Scarborough boys, girls sweep Class A track and field meet

Lewiston’s Jennifer Martin clears the hurdle before Hampden’s Christie Woodside.

GORHAM — The Scarborough boys’ and girls’ teams had one goal in mind at Monday’s state class A indoor track and field meet: win a state title.
Both teams accomplished what they set out to do, sweeping the meets at Costello Gymnasium at the University of Southern Maine.

The Scarborough boys scored 88 points, 27 points ahead of second-place Cheverus’ 61. Thornton Academy finished third with 37 points, followed by Westbrook and Falmouth with 34 and 22, respectively.

On the girls’ side, the Red Storm finished with 102¼ points, well ahead of second place Westbrook and their 46 points. Deering followed with 40 points while Thornton Academy finished fourth with 35 points. Lewiston rounded out the top five with 30.

The Scarborough boys won with their speed and numbers. Sam Rusak had a day he will forever remember. In the final event of the day, the senior repeated as state indoor pole vault champ, setting a class A record with a jump of 16 feet, 3 inches.

“I’ve been chasing that record all year, and to have the happen at my senior state meet is more than I can ever ask for, it’s amazing,” Rusak said.

Rusak also placed first in the high jump and 200-meter dash, edging out teammates Jarret Flaker and Ben Batoosingh. Flaker took first in the 55-meter dash while Batoosingh captured the 400-meter title. Both were also members of the 4×200-meter relay team that placed first.

“We knew if we did what we have done all season there was a good chance we could win,” Scarborough coach Derek Veilleux said. “I told the guys it’s 0-0 and we have to execute. We got off to a great start with the high jump and 4×800-meter relay. We were seeded seventh and won so that relaxed everybody.”

Another class A state indoor record fell, as well. Adam Lufkin of Brewer crushed the state shot put record by hurling it 61-02. The previous record was held by Ed Bogdanovich of Portland with a distance of 59-10 set in 1977. Jason Montano placed second with a throw of 59-10. Jacob McClusky finished third with a throw of 51-01.75. Lufkin had thrown 61-5 earlier in the winter.

“I wanted to hit my PR today but this was definetly OK,” Lufkin said. “I was sick at the regionals so I threw only 59-4. It’s still special to do it today though,” he added.

Ben Musese of Lewiston finished third in the triple jump while placing seventh in the long jump.

“I was working on my form today, trying something different” Musese said.

Lewiston coach Paul Soracco said Musese has been working hard to get to this point.

“He’s a good kid, works hard to be at this level,” Soracco said. “Like all of our kids, he puts the time in.”

Lewiston’s 4×800-meter relay team of Abshir Abukar, Davion Jackson, Aden Mohamed, and Abbas Muktar finished fourth. Muktar and Mohamed also finished fifth and sixth in the 800-meter run. The Blue Devils’ Ethan Solis placed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.93. Lewiston finished tied for eighth place in the 25 team meet with 17 points.

Edward Little’s Race Bouchard and Owen Mower also medaled with fifth- and sixth- place finishes in the 200-meter dash for the Red Eddies. The relay team of Russell Allen, Tyler Blanchard, Bouchard, and Mower placed second in the 4×200-meter race with a time of 1:35.38.

On the girls’ side, Scarborough won the team event using sheer numbers with girls placing in multiple events. The 4×800-meter relay team of Gaby Panagakos, Sarah Callahan, Madison Marinko, and Ellen Shaw finished first, while Bethany Sholl caputred the two-mile run for the Red Storm.

Jennifer Martin of Lewiston won the 55-meter hurdles finishing with a near-personal best at 8.73 seconds.

“Honestly, I was really nervous. This was the first time I had competition this season so I wasn’t really sure how it would go,” Martin said. “They pushed me really hard and I’m really excited I got to compete against them my senior year.”

“Jenny winning that title today in the hurdles was something special. She had one goal in mind and she set out to do it,” Soracco said. “She was focused, laser focused. Being her senior year this year, I was very happy for her.”

The 4×200-meter relay team also had success on the track. Chelsea Beaudry, Taylor Chamberlain, McKayla Ball, and Martin led the Blue Devils to a third-place finish with a team PR of 1:52.25.

“This feels amazing to be doing this as seniors,” Ball said.

Ball and Martin are seniors while senior Chamberlain and freshman Beaudry will be back next season.

“We haven’t been able to do our relay thing for about a month now so to come out here today and do this was amazing,” added Martin

“We set PR’s all over the place for both boys and girls and I was very pleased with our kids,” Soracco added.

Edward Little’s Lauren Berube finshed fifth in the long jump with a distance of 16 feet, 3 inches. All the while she was completing her runs in the long jump, she had to keep a close eye on the pole vault event that she was also competing in.

“It was crazy running back and forth, but I just took it as I would be constantly warmed up,” the junior said.

Berube placed fourth in the pole vault with a PR of 10 feet even.

Another state record fell as Juliana Selser of South Portland turned in her personal best with a time of 2:16.82 in the girls 800-meter dash, besting the previous state mark of 2:17.17. She beat out Kayla Raymond of Bonny Eagle who clocked a time of 2:20.10.

“I’ve been kind of frustrated with my times this season because I haven’t been hitting my potential. So today I was just like go for it,” Selser said. “The competition pushed me, it was great.”

Freshman Emma Gallant from Cheverus finished first in the 200-meter dash while placing second in the 55.