Crispin Kamundala does the triple jump at the River City Rivals track and field meet at Lewiston High School on Saturday. Kamundala won the triple jump as well as the long jump. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn
LEWISTON — When Crispin Kamundala saw Brewer’s Logan Hughes started celebrating his final long jump, he asked around to find out Hughes’ distance.
Hughes jumped 20 feet, 7.5 inches, which gave him the lead. It also gave Kamundala a target.
“When someone jumps farther than me, I get so mad,” Kamundala said.
Kamundala, the next and final jumper, then jumped a personal-best 21-0.5. He quickly ran over to the measuring tape and started celebrating before he even learned his exact distance. All he saw was that he reached 21 feet, and that was enough because it meant that he was the long jump winner at Saturday’s River City Rivals track and field meet at Lewiston High School.
“He is a true competitor. He’s focused, he just wants to win,” Lewiston coach Paul Soracco said. “If you dangle a carrot out in front of him, he wants it. I love that, I love that about him. I love kids that are hungry and that want to win, and he showed it today. It’s fun to watch.”
Lewiston (102 points) edged Bangor (98.5) for the boys title in the four school meet. Brewer (57) took third and Edward Little (34.5) was fourth.
The Edward Little girls (98) won by 24 points over Lewiston and Bangor, who tied for second place with 74 points each. The Brewer girls (46) came in fourth.
Soracco said he and assistant Carolyn Court estimated that Bangor had a few points on Lewiston entering Saturday’s meet, which Soracco called “Week 1 of the championship series” (with KVACs next week and the state championship meet June 1).
But, like Kamundala, the Blue Devils were motivated to compete and were able to pick up some extra points to win the meet.
“A lot of these kids dug down,” Soracco said. “Everybody stepped up. We’ve been telling them all week that they had to step up if they wanted to win this meet.
“They came, they competed well. There’s really nothing I look back and I say, ‘We should have done this or that.’ I’m real happy with how it ended up today.”
Kamundala also won the triple jump (44-06.5). Noor Shidad finished first in the boys 400-meter dash (51.87 seconds) for Lewiston, Jeremiah Williams won the high jump (6-0) and Jordan Carter won the javelin (145-09).
Carter is chasing a 160-foot throw he had earlier this season.
“It wasn’t really my best throw,” Carter said. “That 160 at the beginning of the year is hard to get to … the closest I’ve got is like 155. It’s hard.
“I feel like my form could have been better. I feel like I did OK.”
Jordan Carter of Lewiston throws the javelin at Saturday’s track meet in Lewiston. Carter won the event. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn
Carter also took third in the shot put with a personal best throw of 41-10.
The Blue Devils also dominated the boys 4×100-meter relay, as Abdirazak Abukar, Shidad, Wiliams and Enoch Citenga (45.16 seconds) finished more than two-and-a-half seconds ahead of second-place Bangor.
Freshman Nigel Katende gained a lot of points for Lewiston, placing second in the triple jump and 300 hurdles, fourth in the long jump and fifth in the high jump.
Edward Little’s Jillian Richardson runs ahead of Brewer’s Olivia Mosca in the 1,600-meter run during the River City Rivals meet at Lewiston High School on Saturday. Richardson won the 1,600, 800 and 3,200 races. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn
“It was just a good all-around team win,” Soracco said.
While Soracco was thrilled with how Lewiston competed, Edward Little was happy just to have a meet in which to compete. The weather has wreaked havoc on the track season, and with the Kennebec Valley Conference championships only a week away, coach Rebecca Hefty said the Red Eddies entered Saturday’s meet with only two-and-a-half meets worth of experience.
They were ready to break out.
“Everybody stepped up their game today to perform,” Hefty said. “It’s like holding a rubber band back and then releasing it, so I sort of released them into track and field.”
Jillian Richardson led the way for the Eddies by winning the 800 (2 minutes, 31.45 seconds), 1,600 (5:28.88) and 3,200 (11:48.45).
“Winning three is pretty impressive,” Hefty said.
Beyond Richardson, the Red Eddies racked up wins and a lot of points.
Sophomore Ella Boucher (51.04 seconds) beat out teammate Julia Berube (52.84) to give Edward Little a one-two showing in the 300-meter hurdles. Boucher also placed second in the long jump and in the 200 dash, third in the 100.
Along with placing second in the 300 hurdles, Berube won the 100 hurdles (17.07 seconds), and took third in the triple jump with a personal-best 33-03.75.
Edward Little’s Julia Berube, second from left, and teammate Brooklyn Alexander and Brewer’s Hannah Hopkins clear a hurdle during the 100-meter hurdles at the River City Rivals meet at Lewiston High School on Saturday. Berube took first in the race. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn
Freshman Brooklyn Alexander came in third in the 100 hurdles and in the high jump. She also ran the anchor for the Eddies’ second-place 4×100 relay, following Hanna Roy, Lindy Hyndman and Kiara Fournier.
“For a freshman, that’s pretty good,” Hefty said. “And she did personal best in the hurdles, personal best in the triple.”
Junior Olivia Jalbert was second in the girls high jump and javelin, and third in discus.
Hyndman edged Lewiston freshman Amelia Wedderburn for the 100-meter dash title. Another EL freshman, Giana Boulet, won the 1,600-meter race walk with a time of 10:04.61.
“There’s quite a few kids that really stood out and did great,” Hefty said.
Along with placing second in the 100, Wedderburn won the 200 and took third in the long jump.Laila Bunnitt took first in the discus (106-07), and Benedict Citenga threw an astounding 36-03.75 to win the girls shot put for Lewiston.
“That’s huge,” Soracco said. “That’s a big throw.”
Bangor’s Alyssa Eliott won three events: girls triple jump, long jump and 400.
Andrew Munroe of Bangor finished first in the boys 200 and 110 hurdles, and teammate Daniel McCarthy won the 800 and 1,600.
Matt Syphers earned the Edward Little boys’ lone win, finishing first in the 1,600 race walk by more than 30 seconds. Teammate Jon Knight took third in the high jump and the triple jump.
Hefty also was impressed with the showing of freshman John Shea, who placed sixth in the shot put.
“You make it to finals with those Brewer and Bangor boys, that’s a big deal,” Hefty said.
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