LEWISTON — The Class B indoor track meet was full of upsets, and one upset in particular decided the boys’ team champion.
York’s 800-meter relay team was seeded 11th in the day’s final race, but needed a good result to beat out Ellsworth and Greely. The Wildcats delivered, winning the relay to score 10 points and finish with a five-point margin over Greely, 51-46.
In the girls’ meet, Brewer won its second straight title handily with 73 points, ahead of Winslow (50) and York (41.5).
York sophomore Lexi Brent pulled off two upsets – first in the 55 hurdles, as she beat two-time defending champion Darcy Cochran of Cape Elizabeth. Brent was seeded fourth but came off the last hurdle fast to pull away and win in 8.66 seconds, just ahead of Cochran, the top seed (8.69).
Brent was also seeded fourth in the 800, but moved from fourth to first on the last lap, pulling away on the final turn to win in 2:26.64.
“I just tried to stay open-minded and positive and not think about where I’d finish,” Brent said. “I won the 800 at outdoor states (as a freshman), and I did it coming from behind. So I have a kick. I wanted to use it earlier today, but it worked.”
Aaliyah Trask of Leavitt was the other double winner in the girls meet, with victories in the 200 (26.58) and 400 (62.07).
Brewer was powered by individual winners Olivia Mosca, a junior who captured the 2-mile (11:34.52), and senior Madison Gibbs, who won the pole vault (10-0).
“Everyone wanted this,” Mosca said. “The great thing about track was you have all these different events, and everyone works in their special events for the team win.”
The boys’ meet opened with an upset when Cony freshman Conor Morin, seeded third in the high jump, went two inches higher than his personal best to post a winning mark of 6-3.
The 6-foot-1, 146-pound Morin was laughing and doing back flips after he clinched the victory by clearing 6-2, before he continued on to clear 6-2½ and then 6-3.
“I think I won because I’m super tall, super lanky, and I (have) a lot of jumps (in me) for someone 15,” Morin said. “But I’m the only freshman at Cony who can dunk a basketball.”
In the battle for the team title, York led most of the way, but not off the work of any individual champions.
“We nickle and dimed it,” York Coach Ted Hutch said of the Wildcats’ sixth Class B title in nine years.
The 800-relay team was made up of four sophomores. Seth Hulstrom, Hayden Henriksen, Nick Banakos and Caleb Pappagallo blasted through the final event to win in 1:38.00 – nearly three seconds faster than their seed time.
“They were faster than our senior relay and they knew their handoffs, so we wanted to give (the chance) to the young kids,” Hutch said.
“We were supposed to finish sixth as a team. This is so bizarre. Every team title has been great – but this was the most improbable.”
Leavitt sophomore Jonathan Schomaker won three titles and broke two of his own state records as he captured the 1-mile wheelchair race (7:50.72), the 400 wheelchair race (1:45.89) and the wheelchair shot put (13-1). As a freshman, Schomaker set the state record in the mile (9:09.70) and the 400 (1:56.03).
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
