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WINDHAM — Even with a persistent rain and dropping temperatures, the SMAA track and field championships still delivered some highlights.
One conference record fell and four athletes earned multiple wins Friday night, though inclement weather pushed the end of the pole vault and triple jump to Saturday, thereby delaying final team results.
In the boys meet, South Portland (147) is comfortably ahead of Portland (91), with Bonny Eagle (65) next. In the girls competition, Cheverus/Waynflete holds a 113-93 lead over Scarborough, with Marshwood (71) in third.
Here are five takeaways from Friday:
Weather troubles
Rain that picked up into the evening and temperatures that fell to the low 50s made for challenging conditions.
Before the pole vault was stopped, South Portland’s Jared LaRose tried to keep his pole handle dry under a tent. He said rain is tough on pole vaulters because it’s harder to grip the pole and easier for the bar to get knocked off if it’s touched during the vault, and that confidence can take a hit.
“You try not to think about it,” said LaRose, who placed third in the high jump. “Over here, I feel like it’s even more scary because I feel like pole vault’s more intimidating than high jump. … It’s something you’ve just got to get out of your head.”
Cheverus/Waynflete’s Rocco Deschambault, a winner in the shot put (49-6), said he adjusts his footwear in bad weather to get more grip for slippery surfaces. He also makes a more concerted effort to stay limber between events, and uses one throw to get a safe mark, rather than trying to throw as far as he can on every throw.
“It’s very challenging, but we have to adjust,” he said. “I keep the same mechanics, but I try to go a little slower, be a little more patient out of the back. … Trying to maintain balance out of the back of your throws is most important. It can make or break a throw.”
Some athletes thrived in the conditions. Cordell Jones of Portland won the high jump (6-2) and javelin (150-8). His win in the javelin came by more than 22 feet.
“I had to use my football mentality,” he said. “I just had to act like the weather wasn’t really there, and not let it affect me.”
Another level for Leveille
One record fell Friday, and it came in the girls long jump when Marshwood junior Sydney Leveille pulled off a leap of 18-5 1/4, breaking the four-year old record of 18-1 1/2 set by Gorham’s Aylvia Caruso.
“Oh my gosh, I was elated. I started jumping up and down, I hugged my teammate, I hugged my coaches,” she said. “I just turned to my coach and my jaw dropped. … It was the best feeling I’ve ever had.”
The conditions kept most records safe, but Leveille, who said she competes better in bad weather, found a way to break through.
“I packed warm clothes, I made sure to stay hydrated,” she said. “I warmed up the whole time I was waiting to jump. I was running, warming up, doing leg swings, anything to stay warm.”
She needed a big performance to beat her teammate, Anna Jennings, who tied the old record and took second.
“We always say we’re like iron against iron. We just push each other to be better,” Leveille said. “It’s never bad blood.”
Close finish
Few events had a tighter finish than the girls 100-meter hurdles, when Stella Hang of Cheverus held off a charging Hadley Perry of Falmouth and Isabella Harmon of Scarborough. Hang’s time of 15.65 was only five-hundredths of a second faster than Perry’s, and 0.11 seconds ahead of Harmon.
Hang got out to a good lead, but Perry and Harmon were closing fast on both sides before the Cheverus senior leaned forward at the finish line.
“You can see them in your peripheral, and sometimes you can even make contact with them, which scares me a little bit,” she said. “I definitely hit hands with one of the girls a couple of times, but I couldn’t focus on that. I just had to run that race.”
Just (hair)do it
Bonny Eagle’s Drew Gervais cemented his status as the fastest man in the SMAA, winning the 100 with a time of 10.63 — a personal best and only six-hundredths of a second off the conference record.
“The tailwind, there was a really good wind coming from the back,” he said. “(The weather) always goes through my mind, but I always think ‘I’m here to compete, everyone’s going through this.'”
He had some help, from the aforementioned wind, and from the black, orange and yellow flames dyed in his hair two weeks ago.
“I was like, ‘this is my thing.’ I think it makes me faster,” Gervais said with a smile. “(But) it looks better in the sunlight.”
Multiple winners
• Boys: Drew Gervais, Bonny Eagle (100, 10.63; 200, 21.91); Devin Berry, South Portland (110 hurdles, 14.69; 300 hurdles, 41.06); Cordell Jones, Portland (high jump, 6-2; javelin, 150-8)
• Girls: Macey Weisberg, Cheverus/Waynflete (100, 12.4; 200, 25.9)
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