LEWISTON – The Lisbon boys enjoyed the ultimate surprise party Saturday at the Mountain Valley Conference Track and Field Championships.
Consider Jim Couture, the ninth seed who rose all the way to the top of the triple jump chart. Ponder Adam Furin and Evan Manocal, who enjoyed similar improvement over their regular-season qualifying times. Furin cashed in the shot put and javelin, while Manocal banked points in the high jump and long jump in addition to his expected windfall in the triple jump.
Oh, and let’s not forget Elijah Trefts, who emerged seemingly from nowhere to finish sixth in the discus.
And think about this: If any of those four unsung performers hadn’t exceeded expectations at Don Roux Field, the Greyhounds might not have enjoyed a leisurely victory lap in celebration of their first MVC title since 1995.
Lisbon edged Mountain Valley by a 102-99 count.
“The big accomplishments for us were in the throws and jumps,” said Lisbon coach Dean Hall. “There were a lot of surprises.”
Lacking that eye-opening element but making up for it with style points were the Winthrop girls, who overpowered the field to win the Ramblers’ 14th title in the last 17 years.
“They take a lot of pride in that tradition,” coach Norm Thombs said of his Ramblers, who outdistanced the Dirigo Cougars 150-105.
Top performers will move on to next Saturday’s state Class B and Class C meets in Ellsworth and Augusta, respectively.
Conference supremacy took on added meaning when the regional championships were obsoleted in the offseason.
“I don’t even know how you motivate kids for that kind of meet. There are going to be 8,000 (competitors) at states,” Thombs said. “That placed some extra focus on winning the MVC meet, I think.”
The MVC’s two Class B schools emerged at the top of a wild, four-team boys’ competition. Madison (84) and Hall-Dale (78) also held the lead early in the day.
Madison, the defending champion, was without the services of four-event standout George Yodice. That absence likely opened the door for the Greyhounds, who won only two events.
Couture jumped 39 feet, 10 1/4 inches to capture the triple jump, while heavily favored Troy Clark ruled the racewalk in 7:35.79.
“A couple of kids weren’t here,” said Hall, “and that probably opened it up for a lot of teams. Madison could have packed it in, and to their credit they didn’t. They fought until the end. Mountain Valley is a young team that showed its strength.”
Clark also earned key points in the 800, edging Mountain Valley’s Joshua Burke for fourth in a photo finish. Neal Waters of Hall-Dale won the event.
Couture was a multiple standout, as well, running second to Brent Gallant of MV in the 100 and fourth in the 110-meter hurdles. Dan Suthers and Jared Cloutier (distances) and Erich Rendall (pole vault) also provided crucial numbers.
Gallant backed up his victory in the 100 with triumphs in the 200 and 400 and the anchor leg of the 4×100 relay.
Shawn Demaray of Livermore Falls dominated the throws with firsts in javelin, shot put and discus.
Fred Bailey of Telstar captured the 1,600 and 3,200. Rob Michaud of Winthrop took the long jump.
Personal bests by Anne Trenholm (111 feet, 9 inches) in the discus and Lindsey LeClerc in the mile (5:43.5) propelled Winthrop to its customary perch atop the standings.
“Anne beat her record by almost 20 feet,” said Thombs. “We won discus, pole vault, the mile, the 300 hurdles, the 4×800 relay. We did it with both our depth and some outstanding individual performances.”
LeClerc, Trenholm, Teryn Clark (pole vault) and Kaitlyn Dunn (hurdles) were individual victors.
Dunn, Melissa Nguyen and Ashley Falcone placed in both hurdle events.
Candace Doughty of Lisbon captured the 100. Dirigo won the 4×100 and 4×400 relays, with the Cougars’ Alyssa Burns, Alexa Kaubris and Dana Burns sweeping the top three spots in the 400.
Other local individual champions were Heather Zimmerman of Telstar (3,200), Nerissa Gross of Lisbon (800), Kristin Dayon of Mountain Valley (triple jump) and Jasmine Brooks of Dirigo (racewalk).
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