GIRLS

Kessa Benner, Freeport senior, pole vault: Benner placed second in the pole vault at the Class B indoor and outdoor state championships last season. As the top returning vaulter, she’ll enter the season as the favorite. Benner is the defending Western Maine Conference champion.

Zoe Carroll, York junior, middle distance/distance: Carroll is the defending Western Maine Conference champion in the 800 and placed third at the Class B state meet. She won the Class B outdoor 800 in the spring, and will look to add an indoor crown to her collection. Carroll finished seventh in the 1,000 at the New England indoor championships last March.

Laurel Driscoll, Scarborough junior, distance: Competing in cross country for the first time this fall, Driscoll placed second in Class A South and third at the state meet. She’ll run the 2-mile this winter after placing third at the state meet last season. Driscoll was the 3,200 state champion outdoors.

Sloan Gardner, Cape Elizabeth junior, shot put: As a sophomore, Gardner won the Western Maine Conference title in the shot put during the outdoor season. She placed third at the Class B indoor state meet and fourth at the outdoor state meet.

Portland’s Samantha Moore cruises to the finish line to win the Class A girls’ cross country state championship this fall. Moore is the two-time defending Class A indoor champion in the 800 and mile. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Samantha Moore, Portland senior, distance: Moore was a member of the Varsity Maine All-State cross country team this fall after winning the Class A title for the second straight year. She is the two-time defending indoor champ in the 800 and the mile. Moore also won the 1,600 at the outdoor state meet.

Abby Noble, Yarmouth junior, sprints: Noble will look to defend her state championship in the 55-meter dash and add the 200, an event in which she finished second. She’s the reigning Western Maine Conference champion in both events.

Windham junior Tayla Pelletier is the defending SMAA indoor champ in the 55 hurdles and triple jump, and finished second in the high jump. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Tayla Pelletier, Windham junior, jumps/hurdles: The defending SMAA indoor champion in the 55 hurdles and triple jump, Pelletier placed second in the 55 hurdles and second in the high jump at last season’s Class A state meet. Pelletier could also compete in the 400, where she placed second in the conference meet last winter. She won the New England outdoor title in the triple jump.

Lisi Palmer, Brunswick senior, jumps: Palmer won the Class A title in the high jump at both the indoor and outdoor state meets last season. She was a repeat winner in the event during the indoor season. Also a key member of Brunswick’s girls’ hockey team, Palmer placed seventh in the high jump at the New England championships last winter.

Julia Pendleton, Bonny Eagle senior, jumps: Pendleton won her second consecutive Class A indoor long jump title last winter with a jump of 17-1 3/4. She has jumped better than 18 feet in regular-season indoor meets, placing her in the top six on Maine’s all-time indoor list.

Macey Weisberg, Cheverus sophomore, sprints/jumps: Weisberg had an exceptionally strong rookie season last year, establishing herself as one of the top sprinters and jumpers in the state as a freshman. Weisberg placed second in the Class A state meet in the 200, third in the 55, and anchored Cheverus’ 4×200 relay team to a second place finish.

BOYS

Kyle Barron, Kennebunk senior, sprints: One of the top sprinters in the state, Barron will compete with Andre Clark of Marshwood and Max Shapiro of Falmouth for the SMAA and Class A titles in the 55 and 200. Barron placed third in the 200 and fourth in the 55 at last winter’s state meet. During the outdoor season, he placed second in the 100 and third in the 200 at the state meet.

Marshwood’s Andre Clark, right, celebrates after winning the 55-meter dash at the Class A indoor championships at USM in Gorham last season. Carl D. Walsh/ Staff Photographer

Andre Clark, Marshwood senior, sprints: Clark won the New England 100-meter outdoor title last spring, capping a season in which he won both the indoor 55 and outdoor 100 at the Class A championships, setting state records in each, while also winning the 200 in both seasons. Clark had the fastest time in 55 preliminary heats at the New England championships last winter.

Harrison Dunne, Bonny Eagle senior, middle distance: The top returning 800 runner in the SMAA, Dunne placed second at the conference championship meet. He was seventh at the Class A outdoor meet last spring.

Griffin Gammon, Gorham senior, jumps: A Varsity Maine outdoor track All-State selection, Gammon will look to defend his indoor state title in the high jump. Gammon is a two-time New England champion and has the potential to break the 41-year old Class A indoor record of 6-8 3/4.

Ethan Hoffman, Yarmouth senior, shot put: Hoffman placed third in the shot put at the Class B state meet last February after winning the Western Maine Conference title. In the outdoor season, he was the conference and state champion.

Bryce Holden, Mt. Ararat junior, pole vault: Holden placed second in the pole vault at the Class A indoor championship last season before winning the event outdoors. He’s the defending KVAC Class A champion.

Sam Laverdiere, Lake Region senior, distance: The Varsity Maine Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year this fall, Laverdiere was the only runner to go sub-16 minutes at the state meets. He’ll look to repeat as Class B champion in the 2-mile this winter. Last spring, Laverdiere won the Class B outdoor championship in the 3,200.

Nate Murray, Scarborough senior, shot put: One of the top returning throwers in Class A, Murray placed fifth in the shot put at the indoor championships last winter and was the SMAA champion.

Max Shapiro, Falmouth senior, sprints: Shapiro was runner-up in the 55 and 200 at last year’s Class A indoor state meet while anchoring the Navigators’ state-championship winning 800-meter relay team. Along with Andre Clark and Kyle Barron, Shapiro will be one of the top sprinters in the state again this winter.

South Portland’s Arnaud Sioho is the defending Class A champion in the triple jump. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Arnaud Sioho, South Portland senior, jumps: Sioho will look to build off his excellent outdoor season last spring, in which he won the New England championship in the triple jump, along with Class A titles in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles, long jump and triple jump.  He’s the defending indoor state champ in the triple jump, where he set one of his four state records.