GORHAM—More than two dozen schools convened at USM’s Costello Sports Complex on Monday, Feb. 19, for this year’s Class A Indoor Track State Championship. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Scarborough claimed the boys’ team crown, while Cheverus took the girls’.

A number of local athletes fared extremely well individually (and as in quads, in the relays): Westbrookers Dominic Creenan and Nyagoa Bayak earned two titles each, for instance, while Windhamite Alex Wilkins and Bonny Eagler Ami Beaumier earned one each and the Gorham girls 4×800 triumphed as well (even setting a new Class A state record).

A friendly-rivals Long Jump shootout between Creenan and Wilkins churned up some of the day’s tensest spectacle. Wilkins entered the competition seeded narrowly higher, but Creenan brought his a-game, out-leaping Wilkins in the early round with jumps in the low 21s. In the finals, the two traded blows and the event burned down to each boy’s last jump.

“We were basically just saying, ‘let’s try and beat each other’s jumps,’” Creenan said of his and Wilkins’ sideline banter. “Just push each other, see how high we can get it.”

Wilkins went first, topping his best of the day – indeed, his best ever – by several inches, hitting 21-09.50. That’s a remarkable improvement, considering jumpers typically improve a sliver at a time, and it meant Creenan would have to follow Wilkins up with a huge personal best of his own to retain the lead and capture gold.

“I’ve known Dom for a long time,” Wilkins said. “I’ve been with him all four years. We’re friendly competitors; I know how he is, I know what he can do. We both were getting back into spikes, getting into the State environment, and we both really came here to win – we wanted the win. I think, with each and every jump, we saw that vision becoming possible.”

“There was a mix of determination and anger, frustration,” Wilkins said of his mindset as he set off running for his final attempt. “I came here to do the best I could, and I knew I could do better, and just in that moment before the jump, it was like, ‘I got this. I know I can get it.’”

“If he never jumped his 21, I never would’ve got where I got,” Wilkins said.

But Creenan delivered the goods in the end: He unwound into a 22-foot leap on his last attempt of the day, bettering his top mark to that point by 9 full inches. He collapsed after the jump – but not, thankfully, because of an injury.

“It was certainly a close competition. I couldn’t have jumped that far without him,” Creenan said of Wilkins. “When I saw (Alex’s 21-09.50 jump), I was like, ‘Oh, boy, I’ve got to jump really far, or the best jump I’ve ever jumped. I just, kind of, amped myself up and went for it. And I got it, luckily.”

“It felt really good,” Creenan said when asked if he knew he’d hit 22 before the official measurement came. “I looked over and just saw everyone crowding around, looking at the measurement. So I knew it was going to be a good jump, but I didn’t know it was going to be that far.”

“I was so tired, and all the nerves were just kind of flushed out of me at that point, I just collapsed there for a second,” Creenan said of his reaction to his winning leap. “But I was fine.”

“He just bested me in the end,” Wilkins said. “It’s all part of the process.”

Wilkins got some friendly revenge in the Triple Jump, where he took top honors and Creenan finished sixth.

“I think I have a pretty decent lead,” Wilkins said, prior to the start of that event. “But anything can happen here.”

Creenan also picked up the title in the 55 Hurdles. “Hurdles, that’s the race I was here for today,” he said. “I wasn’t nervous for that at all. I kind of felt like I was just going to sweep it, so I just went with the natural flow of it.”

“I knew, once I got to the second hurdle and couldn’t see anyone behind me, that I was going to win it,” Creenan said.

Complete Boys Team Scores
1. Scarborough, 79; 2. Deering, 66; 3. Thornton Academy, 47; 4. Mt. Ararat, 31; 5. Westbrook, 26; 6. Edward Little, 24; 6. Windham, 24; 8. Cheverus, 23; 9. Skowhegan, 21; 10. Falmouth, 18; 11. Brunswick, 17; 12. Gorham, 16; 13. Bonny Eagle, 13; 14. Hampden, 12; 15. Cony, 10; 16. South Portland, 7; 16. Lewiston, 7; 18. Bangor, 6; 19. Kennebunk, 5; 19. Massabesic, 5; 19. Noble, 5; 22. Messalonskee, 4; 23. Camden Hills, 3; 23. Biddeford, 3; 25. Oxford Hills, 2; 25. Sanford, 2

Complete Girls Team Scores
1. Cheverus, 67; 1. Scarborough, 67; 3. Gorham, 41; 4. BE, 34; 5. South Portland, 32; 6. TA, 31; 7. Hampden, 26; 8. Noble, 23.50; 9. Falmouth, 23; 9. Westbrook, 23; 11. Lewiston, 19.50; 12. Bangor, 18; 13. Mt. A, 15; 14. Windham, 10.50; 15. Biddeford, 9; 15. Deering, 9; 17. Messalonskee, 7; 18. Marshwood, 6; 19. Massabesic, 5; 20. EL, 4; 21. Portland, 3.50; 22. Brunswick, 1; 22. Mt. Blue, 1

