Lewiston’s Nigel Katende jumps during the triple jump. The sophomore won the event with a jump of 44 feet, 1 1/4 inches. Carl D. Walsh/Portland Press Herald Buy this Photo
GORHAM — The Bangor girls won their second Class A indoor track and field state championship, and Scarborough captured its ninth boys title in 10 years Monday at the University of Southern Maine in a meet that featured five state records.
Lewiston sophomore Nigel Katende shined in the boys triple jump, taking first place with a lunge of 44-01.25. He also made an impressive showing in the long jump, leaping to a third-place finish with a distance of 21-06.75.
Blue Devils indoor track coach Steve Virgilio wasn’t surprised by Katende’s impressive outing.
“No, we were waiting for this,” Virgilio said. “He has been working hard all season. He’s a great athlete and we knew he was going to show what he could do at one point.
“He had a great day. He had two PRs, two school records, finished third and then he got a state title in the triple jump.”
Edward Little junior Jacob Jackson was right on Katende’s heels in the triple jump with a third-place showing at 43-03. Jackson also grabbed fourth in the high jump (6-00) and finished just behind Katende in the long jump, coming in fourth with a jump of 20-10.50.
“He had an amazing day,” Red Eddies indoor track coach Angie Jalbert said of Jackson. “He had two fourths and a third-place finish. That’s all field events, and that’s amazing. For states and you’re a junior, that’s amazing.”
Lewiston raced into fifth place in the 3,200-meter relay. Mohamud Hassan, Mohamed Abidkadir, Abidrahmen Daud and Bryce DuFour finished the race in 8:43.40.
Edward Little’s Finn Thistle turned in fifth-place finish in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 11.06.
The Blue Devils finished 10th in the team competition with 21 points, and the Red Eddies were 12 with 16.50 points.
In the girls competition, there was little time to rest for Lewiston freshman Shukri Deqow. She finished second in the 55-meter hurdles at 8.43 seconds and fifth in the 55-meter dash (7.49 seconds). She was followed in the latter event by teammate Amelia Wedderburn, who took seventh (7.52).
Deqow also earned a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with lunge of 34-08.75
“She was awesome,” Virgilio said. “She had a great time today. Last week (at KVACs), when she went 8.65, that was a huge PR, a huge school record, and it was actually an all-time freshman record. Then today, she went 8.43 … She had a pretty good meet for her first indoor season.”
Other top-five finishes for Lewiston included Sydney Roy (fifth in the shot put, 34-04), Wedderburn (second in long jump, 17-04.50) and Katrina Bolduc (fifth in pole vault, 9.00).
Edward Little senior Olivia Jalbert placed third in the long jump with her leap of 16-10.25 and fourth in the high jump (5.00).
“High jump, she was ranked third,” Angie Jalbert, who is also Olivia’s mom, said. “When it comes to high jump, you just don’t know. The long was a complete surprise. I think she was ranked eighth coming into that.”
Earlier this season Olivia Jalbert broke the Edward Little record in the high jump school with a 5-3.25 jump.
Julie Berube finished third for the Red Eddies in the 55 hurdles (8.71 seconds) and fifth in the triple jump (34.08.00).
“We were definitely expecting her to pull off the hurdles,” Angie Jalbert said.
Emma McFarland finished seventh for Oxford Hills in the shot put with a lob of 32-09.50.
The Blue Devils scored 29.50 points to finish seventh and EL took 11th with 20 points.
A third-place finish in the final track event — the 800-meter relay — was just enough to give the Bangor girls a one-point victory over Gorham, 65-64.
The Scarborough boys won for the fifth consecutive year with 103 points, far ahead of Brunswick (56) and Mt. Ararat (33). The Red Storm were led by senior Jarett Flaker and his sophomore brother, Jayden, who combined for three victories.
Bangor was powered by junior Alyssa Elliott, who swept the long jump (17-9.5) and triple jump (37-6). But the team title wasn’t decided until the 800 relay, which Gorham won with a time of 1:48.39. Bangor needed to finish third, and the Rams did exactly that, just 0.16 ahead of fourth-place Marshwood.
It was Bangor’s first championship since 2013.
“It means so much to win and be compared to that 2013 team,” Elliott said. “I was 10 when they first won it, and didn’t know about it then, but I’ve heard about that team since. They were impressive.”
Gorham’s Kate Tugman swept the mile (5:11.20) and 2 mile (11:03.24).
Cheverus junior sprinter Victoria Bossong erased of her own state records and matched another, even though she has started to ease up on her training because the New Balance Nationals are a month away.
Bossong won the 55 in 7.20 seconds, tying her 2018 record, and broke her record in the 400 at 56.95 (the old mark was 57.13). She also won the 200 (25.50).
“I really want to get All-American in the 400 at nationals; that’s what I’m focused on,” Bossong said. “And I’m really psyched for New Englands in two weeks. I’m looking forward to the competition at both meets.”
South Portland’s Anna Folley improved her indoor best in the 800 by three seconds, finishing in 2:16.06 to break the Class A record of 2:16.82 set by Juliana Selser of South Portland set in 2017. Folley didn’t have a record in mind; she just wanted to notch her first state title after finishing as the runner-up three times in previous indoor and outdoor seasons.
“I was devastated when I got runner-up in the 800 for a third time last outdoor season,” Folley said. “Today was one of the earliest (times) I started to kick – before the bell lap. When I heard I got the state record, I almost started crying.”
In the boys meet, Jarett Flaker won the 200 (23.11) and 400 (51.34), and his brother placed first in the 55 hurdles (7.65) and second in the 200 (23.21). Jayden anchored Scarborough’s 800-meter relay victory (1:33.77).
Mahamed Sharif of Westbrook broke his own state record in the 800, running all alone to a 7-second victory in 1:54.60. The previous record was 1:55.45.
Sharif said it was the first meet in four years where he did not throw up because of nerves before he raced.
“That’s a lot of throw up (over four years),” Sharif said with a laugh. “I was just listening to music, I wanted to make it fun. And I went for a little run this morning, that was new. I want to win at nationals. That’s the business. That’s my goal. It’s possible.”
Mt. Ararat senior Lisandro Berry-Gaviria won the mile in 4:22.2, then returned to the track two hours later and broke an 8-year-old record in the 2-mile. His time of 9:20.99 eclipsed the mark of 9:21.87 by Harlow Ladd of Messalonskee in 2012. It was an indoor personal best by 11 seconds, but Berry-Gaviria thinks he can run even faster.
“With five laps to go, I felt I had to go. The record was my goal,” Berry-Gaviria said.
Sun Journal sports reporter Tony Blasi contributed to this report.
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