WATERBORO — Victoria Bossong already had three meet records.

It took another meet record to stop the Cheverus High senior standout from completing her goal of pulling off a nearly unheard of four-win effort at the Class A outdoor track and field state championships Saturday at Massabesic High.

Bangor sophomore Anna Connors, who had finished second to Bossong in the 100 and 400 meters, grabbed the early lead in the 200 and never wavered, winning in a time of 24.51 seconds. She broke the Class A record of 24.80 set by Bossong when she was a sophomore in 2019. Bossong finished in 25.41.

“I knew I had to get out fast because Victoria is a really good competitor and I knew she’d be really strong in the last 100,” Connors said.

Bossong set meet records in the 100 (11.73 in the semifinals), 400 (55.08), and 800 (2:10.66). The last girl to win the 100, 200, 400 and 800 was Cuyler Goodwin of Mt. Ararat in the mid 1990s.

“Even if I had run fresh in the 200, it still would have been a really close race. She ran really amazingly,” Bossong said. “I mean, I’m a little disappointed, but I’m also really proud that I went out and did it, so I wouldn’t change a thing about the events I ran.”

In all, seven meet records fell on a hot and muggy day with temperatures in the high-80s and a tailwind helping both sprinters and jumpers. The meet, with a full slate of athletes and a large, appreciative crowd, signaled a welcome return to normalcy after the coronavirus pandemic eliminated the 2020 outdoor season, forced cancellation of the state cross country championships and left most teams without venues to compete during the 2020-21 indoor track season.

The Bangor High girls won the team title with 115 points, scoring well both on the track and in field events. Gorham (72) was second with wins in the 400 relay and from Alyvia Caruso (100 hurdles) and Emma Carr (high jump).

Scarborough took the boys’ title with 82 points, paced by a double victory from hurdler Jayden Flaker and wins by Nicholas Connolly in the shot put and senior Zach Barry, who punctuated his victory in the 800 with an emotional fist pump.

“It meant everything for me to win that. It’s the first time I’ve ever won. I’ve been training for it all season. I just wanted to come through for my team,” he said.

Edward Little of Auburn came in a solid second with 64.5 points. Cheverus, behind Frank Morong’s wins in the long and triple jump, placed third with 55 points.

Edward Little did well in the hurdle events. On the boys’ side, Tudum Monday was second to Flaker in both races, just getting nipped at the finish by .02 seconds in the 300 hurdles. For the girls, freshman Makenna Drouin was second in the 100 hurdles and won the 300 hurdles. Finn Thistle won the boys’ pole vault for the Eddies.

For Bossong, the 800 was the great unknown. She had run it once as a sophomore and once this year, when she posted the fastest seed time of 2:14, about a second faster than the meet record. The Harvard-bound senior went out fast and never wavered, running consecutive 65-second laps to finish in 2:10.66, nearly five seconds faster than the record set in 1997 by Brianna Neault of Biddeford.

Falmouth’s distance duo of Sofie Matson and Karley Piers finished on a high note in their final meet in Maine.

Matson has been Maine’s best distance runner since her freshman year of cross country. But a week ago, at a meet at Thornton Academy, she finished fourth in the 1,600 behind Bonny Eagle’s Delaney Hesler, Piers and Thornton Academy’s Mia-Claire Kezal.

“In some ways that was a relief,” Matson said of the end of her high school career. “It’s been an interesting senior season. I’ve had some race anxiety.”

On Saturday, Matson went directly to the lead in the 1,600 and won with room to spare. Afterward, she gave Falmouth Coach Jorma Kurry a long hug and wiped away a few tears, a subtle but uncharacteristic show of emotions.

“Of course that thought of not wanting to lose in my final race entered my mind,” she said. “I really just wanted the day to be an almost fun way to end my senior year.”

Piers was the victor in the 3,200, going out fast with Matson and then having more zest for a finishing kick.

“It means the world to me and obviously running against the best runner in the state the last four years and even in middle school, obviously huge congratulations to Sofie, but it does feel good to finally get a victory,” Piers said.

The other meet record on the girls’ side came from Mt. Ararat junior triple jumper Mikaela Langston, who covered 38 feet, 8 1/2 inches.

On the boys’ side, Morong set a meet record in the long jump with a personal best of 23 feet, 1/2 inch – a half-inch better than the existing record – on his final jump. He also saved his best jump for last to win the triple jump with a personal best of 45-3 3/4.

Andrew Farr of Gorham entered as the top seed in the 100, 200 and 400, but his plans for a triple-win were undone by Aidan Walcott of Bonny Eagle. Farr did win the 400, but it was the taller Walcott who took the 100 and 200, despite a stumble out of the blocks in the 100.

“We’ve been racing each other since we’ve been young. It’s always been good competition. He always wins,” Walcott said.

Walcott held off Farr down the stretch in the 200 to win in 21.96 seconds, breaking a record set in 1996 by Nate Sergent of Gardiner.

The boys’ 1,600 quickly developed into a match race between seniors Tyler Patterson of Brunswick and Ben Greene of Falmouth. Greene ran right off Patterson’s shoulder until making a move and gaining a slight lead entering the final straight. As a crowd of athletes in the infield surged toward the dueling runners, Patterson responded with a counter move for the win by six-tenths of a second in 4:16.59.

Patterson also won the 3,200 meters in convincing style with a dominant final lap.

« Previous

Next »

Related Stories