GORHAM — For much of Saturday, the Fryeburg girls’ track team was running and jumping its way toward a possible third straight title in the Western Maine Conference track meet.
By day’s end, however, the Cape Elizabeth team had its say. The Capers stayed within reach and caught Fryeburg late in the meet, edging out the Raiders to win the Division II girls’ title with 135 points. Fryeburg took second with 123.
“It was a pretty close most of the day,” said Fryeburg coach Mark Strange. “Cape stepped up to the occasion. They were kind of a surprise in a couple of events. Sometimes what happens in the regular season isn’t what happens in the end. Teams can pull off some surprises. You think you look pretty good and someone pulls off some surprises. If everyone does their best that’s all you can ask.”
Greely won the Division I title with 163 points. Gorham was second with 128.
In the boys’ meets, Gorham won Division I with 126 with Greely taking second with 116.50. Traip Academy claimed the Division II crown with 119 points, edging out Falmouth, which finished with 113.
The Cape girls didn’t take the lead until the 17th and 18th events of the day. Dana Riker won the 800 and Tracy Johnson added a fourth-place finish to put them ahead. Leslie Harrison took second in the 200 to add to the lead.
Fryeburg had built the early lead with success in the field events. Carissa Allain and Shannon True each took first in the high jump and long jump respectively. True added a second in the triple jump and the pole vault. Other multiple scorers included Rebecca Kurnick, who took second in the high jump and fifth in the 300 hurdles; Meghan Harrington, third in the pole vault and fifth in the triple jump; Joanna Kinsman, with a fifth in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600; Stephanie Jette, taking sixth in the 3,200, second in the 400 and third in the 800; and Mariah Whitney with a sixth in the 400 and fifth in the 800.
“The distance runners did well,” said Strange. “Probably the biggest surprise was what we did in the field events. Shannon True stepped up and won the long jump and took second in the triple and second in the pole vault. They did very well.”
In addition to Allain’s first in the high jump and her third in the 200, she won the 100 hurdles, setting a new meet record with a time of :16.23.
“At first I didn’t even think I got first,” said Allain, only a sophomore. “I wasn’t paying attention to anything else. I was just watching my lane.” She thought she had an opportunity to win but setting a new record was unexpected. The previous mark was held by Cape’s Andrea Cummings, set in 1988.
“It wasn’t really a surprise,” she said. “Last year I think I got first too. So I kind of expected to get first, but I didn’t know I was going to get the record.”
The Fryeburg boys, who finished fifth in Division II with 71 points, got a first in the shot from Tom Mango. He also took second in the discus. Shannon Philpot took fourth in the long jump, sixth in the 100 and fifth in the 200. Tim Coombs had a fifth in the long jump and two third place finishes in the 100 and 200. Aaron Pavao was third in the pole vault and fifth in the 800.
Winning the shot and discus wasn’t anything new for Gray-New Gloucester’s Louise Duffus. The senior had already won both in the conference, regional and state meets the last two years, so she focused on enjoying the moment as her career winds down.
“Coming in this time, I just wanted to have fun,” said Duffus, who’ll attend Bowdoin next year. “This is my last year here. So I just wanted to try and enjoy things. I didn’t really have any goals, any expectations coming in.”
She won the shots with a distance over 38 feet. She surpassed 119 feet in the discus.
“I was really hoping in the shot put to get 39,” she said. “I got 38. So that was fine. You always try to get a PR. In the discus, I wanted to get 120. I came close at 119. So I was pleased with that.”
The Gray-New Gloucester girls team finished fifth overall in Division I with 51.50 points. Laurie Young had a second in the 400 and a third in the 200 for the Patriots. Mallory Wilson added a win in the javelin.
The G-NG boys’ finished fifth with 78 points. Rich Danieli led the boys’ squad with a win in the long jump, a third in the 200 and a fifth in the 100. Paul Vickerson won the 1,600 racewalk. Andrew Worth took second in the long jump, third in the 100 and fourth in the 200. Miles Allen had a second and fifth in the two hurdle events.
Gina Goyette led the Poland girls to a sixth-place finish in Division II with 35 points. Goyette won the shot, took second in the discus and fourth in the javelin. Felicia Gray added a third in the javelin, sixth in the discus and fourth in the 1,600 racewalk. The boys team finished eighth with 17 points. Josh Pomerleau led the Knights with a fourth in the javelin and a sixth in the shotput.
kmills@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
