The defending KVAC indoor track champions from Lewiston were in a nip-and-tuck battle for the team title Saturday at Bowdoin College and with just the triple jump and the 4×200 relay left, every place and every point mattered.
“I was like I have to get this and get points for my team,” said the senior. “It was good. It wasn’t like I was just jumping for myself. It was jumping for my team, and that’s the point of it.”
Kalilwa was disappointed with her second-place finish in the event, but those points proved crucial. Lewiston also earned points in the final relay while Edward Little was disqualified, allowing the Blue Devils to repeat in a five-point victory over the Red Eddies.
“It’s amazing,” said Kalilwa, who also won the long jump and took third in 55 meter dash. “Our coach always wants us to win, but it’s not always about winning. It’s about how much every person puts in their effort to work it and to qualify. The more you push it, the more you qualify and the better points you get.”
Lewiston finished with 92 points to Edward Little’s 87. Brunswick was third with 67.5. Messlaonskee and Skowhegan followed in fourth and fifth respectively.
“It’s just phenomenal,” Lewiston coach Paul Soracco said. “They just stepped up. We lost some kids from last year, and we lost one of our top sprinters (Isha Kasai), who moved last week. That was a huge loss for us. We had to realign our lineup a little bit.”
Edward Little was leading through 10 events, 71-70. After 11 events, the lead was 74-71. With just two events to go, the Red Eddies led 81-80.
“It was definitely a back-and-forth battle with Lewiston,” EL coach Dan Pontbriand said. “We knew that going in. I’m proud of my girls no matter what.”
On the boys’ side, Lewiston fell short of back-to-back titles. Messalonskee won the boys’ meet with 128 points, followed by Lewiston with 91. Brunswick was third with 80, while Edward Little was fourth at 55. Gardiner was a distant fifth with 26.
“The boys had a great day,” Soracco said. “Messalonskee just had a super meet. They’re just loaded.”
Brunswick had a pair of third-place finishes but just couldn’t match what teams above them produced.
“The boys’ meet, we knew it was going to be between Messalonskee, Lewiston and Brunswick,” Dragons coach Dave DeLois said. “That’s the way it ended up. We had a pretty good meet. We had some pretty good performances.”
While Kalilwa was earning her points in the triple jump late in the meet, the Lewiston 4×200 relay team was taking fourth. The team of Zahara Abdi, McKayla Ball, Johorey Abdirahman and Maria Bellegarde finished in 2:01.69.
“Our relay team came through,” Soracco said. “We got fourth. The girls just came out of nowhere today. That was big. It made the difference.”
Edward Little actually placed ahead of Lewiston in the relay, but was disqualified.
“Our hand offs happened outside the relay zone,” Pontbriand said. “So we were DQ’d for that. It would have made it closer.”
While Kalilwa finished second in the triple, EL placed Anna Beaudet in fourth followed by Ashleigh Jackson and Kaylie Vallee, but that wasn’t enough to overtake Lewiston’s lead.
“We came in thinking that anything could happen,” Lewiston junior Jennifer Martin said. “We just wanted to try out best. So that’s what we did and we won. We’re really excited about it.”
Martin won the 400 in 1:02.17. It set a new school record, a mark that Martin has now broken three times in consecutive weeks. Martin also finished second in the 55 meter hurdles in 8.94 and third in the 200.
“I wasn’t expecting to break 9.0 in the hurdles,” Martin said. “I’m pretty excited about that, and I’m really excited about the 400. I PR’d today. It was fantastic. I was so excited.”
The Lewiston girls also got wins from Taylor Chamberlain with a 4-10 height in the high jump. Mersadie Dulac won the pole vault in 9-06.
The Lewiston boys got a pair of wins from Osman Doorow. He won the mile in 4:33.33 and took the 800 in 2:00.90. Abdi Shariff won the 400 in 53.05. Stefan Porter won the triple jump with a leap of 41-10.
EL’s Beaudet was a standout with wins in the 55 meter dash in 7.41 and the 200 in 26.90. She also finished fifth in the triple jump. Morgan Knowlton won the shot with a distance of 34-07.25. Katie Ferrara won the 55 meter hurdles in 8.92. She was also second in the pole vault.
The EL boys’ got second-place finishes from Spencer Frahn in the high jump and Jacob Gamache in the two-mile.
“In the boys’ race, it’s tough because Messalonskee has a great distance team,” Pontbriand said. “Brunswick has a great sprint team, and Lewiston has a mix of both. It’s tough when those three teams are soaking up all the points and we’re fighting for spots.”
Mt. Blue’s Nate Pratt-Holt won the long jump with a leap of 20-01, and took third in the triple jump.
Brunswick’s top performers included Tiffany Tanner with a win in the 800 in 2:28.15. Also on the girls’ team, Tessa Cassidy took second in both the mile and two mile. Kyra Walpow took second in the high jump. Hunter Garrett led the boys with second-place finishes in the 55 meter dash and the 200. He also took third in the high jump. Seth White was second in the hurdles. Keenan Welzel was second in the 400 while Shane Lyons was second in the long jump.
“We did pretty well, maybe not as well as we expected,” DeLois said. “We had some pretty good performances. Our girls 4×200 relay team finished third and we were seeded seventh. That’s pretty good.”
Mt. Ararat got a pair of wins from Katherine Leckbee in the distance races. She won the mile in 5:29.23 and took the two mile in 11:45.10. Cameron Meier took the boys’ two mile in 10:02.57. Sara York added a second-place finish in the 800.
In the Class B meet, Morse’s Chris Walfield won three events. He finished first in the mile in 4:49.80 and took the 800 in 2:03.50. He also won the two mile in 10:01.68.
“Morse trains with us,” DeLois said. “Chris Walfield winning the mile, the 800 and the two mile, that’s pretty good to win those three events.”
Waterville made a sweep of the team honors in Class B. The girls won with 109 points followed by Belfast with 96 and Lincoln Academy with 81. The Waterville boys finished with 117, edging out Belfast with 115. MCI was third with 77.
kmills@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
