I won,” Tardiff said.

Griffin Madden added another first-place finish in the 55 hurdles (7.79) for the Red Storm, while Doherty took second in the two mile (9:50.92).

“We wanted to open the meet with the momentum. We did with the hurdles and the high jump, and Colin winning the mile,” Rusak said.

Falmouth’s 800-meter relay team set a Class A record with a time of 1:32.89. The squad of Matt Polewaczyk, Nick Sanzari, Nigel Dunn and Tony St. Angelo erased the 2013 mark of 1:32.96 set by Cheverus.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.