Only ten days had passed since Mt. Ararat last hosted a track and field meet but as far as the weather was concerned it might as well have been two months. The raw, cold, rain, and hail of May 8th gave way to temperatures typical of August as the Eagles hosted Brunswick, Morse and Medomak Valley in the Coastal Route 1 Invitational just ten days later. Mt. Ararat won both the men's and women's meet in the regular season finale for these teams.
The heat, reaching the mid 90s, was most noticeable at distances of 400M or greater. Times were noticeably off and runners focused on placing rather than getting great times. But the sprints and jumps saw athletes put up some top marks with several new qualifiers for the KVAC meet next Saturday the 27th at Morse and the State Championship June 3rd at Massabesic in Waterboro.
For the women, first year Wyley Fitzpatrick led the Eagles to a 158.5 point finish, followed by Brunswick 's 124.5, Morse with 67, Medomak Valley at 22.
The Mt. Ararat men notched 134.5, with Medomak Valley second at 106, followed by Brunswick (92.5) and Morse (41).
Cameron Meier, the men's winner in 800 1600, 3200 led the Eagles' effort but with heat suppressed times substantially off his season's best. Teammate Eagan Eldridge was just on Meier's heals in both the 1600 and 3200. It was Elridge's first 3200 of the season; neither of Eldridge's times made the State AQ but both were likely good enough to get him into the KVAC meet Saturday at Morse where he has a strong chance to qualify for states.
Running in his first 400 of the season, Tyler Bernier was the Eagles' other individual winner. His time of 53.33 quailifies Bernier for states (AQ 54.20)
In addition the Eagles raked in the points in the men's 200 taking the second through fifth spots. Mt. Ararat's Jordan Jawdat, with a PR of 24.28, was second to Brunswick's Jack Harvey by just 0.03.
Dalton Streeter, already qualified for the state meet solidified his credentials with a new PR of 41'4" while taking second place in the men's triple jump.
The triple was won by Medomak's Zidane Mcmurrin with a jump of 42'3.75", a new personal best. Mcmurrin also nabbed new bests in the high jump, placing second, and the long jump where he took fourth to help the Panthers to a second place team finish.
Other strong individual performances for the Panthers
included Richie Sproul with wins in the shot put and discus (new PR 111'8") and
hurdler Kenneth Pruyne who took both the 110M and 300MH with new personal bests
in each. His mark of 16.81 in the 110MH secures a spot in the state meet.
With firsts in the 4x100, 4x400, and a second in the 4x800 Medomak was able to put some daylight between themselves and third place Brunswick. In addition to Jack Harvey's first in the 200, the Dragons top individual performers were Seth White with wins in the 100 and Long Jump, Sam Cenescar who again won the high jump, and Caleb Rand who took the pole vault.
Rand's vault of 11' was a new personal best and gets him into states. Brunswick's
Michael McCrum and Ryan Olson both cleared 10' for 3rd and 4th
place. McCrum's ten foot vault was
a new PR, as was Mt. Ararat's Dalton Streeter's clearance of 10'6"
Brunswick's Seth White and Jack Harvey, regular top finishers in the men's 100, were joined at this meet by Hunter Parker, running his first 100 of the season.
Parker's second place finish at 11.54 was a new personal best and represents a
state AQ.
Morse's Evan Parsons' javelin throw of 143'10" was the Shipbuilder's only win
of the day. It's Parson's season long and gets him a ticket to Massabesic on
June 3rd.
For the women, Mt. Ararat's Wyley Fitzpatrick took first in the 200 and, in the shade of the jumping areas, the long jump
and triple jumps. On the track Fitzpatrick's first in the 200 established a new personal best at 27.38; teammate Katie Lynch with a new PR of 28.22 took the second spot.
As is her habit, Katherine Leckbee took first in the 1600 & 3200 even though her times were hampered by the extreme heat. Other individual winners for Mt. Ararat were Josie Miller in the 800, Sara York at 400, Brea Holtet in the 100. The Eagles also claimed the 4x100 win.
For Brunswick Rosalie White won the shot put, Tea Kepler took the pole vault matching a personal best of 9'0", and Delaina Hildreth owned the top throw in the discus. The Brunswick women also led the 4x400 from tape to tape to nail down the second place team finish.
Haley Kinghorn took the high jump for Morse with a state AQ of 5'0" while Aubrey Martin won the javelin throw. The Shipbuilders also gritted out a win in the 4 x 800 when the heat was at its peak.
Medomak's Jane Vannoy took both 300M and 100M hurdles setting new PRs in both, her 50.99 in the 300MH represents a state AQ.
In addition to the new state qualifying marks many other top finishers qualified for the KVAC Championships this Saturday May 27th at Morse when, with temperatures are expected to reach a high of 70 on a partly sunny day, the athletes will have one more chance to earn a spot at states.