BANGOR — Delaney Hesler of Bonny Eagle crossed the finish line Saturday in the 1,600 meters at the Class A track and field championships and glanced at the track-side clock at Cameron Stadium. Her expression shifted from intense effort to pure exultation.
The senior won her favorite event, battling past respected foes Mia-Claire Kezal of Thornton Academy and Megan Randall of Bangor with a personal best time of 4 minutes, 56.26 seconds. The victory came just a few months after her indoor season was derailed by a stress fracture in her shin that kept her sidelined for two months.
“I honestly never thought I’d be back in PR shape after that injury,” Hesler said. “(The injury) was pretty mentally challenging, too, and just to come out here and win my senior year, and I just graduated last night, I’m just so grateful for everything.”
A few hours later, Hesler again powered past Kezal on the final lap to win the 800 by over two seconds in 2:18.93, making her one of several athletes to win multiple events on a warm, partly cloudy day with a slight breeze into the sprinters’ faces.
Among the dual winners was Edward Little sophomore Makenna Drouin, who dominated the girls hurdle races. She won the 100 in a personal-best 15.56, beating Gorham’s Alyvia Caruso by more than a half second, and defended her title in the 300 in 44.95, well ahead of Mikaela Langston of Mt. Ararat (48.36).
“I think getting a PR is way better. It proves what you can do,” Drouin said.
Drouin also was third in the 200- and 100-meter dashes, with her time of 12.31 in the 100 setting a new school record that had stood for 26 years.
Teigan Pelletier of Oxford Hills also won a state championship, taking first in the boys high jump with a height of 6 feet, 2 inches.
Scarborough won its third straight boys team title, and fifth in the last six competitive seasons, with 89 points. The Red Storm were paced by double winners Nick Connolly (shot put and discus) and Jayden Flaker (110 hurdles and 300 hurdles). Cheverus, led by long jump and triple jump champion Frank Morang, was second with 63 points.
Junior Anna Connors swept the 100, 200 and 400 while leading Bangor to its second straight girls championship with 97 points. Gorham (69) placed second and Bonny Eagle (65) was third. Edward Little was fourth, with 56 points.
Gorham’s Andrew Farr matched Connors’ feat by winning all three boys sprints. In the 100, he got off to a blistering start and, unlike in last year’s race, he never wavered, holding off Morang (11.16) and defending champion Aidan Walcott (11.17) of Bonny Eagle. At last week’s SMAA championships, Walcott, Farr and Morang ran 10.73, 10.74 and 10.83, respectively. Farr’s winning time Saturday wasn’t as fast, but that hardly mattered to him.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever beaten Aidan in high school,” Farr said. “There was a lot of hype to this race, both from us and from others. While I really wanted to win this race, I honestly wasn’t sure I could. That’s why this win means more than anything else I’ve won.”
Farr came back to win the 400 in 49.06 seconds, running essentially unchallenged, then held off Walcott one more time in the 200, finishing in 22.41 to Walcott’s 22.62.
Connors had to come from behind to win the girls’ 100 in 12.21 seconds, chasing down Drouin and then holding off Gorham’s Emma Green, who finished second in 12.24. Connors also successfully defended her title in the 200 (25.10), with Green again second, after winning the 400 in 56.01.
“Hey, we’re hosting this meet, so we knew we had to show up,” Connors said.
Three Class A meet records were broken. Gorham’s girls’ 400 relay team of Maddie Michaud, Green, Ashley Connolly and Sydney Connolly won easily in 49.15, lowering the mark of 49.56 set in 2011 by Scarborough. In the boys’ 400 relay, the Falmouth team of Charlie Adams, Will Addison, Andrew Christie and Finn Caxton-Smith took advantage of a slow final handoff by Scarborough to claim the title in 42.96, breaking the 2017 Scarborough record of 42.99.
Caruso set a new long jump record at 18 feet, 5 1/2 inches, eclipsing the mark of 18-3 3/4 set in 2017 by Adela Kalilwa of Lewiston.
The Scarborough boys were impressive across multiple events. Toby Martin won the pole vault (13-0) and Zach Barry prevailed in a thrilling 1,600, using a final 80-meter sprint to track down Abbott Valentine of Hampden Academy in 4:20.21.
In the shot put, Connolly was trailing friendly rival Amir Broadus of South Portland by 2 feet before uncorking his outdoor personal best of 57-0 on his fifth throw, after Broadus, who won the SMAA meet, had thrown his own personal best of 56-7.
“Everything clicked on that fifth throw, which is what you want at a big meet,” Connolly said. “The last two meets, Amir has thrown PRs against me, and that’s pushed me to do my best.”
Flaker powered his way to the 110 hurdles title, beating Tudum Monday of Edward Little. The two dueled again in the 300 hurdles, with Flaker catching Monday on the penultimate hurdle and surging ahead after the last hurdle to win in 39.25, with Monday clocking 39.49.
“I love competing against him. He always gives his best,” Flaker said of Monday.
The Edward Little boys finished sixth with 38.5 points — one point behind Oxford Hills in fifth. The Vikings were paced by Teigan Pelletier’s win in the high jump and third-place finish in javelin. Teammate Nick Plamondon was second in javelin and third in the 200.
Lewiston placed 17th, with Jabreel Muhammed-Aceto finishing third in the triple jump and Raimundo Lubota placing fourth in the 100 and sixth in the 200.
On the girls side, Lewiston and Oxford Hills finished ninth and 13th, respectively. The Blue Devils got a runner-up finish by Amelia Wedderburn in the long jump and third-place showings by the 4×100 relay team and Zawadi Debola in the 1,600 race walk. For the Vikings, Brooklyn Alexander was second in the high jump.
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