BRUNSWICK — The outlook coming into Saturday might have been described as confident and hopeful.
The Lewiston High School indoor track teams entered the KVAC championships at Bowdoin College with varying degrees of optimism. The boys’ team was confident in a its potential for a championship showing. The girls were hopeful to have a good day as well, and maybe even contend.
By meet’s end, both squads erased all doubt. The Blue Devils made a clean sweep of the conference meet. It was the first-ever track championship for the girls’ team while it was the first title for the boys since winning the KVAC’s and finishing second in states in 2006.
“That was incredible,” Lewiston coach Paul Soracco said. “The girls have never won — their first time ever. The boys, I couldn’t be more proud. Both of them, they were just amazing, especially after the snow. We had a couple of weeks of bad weather. We didn’t get a lot of practice times. We worked them hard. We just didn’t know how they’d react after so much time off. It’s just amazing. I’m so proud of these kids.”
The Lewiston girls’ won its meet with a total of 102 points. Brunswick, which won last year, finished second with 81. Messalonskee was third with 72 followed by Edward Little in fourth with 71.
In the boys’ meet, Lewiston finished with 121 points, beating out Brunswick with 87. Messlonskee was third with 80 followed by the defending champs from Edward Little with 72 in fourth.
“It’s amazing,” said Lewiston senior sprinter Hassan Mohamed, who won two events and took second in another. “We wanted to welcome our new coaches. We all planned it together to make the coaches welcomed and thanked them for helping us.”
Mohamed was one of four athletes recognized as the top performers in the meet. Brunswick’s Tiffany Tanner was the top A girls’ performer, while Belfast’s Drew Nealey and Cassidy Hill took top honors in the B meet.
“This is my first year in the KVAC meet for indoors,” Mohamed said. “I was really excited. My mom was cheering me on. She couldn’t make it today, but she was like ‘Go and do something.’ I was like, ‘Alright mom.'”
Mohamed and Osman Doorow each won two events for the Blue Devils. Mohamed won the 55-meter dash and the 400. He finished second in the 200, getting edged out by Edward Little’s Hunter Martin.
“I’m happy with that,” Mohamed said. “I just went there and did my thing. I’m happy with two out of three.”
Doorow won the mile and two-mile. He was the top seed in both events. He won the two-mile last year but was third in the mile a year ago.
“I was hoping to win both,” Doorow said. “In the mile, I was feeling good, but in the two-mile, I was a little bit tired. I didn’t want to give up. I was feeling tired but I saw it was my last lap. So I just pushed it on.”
Other top finishers for the boys were Sabin Lavorgna with second in the shot, while Mike Wong was second in the long jump and seventh in the triple. Corey Martin also took third in the 55-meter hurdles. Lewiston had three places in the 800. Abdi Shariff was third. Ahmed Musse was fifth and Abbas Muktar took sixth. Ibraham Hussein was fifth in the 400, while Mohamud Abukar was seventh in the 200. Tom Jumper was sixth in the triple, while Julian Smedley and Griffin Morin took third and fifth respectively in the shot.
Lewiston also won the 4×200 relay with the team of Abukar, Martin, Hussein and Shariff. The team of Hussein, Shariff, Ahmed Musse and Abbas Muktar was second in the 4×800.
Lewiston’s girls had a number of great performances. Senior Heather Kendall set a new school mark in the 200, winning in 26.68. She was second in the 55.
“I just really needed to redeem myself from the 55 which was a little bit of a disappointment,” Kendall said. “I just gave it my all. I just had to get it back and get it back going. It was good to have a challenge.”
Freshman Taylor Chamberlain won the high jump. She came in tied with three others that had previously jumped 4-08. She won with a height of 4-10.
“I was hoping to win because that’s my event,” Chamberlain said.
Adela Kalilwa won the long jump and was second in the triple and the 200. Jennifer Martin was second in the 400 and 55-meter hurdles and also took fourth in the 55 hurdles. Isha Kasai was fourth in the 200 and third in the 55. Nicole Footer was fourth in the two mile, with Courtney Allen seventh. Johorey Abdirahman was fifth in the 800.
Lewiston’s team of Chamberlain, Kasai, Martin and Kendall won the 4×200 relay while the 4×800 team of Sadio Aden, Hafido Awil, Abdirahman and Kaitlyn True were fourth.
“It’s amazing,” Chamberlain said of the girls’ title. “I think we thought we had a chance. We just had to work as hard and we could and do our best.”
For the EL boys, Martin had a nice win in the 200. He finished in 23.54, edging out Mohamed with a time of 23.89. Martin also finished third in the 55-meter dash.
“I was seeded second and he’s been beating me all season,” Martin said. “He’s a great sprinter. I just wanted to go out and do my best and see what happened. He beat me in the 55. I didn’t want to let him beat me again. I wanted to do well. I was looking over my shoulder the whole time and never saw him.”
EL also got win a win from Bradley Morissette in the high jump. He also took third in the triple and fourth in the long jump. Jacob Gamache had a fourth in the two-mile and a sixth in the mile. Skylar Bang was sixth in the 55-meter hurdles and fourth in the pole vault. Cam Gagne and Spencer Frahn took fourth and fifth respectively in the high jump. Alex Thompson was sixth in the pole vault. Tyler Blanchard finished seventh in the long jump and 55-meter dash. Brye Thurlow was sixth in the shot.
The EL 4×200 relay team of Blanchard, Frahn, Martin and Mower took second, while the 4×800 team of Gamache, Brandon Henry, Cade Jarvis and Thompson was fifth.
In the girls’ meet, EL’s Kailey Norcross took second in the high jump, while Morgan Knowlton took second in the shot. Lauren Berube was second in the pole vault, seventh in the triple, and sixth in the 55-meter hurdles. Selena Gauthier took fifth in the 55-meter dash and in the 400. Anna Beaudet placed sixth in the long jump and seventh in the 55-meter dash. Makayla Norcross was fourth in the 55 hurdles and the triple jump. Katie Ferrara was third in the pole vault. Kaylie Vallee was third in the long jump and fifth in the hurdles. Ashleigh Jackson took sixth in the triple and seventh in the high jump while Mercedes Lane was sixth in the two mile.
EL’s relay team of Ferrara, Knowlton, Beaudet and Kailey Norcross was second in the 4×200.
Mt. Blue’s Nate Pratt-Holt won the triple jump with a leap of 42-04. He finished eighth in the long jump.
“I was a little nervous because I fouled on my first two,” Pratt-Holt of his triple jump win. “I knew I needed to get a jump in. I was feeling good. My legs felt good. I was seeded first. I knew I just needed to jump well. The second seed was close too. So I knew I just had to have a good day.”
Mt. Blue also got a pair of seconds from Aaron Willingham in the mile and two mile. Sam McIntosh took fourth in the 400. In the girls’ meet, Maggie Hickey took sixth in the mile for Mt. Blue.
Brunswick’s second-place finishes were highlighted by Tanner’s performance. The junior won the 800 and the mile. She finished second in the two mile. Teammate Tessa Cassidy won the two mile and was second behind Tanner in the mile.
The Dragons’ boys’ team got a win from Reed Foster in the long jump and second in the triple. Chris Tanner won the 800 with teammate Keenan Welzel taking second. Seth White won the 55 meter hurdles.
In the B meet, Waterville won the girls’ title with 167 points followed by Belfast with 101. Lincoln Academy was third with 45. Belfast won the boys’ meet with 149. MCI was second with 62.50 followed by Waterville with 60.
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