DOVER-FOXCROFT — Depth alone typically has been enough for Orono High School to dominate Maine’s small-school track and field landscape in recent years.
The Red Riots added a dash of record-setting flair to that volume approach at Oakes Field on Saturday while sweeping the boys and girls Class C state championships for the second straight season.
Orono’s girls squad won its fifth consecutive title in overwhelming fashion, outscoring second-place Sacopee Valley of South Hiram 168¾-62. The Red Riots’ boys squad overcame a pair of talented sprinters from Washington Academy in East Machias to shade the Raiders 78.6-63 and secure its second straight crown.
“I was very happy with everybody’s performances today,” said Orono senior sprinter and hurdler Lauren Stoops, who capped off the day by anchoring the Red Riots’ state record-setting 4×400 relay team. “Many of our people, girls and boys, were just phenomenal, with a bunch of PRs.”
Six records were broken during the event, five by Orono.
Most notable was junior Jake Koffman’s best of 189 feet, 9 inches in the boys discus — the longest throw in that event in Maine high school history regardless of class.
With a big crowd watching his pursuit of a state mark Koffman delivered, with four of his six attempts eclipsing the previous 26-year-old Class C standard of 169-1 and three better than any throw made at any previous Maine state meet.
Koffman first set the record with a throw of 186-11 on his second preliminary-round attempt, but before a secondary measurement could be taken with a steel tape to affirm the record that was first measured with a nylon tape, the spotter picked up his marker displaying where the discus had landed.
After several minutes of discussion with event officials Koffman was awarded the throw as originally measured, but he made that controversy a moot point on his next attempt with an even longer heave.
“I wasn’t too worried about it,” said Koffman, a junior who won the event at states last year with a best of 137-9. “I felt after that 186 I could have gone farther, which I did. The big thing was after every throw to calm down a bit, relax after that adrenalin rush and just get ready for the next throw.”
The Orono boys set another state record in the meet’s first event, with its 4×800 relay combo of Jacob Fandel, Matt Keresey, Jonathan Steelman and Tristan Butterfield winning in 8:17.36.
“It was sort of on our radar but not really,” said Butterfield, the lone senior in the tandem. “At PVCs last week we ran 12 seconds slower than we did today so we were really hoping just to come out on top this week. We had no idea the state record was really a possibility.”
The Orono girls set three new Class C marks.
Tia Tardy clocked 2:13.03 to pace a 1-2-3 Red Riots’ finish in the 800 with classmates Hannah Steelman and Becky Lopez-Anido.
Allison Pickering, Stoops, Camille Kohtala and Katie O’Brien combined to win the 4×100 in a Class C-best 50.18 seconds, and Tardy, Lopez-Anido, Kassidy Dill and Stoops cut more than three seconds off the previous state mark in the 4×400 with a time of 4:05.00.
“I’m used to running the first leg so I have the gun to tell me to go, go, go like (Orono head coach Chris) Libby does,” said Stoops, who also won the 100 dash (12.72) and 300 hurdles (45.71). “Today I ran fourth leg because Mr. Libby wanted a senior to finish it off, and it’s a little more nerve-wracking because you see your teammates pour their hearts out and you have to stand up to that level.”
Pickering, a senior, also successfully defended her state title in the pole vault with a best of 10 feet, while other individual wins for the Orono girls came from Steelman in the 1,600 (5:23.92), Kylie Gray in the 1,600 race walk (8:43.93) and the 4×800 relay team of Olivia Fandel, Steelman, Dill and Lopez-Anido.
Sacopee Valley was paced by double-event winner Morgan Carpenter in the high jump (5-0) and triple jump (33-7½), while third-place George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill (43.5) got a first from Morgan Dauk in the javelin (116-5).
Telstar of Bethel’s Kaity Killam won the 200 (26.69) and long jump (16-5¼), while other girls event winners were Lauren Sterling of Mountain Valley of Rumford in the 100 hurdles (16.06), Bree Sautter of Lisbon in the 400 (1:01.30), Anne McKee of Kents Hill in the 3,200 (11:45.23), Shenciaray Black of Carrabec of North Anson in the discus (108-6) and Mavis Taungatu’a of Bucksport in the shot put 36-6.
The Orono boys won two other events, both involving Butterfield who anchored teammates Keenan Collett, Stephen Nelson and Jacob Fandel to victory in the 4×400 (3:32.95) and led Fandel to a 1-2 finish in the 800 (1:58.62).
“That’s absolutely huge,” said Butterfield. “I won the (800) last year and just to be back on top again is the greatest feeling I’ve ever had.”
The Washington Academy boys remained within striking distance of Orono throughout the meet thanks to juniors Michaiah Robinson and Oneko Lowe, who combined for 52 individual points and led a championship-winning 4×100 relay team that also featured D’Nye-Jha Hayward and Phillipp Schunicht (45.15).
Robinson and Lowe finished 1-2 in the 200 with Robinson winning in 22.65, while Robinson won the 400 (50.13) and finished second in the 100 while Lowe won the long jump (20-9¼) and placed third in the 100.
“Coming into this meet I knew we’d do well with Michaiah and Oneko and our 4×100 team,” said WA coach Stephen Richard. “Pointwise we did the best we could have done. We really could not have done any better as far as everyone doing what they were supposed to do. It was incredible.”
Evan Porter from Traip Academy in Kittery set the other new Class C state record among his three victories. The junior snapped an 8-year-old record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.57 and also won the 100 dash (11.23) and 100 hurdles (15.21).
Other boys champions were Jovanni Tavares of Washburn in the javelin (153-2), Curtis McLeod of Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield in the shot put (52-10¾), Caden Spencer-Thompson of Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln in the triple jump (43-2), Johann Bradley of Bucksport in the pole vault (13-0), John Hassett of George Stevens in the 1,600 (4:35.75), Erik Taylor-Lash of GSA in the race walk (7:09.06), Nicholas Harriman of Lisbon in the 3,200 (10:16.26) and Jon Whitcomb of Hall-Dale of Farmingdale in the high jump (6-0).
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