Expectations have never been higher for both the Lewiston boys’ and girls’ track and field teams.
Since the beginning of the outdoor season in early April, the goal has been a state title under first-year head coach Paul Soracco. The Blue Devils head to Topsham on Saturday for the Class A state meet hoping to join the girls’ hockey team and cheerleading squad as state champions.
“A state title, who doesn’t want to win a state title?” Soracco said. “That’s our goal at the beginning of the year. Whether you reach it or not, you never know. It would be nice. It’s been a fun year. We’ve learned a lot and done a lot of good things.”
The program’s lone state title came in 2006 when the boys edged Edward Little by 2.5 points. Since then it’s been an uphill climb to get back to its winning ways. Two years removed from a state title, the Blue Devils finished 12th overall. Two years later it was an 18th-place finish followed the next season with a 22nd-place result.
The current batch of seniors have helped turn around Lewiston’s misfortunes and the Blue Devils have gone from an afterthought to a contender over the last four years. Last season, Lewiston finished runners-up to Cheverus by 29 points.
“Last year we came close, but we didn’t get it and we were depressed about it,” Lewiston senior Sheon James said. “This year we lived up to the expectations and we want to get it this year. It would mean a lot to us to get it this year so let’s hope we can pull it out.”
Seniors Hassan “Speedy” Mohamed and Isaiah Harris look to defend their state titles. Mohamed claimed the 100-meter dash title and Harris won both the 200 and 800 a year ago.
Yet, the boys’ recent run may not even be the most impressive such accomplishment on this side of the Androscoggin River. That belongs to the Lewiston girls’ team, who made a name for itself at this year’s indoor state meet when it finished as Class A runners-up, the best finish in program history.
That momentum carried over to the outdoor season as the girls hoisted their first KVAC title last weekend at the conference championship meet in Bath. Now they set their sights on their first state title, a goal that has felt like wishful thinking for so many years.
“We don’t want to lose,” Lewiston junior Adela Kalilwa said. “This is one of our best seasons ever. We’ve been having pretty awful years in the past, but these new coaches have brought a lot to our school.”
Kalilwa won the KVAC title in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 4.5 inches. She said her goal this weekend is to hit 17 feet and, of course, win a state title.
The Blue Devils are two years removed from not placing at the state meet. They finished 22nd in 2012 and 2010, and 24th in 2011. Prior to last year’s sixth-place finish, Lewiston hadn’t placed in the top 10 at state dating back to 2003.
Kayla Allen is Lewiston’s lone defending individual state champion on the girls’ side. She won the race walk title in 7:41.83. The Blue Devils’ 4×100 relay team has a title to its name as well. Jenny Martin is the state runner-up in the 300 hurdles.
While expectations are high, Soracco believes his team is the underdog. Cheverus on the boys’ side and Thornton Academy on the girls’ side are the defending state champions.
“If anything we’re chasing them,” Soracco said. “They’re the team that has won it in the past and has earned it. Until you dethrone them we’re the underdog and I like being the underdog.”
Lisbon in title-defense mode
The Lisbon boys’ track and field team knows a thing or two about defending a title.
On Tuesday, the Greyhounds successfully defended their Mountain Valley Conference title for the ninth consecutive time, crushing the 13-team field. Lisbon accumulated 216 points, 138.5 clear of second-place Madison, and won 12 events.
The focus now shifts to a title defense Lisbon has no prior experience with. Come Saturday at Yarmouth, the Greyhounds will look to defend its first state title.
Lisbon knows it won’t come as easy as it has during its run through the MVC this season. In five conference meets — including the MVC Championships — the Greyhounds won by an average margin of 171 points. Their closest contest came on May 5 when they won by a meager 102 points. Lisbon’s biggest margin of victory came the following week when it scored a season-high 365 points and won by 299.
It’ll take a complete team effort for the Greyhounds to repeat, coach Dean Hall said.
“Go absolutely crazy and exceed some of the things we can do,” Hall said of repeating. “We have to consolidate. You can’t think you’re automatically going to (score) four kids in every single event.”
Lisbon scored in 11 events at last year’s state meet, but only had multiple scorers in the race walk and pole vault. The race walk produced Lisbon’s lone state champ in Tyler Bard, who has since graduated. Senior Jeff Willey, who finished runner-up, is a favorite to win the event.
The Greyhounds won’t have the services of Bard, Cam Ramich and Jordan Glover, who all scored points last year. Bard and Glover scored in multiple events.
But Lisbon still has plenty of experience returning. Charles Adams scored in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, as did Nicholas Harriman in the 3,200 and Andrew Golino in the triple jump.
“We knew coming into the season that (the boys) were going to be trying to go for that second straight in states … ” Hall said.
Lisbon’s biggest competitor appears to be Orono in the eyes of Hall. The Red Riots swept the PVC Small School Championships last weekend in Dover-Foxcroft.
Orono placed second at state last year, six points behind the Greyhounds. North Yarmouth Academy and Maranacook were also within 10 points of Lisbon.
Kalle Oakes contributed to this story.
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