Selected Boys Individual Results
55 – 1. Jarett Flaker, Scarborough, 6.50R; 2. David Drew, Gorham, 6.6915
200 – 1. Jarett Flaker, Scarborough, 22.32R; 3. Alex Wilkins, Windham, 23.28
400 – 1. Jarett Flaker, Scarborough, 49.87; 4. Mahamed Sharif, Westbrook, 52.71
800 – 1. Russell Allen, EL, 2:00.25; 7. Wil Rossignol, Gorham, 2:04.57
Two Mile – 1. Lisandro Berry-Gaviria, Mt. A, 9:58.80; 7. Anthony Chase, Gorham, 10:17.64
55 Hurdles – 1. Dominic Creenan, Westbrook, 7.78
4×200 – 1. Deering (Nick James, Jack Lynch, Travis Soule, Luc Harrison), 1:33.78; 3. Gorham (Luke Gowen, Wil Rossignol, Tyler Rollins, David Drew), 1:36.01; 4. BE (Andrew Pendleton, Derek Cole, Zack Allocca, Max Harris), 1:36.11
4×800 – 1. Deering (Yahya Nure, Nick James, Mohamed Abdurahman, Alec Troxell), 8:21.34; 5. Bonny Eagle (Anthony Breton, Liam Willey, Christian Tomison, Aiden Willey), 8:46.15
Long Jump – 1. Dominic Creenan, 22-00.00; 2. Alex Wilkins, Windham, 21-09.50; 8 Garrett Higgins, Gorham, 19-02.25
Triple Jump – 1. Alex Wilkins, Windham, 43-05.75; 3. Zack Allocca, BE, 40-10.25; 6. Dominic Creenan, Westbrook, 39-08.75
Pole Vault – 1. Travis Snyder, TA, 14-06.00; 10. Jason Catoggio, Gorham, J11-06.00

Selected Girls Individual Results
800 – 1. Juliana Selser, South Portland, 2:21.12; 2. Kayla Raymond, BE, 2:23.48; 3. Iris Kitchen, Gorham, 2:24.02; 6. Meadow Fortier, Gorham, 2:25.93
Mile – 1. Juliana Selser, South Portland, 5:12.15; 2. Kayla Raymond, BE, 5:16.49; 4. Ami Beaumier, BE, 5:28.44
Two Mile – 1. Ami Beaumier, BE, 11:27.89; 2. Anna Slager, Gorham, 11:36.28; 8. Kate Tugman, Gorham, 12:24.24
4×200 – 1. Falmouth (Abbie Ryer, Maddie Marks, Caitlyn Camelio, Sophie Marcotte), 1:49.55; 10. Gorham (Lydia Drew, Neveah Moore, Bridget Rossignol, Avery Germond), 1:54.50
4×800 – 1. Gorham (Kate Tugman, Iris Kitchen, Meadow Fortier, Anna Slager), 9:43.02R; 4. BE (Gretchen Biegel, Amelia Alexander, Abigail Nelson, Ami Beaumier), 10:16.71; 8. Windham (Samantha Phinneys, Hailey Applebee, Abigail Clinch, Morgan Colangelo), 10:41.58
High Jump – 1. Nyagoa Bayak, Westbrook, 5-08.00R; 2. Lingdong Bol, Windham, 5-02.00; 6. Sierra Guite, Windham, 4-10.00; 9. Evelyn Kitchen, Gorham, J4-10.00
Long Jump – 1. Christie Woodside, Hampden, 17-04.25; 3. Evelyn Kitchen, Gorham, 16-11.50; 6. Nyagoa Bayak, Westbrook, 16-07.00
Triple Jump – 1. Nyagoa Bayak, Westbrook, 36-05.50; 4. Evelyn Kitchen, Gorham, 35-04.25; 7. Lingdong Bol, Windham, 33-03.25
Shot Put – 1. Laila Bunnit, Lewiston, 35-03.00; 7. Hope Higgins, Westbrook, 30-01.50
Pole Vault – 1. Sofia Wittmann, Bangor, 10-00.00; 3. Lauren Barden, Gorham, 9-00.00

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter @CurrentSportsME.

Dominic Creenan receives his first-place medal for the 55 Hurdles.

Garrett Higgins competes in the Long Jump for Gorham.

Dominic Creenan unfurls a spectacular Long Jump attempt.

Aidan Willey runs the 4×800 for Bonny Eagle.

Dominic Creenan won the 55 Hurdles handily.

Alex Wilkins hit a huge new PR in the Long Jump, earning him second place. 

Evelyn Kitchen clears the bar for Gorham in the High Jump.

Nyagoa Bayak won the High Jump, as expected, setting a new record in the process.

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