FREEPORT

From the starting gun firing on the meet’s opening race, until the last javelin was thrown, everyone at the Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field at Freeport High School was smiling.

Athletes, coaches, administrators and fans all took in the first ever high school track meet held at the high school with the ceremonial opening of the track.

Following a ceremony to open the complex, including words from Joan Benoit Samuelson and cutting of the ribbon from the 1984 Olympic gold medalist, teams from Yarmouth, Lake Region, Old Orchard Beach and Great Portland Christian School joined the Falcons in a meet.

After the points were totaled, Freeport took both the boys and girls meets. The boys won with a score of 158 points, followed by Lake Region’s 88. Yarmouth was a close third with 86 points, followed by OOB (33) and GPCS (12).

On the girls side, Freeport was tops with 156 points. Lake Region was second with 130, followed by OOB (24), Yarmouth (23), and GPCS (6).

“It was a good meet today,” one of Freeport’s coaches Brian Berkemeyer said. “With everything aside about the opening of the track, the kids really did an outstanding job today.”

The Falcons benefited from having many athletes that can score points. With team numbers up from a year ago, Berkemeyer is pleased to see the increase.

“It’s so nice to see more and more kids coming our for track,” the coach said. “Before, we didn’t place because we didn’t have enough athletes to score team points. Our middle school team practices here too, so it’s also growing at our lower levels.”

Freeport’s Tara Migliaccio, who finished first in the 400, second in the 200, third in the long jump, and was a member of the 4 x 400 relay team that took first place (4:44), was happy to finally have a home track.

“It’s so convenient now,” Migliaccio said. “No more riding busses to go practice, we are able to walk out of our school and get going.”

Others on the 4 x 400 relay team were Johanna Bogue- Marlow, Hannah Spaulding and Patricia Dupere.

Migliaccio wasn’t the only scorer for the Falcons on Friday, Catriona Gould also had a big day at the new track. Gould won both the 100 (13:38) and 200 (27.46), and was on the 4 x 100 relay race that also placed first. Joining Gould on the 4 x 100 team for Freeport were Dupere, Emma Abbott and Kerry Lefebvre, finishing with a time of 56.02.

In other track events, Maya Bradbury won the 800 run with a time of 2:37.84, ahead of Lake Region’s Sophia Leighton and GPCS’s Aubrey Viekman. Bradbury (5:34.30) also beat out Leighton in the 1,600 run.

Lake Region’s Hannah Chadwick took first in the high jump, triple jump and long jump, while finishing second to Gould in the 100. Danica Chadwick won the 100 hurdles and placed second in the 300 hurdles, long jump and triple jump for the Lakers.

In other field events, Sam DeSouza won the shot put and discus throws for Lake Region, while Freeport’s Edie Hayden- Hunt finished second in the discus and third in the shot put. Hayden-Hunt also placed fourth in the javelin throw.

Yarmouth’s Caitlen Hewitt won the javelin event with a throw of 84 feet. She was followed by Lake Region’s Maria Nason and Madison Martin.

Boys

Freeport’s Nicholas Mitch won both the 100 and 200 races. His 12.06 time in the 100 narrowly beat OOB’s Connor Feitz (12.18).

Yarmouth’s Tahj Garvey won the 400 (51.13), followed by Feitz. Freeport’s Alex Less, Atticus Patrick and Jake Tucker rounded out the top five.

Freeport’s Martin Horne, Joe Ashby and Patrick Owen took the top three spots in the 800. Horne’s time of 2:06.69 was a personal record for the runner.

“It was perfect conditions out here today, that was a PR for me,” said Horne. “It’s been really great being able to practice on our own track this year. We’re getting ready for the Western Maine Conference Championships and today was a good tune up.”

The WMC Championships are set for this upcoming Saturday.

Lake Region’s Nathan Casali won the 1,600, but the Falcons racked up the team points with Tom Doyle, Les, Dawson Pillow and Paul Biberstein finishing second through fifth, respectively.

Tucker Beal of OOB won the 3,200, but again it was Freeport taking the next three spots with Tanner Morrison, Pillow and Jimmy Minieri placing for the Falcons.

Like the others, Minieri was excited to be out on Freeport’s new digs.

“It’s great out here,” said the senior. “ We’ve been able to work out closer to home and its helped us get better.”

Freeport’s Griffin Agnese won the 300 hurdles, while Yarmouth’s Wyatt Bates won the 100 hurdles.

The Falcons took all three relay races. Mitch, Rick Tucker, Alex Heile and Adam Ulrickson ran the4x100in49.66.Mitch, Joe Ashby, Agnese and Les won the 4 x 400 in 3:48.17, while Pillow, Eero Pandora, Minieri and John Giddens took the 4 x 800 with a time of 9:18.49.

Wyatt Bates of Yarmouth and Hunter Russo of Lake Region finished 1-2 in the high jump, while Bates also was best in the long jump (18-07).

Chris Koskinen and Wes Pratt, both from Yarmouth, placed first and second in the pole vault.

Lake Region’s Theo Snow finished first in the triple jump, while Freeport’s Damon Butler came in second. Snow also won the javelin throw.

Michael McNeil won the shot put while his Clippers teammate Noah Eckersley-Ray came in third. Eckersley Ray won the discus throw, beating Lake Region’s Zachariah Botros.

While every winner in Friday’s meet has the “ facility record” for the best time, jump or throw, the new Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field will host many more times like Friday in the years to come.

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