Scarborough Girls/Brunswick boys triumph at Class A state meet

 

The Scarborough Red Storm girls returned to the top of the podium after finishing 2nd last year, while the Brunswick boys won their first outdoor title since 1996. Edward Little girls finished 2nd while the Cheverus boys took runner-up honors. There were 3 state record set on the day, the Cheverus boys 4x800, & Abbey Leonardi broke both the 1600m & 3200m records, settting an all-time state best in the 1600m 4:51.76. Stay tuned for VIDEOS | PHOTOS| RESULTS | MORE PHOTOS

 

 

The Red Storm return to glory while the Dragons win their first title since 1996.

 

The forecast looked gloomy but the rain stayed away in what turn out to great day for Maine track and field.  There were three state meet records set  headlined by the Kennebunk sophomore Abbey Leonardi taking down here own 1600m record, clocking 4:51.76, not only a state meet record but an all-time set best. Leonardi claimed her 2nd record in the 3200m, smashing the existing state meet record by an amazing 24 seconds, running 10:42.32.  On the boy’s side, the Cheverus 4x800 relay (Taylor Dundas, Jack Terwilliger, Tim Woods, & Andrew Snyder) set the new standard running 7:54.32, becoming the first Maine High school team under the 8 minute barrier at a state meet.

     Individually Will Geoghegan (Brunswick) repeated his individual triple from the indoor season, winning all three distance events, and running a key leg on the 2nd place 4x800 team. Geoghegan took the 1600m in 4:12.57, zooming away from the field in the last 400m, to win over a fine performance from junior Jack Terwilliger (Cheverus), who took close to 10 seconds off of his personal best, 4:15.60 Geoghegan faced a stiff challenge in the 800m, with defending champion  Jeremy Theriault (EL) & Faisal Abdillahi(Lewiston). Geoghegan didn’t panic as he had just enough to squeeze by Abdillahi in the final meters to win 1:56.11 to 1:56.57, Theriault was right there finishing 3rd in 1:56.88.  Will finished off his big day with the 3200m, running near the front or in the lead the whole time, after an opening 4:45, the pace continued to drop, and with 400m to go Geoghegan started his now famous last lap drive. No one  could match the pace, and the legend of Will Geoghegan was cemented in stone as he stopped the clock at 9:26.26, holding off a strong challenge from 2nd place finisher Jack Terwilliger (9:27.75), and Kelton Cullenberg (Mt. Blue) 9:30.58 finishing 3rd.

     In the boy’s sprints, the Cony Rams dominated the field, with senior Corey Clarke (pictured right) winning the 100m in 11.31, in a photo finish over senior Jake Willis (Gorham). In the 4x100m the #1 seeded Rams showed their dominance as they passed the stick better than anyone else, and anchor leg Corey Clarke brought home the title in front of the home crown, the Rams clocked 44.06, a seasonal best and .6 better than runner South Portland. Clarke wasn’t done; he lived to his #1 seed running 22.76 to once again hold off Jake Willis 22.80.

 

   On the girl’s side, Biddeford has a pair of double winners. Maria Curit (Biddeford) was a souble winner, claiming the long jump with a leap of 17-3, winning the event by 10.5 inches over Scarborough’s Emilia Scheemaker (16-4.5). Curit the #1 seed in the 400m added her first state title at 400m, taking the race out hard, running 58.25 to win over Emily Tolman (Scarborough) 58.97.  In the throws defending javelin champion Keila Grigware (pictured left photo by Pam Swan) threw 126-0 for the title, close to 4ft further than last year. Grigware added the shot put title throwing 38-9 to hold off a strong challenge from Randi London (Mt. Ararat) 38-6

 

 

 

     Other winners were the Mt. Ararat girls 4x800m 9:41.43 winning by close to 20 seconds, The Eagles added another relay win in the 4x100 50.99 with a big anchor leg from freshman Maddison Prescott. Freshman Denae Johnson (Bangor) was the fastest over the hurdles 15.29. Bonny Eagle senior Melissa Carrier was the fastest girl in the 100m 12.73. Abby Dunn (EL) won her 2nd straight 1600m racewalk title with a new state leader 7:29.37. Hannah Wiley cruised to the hurdle win in the 300’s, running 45.29, if not for a little stumble over the 2nd to last hurdle the state record might have fallen. In the 800m sophomore Ella Ramonas used a great last 300m to pull away to win 2:19.14 over Gorham sophomore Audrey Adkison 2:21.17.  The fastest half lapper was Nicole Kirk (Scarborough) 26.25 winning her first individual state title. Caroline Summa (Cheverus) won the HJ title over indoor champion Grace Maclean both clearing 5-0. In the triple Ashten Hackett (EL) lead the Red Eddies to 26 points in the event, with a huge 36-3 leap.  Mt. Ararat’s Randi London won the discus title 121-0 over pre-meet favorite Christy Manning. Freshman Lindsey Folsom had a great day winning the pole vault with a state best 10-3 clearance, as three girls jump over  9-3.

 

 

     In girls title race it was a close battle between defending champion Edward Little and 2009 runner-up Scarborough. After the 300m hurdles, the Trojans of Thornton took the lead briefly 48.5-48 over Scarborough, with EL seemingly out of the meet.  Edward Little didn’t fold though, they responded. In the triple jump, an event they dominated at the KVAC meet claiming the top 7 spots, they did their best to repeat that at the state meet.  EL placed 5 girls, garnering a 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th for an unbelievable 26 points that vaulted them back into the team contention. The key move may have happened before on Monday before the seeds were due when Scarborough Coach Ron Kelly decided to pull one of his top legs in the 4x800, Emily Tolman in favor of running fresh in the 400m where she was the 5th seed, and also in the 200m race where she was the 8th seed. The move looked to backfire early on as the 4x800m team seeded #3 failed to score, while Edward Little running out of the slower section scored 5th place, for some important points. The gamble would pay dividends, as Tolman moved up to 2nd in the 400m, and then scored 5th in the 200m.   With two events to go Scarborough held a slim 73-71 lead with only the discus and 4x400 remaining. While the discus was going on outside of the track, the 4x400 got going on the track. The Red Storm passed the baton first behind a 61.6 leg from Abby Chick, EL was 2nd. The order remained the same on the 2nd leg, with EL gaining some ground. With sophomore Andrea Tolman on the 3rd leg the leg opened for the Red Storm. Tolman passed the stick first to her sister Emily Tolman, and the rest was academic, as Tolman raced smoothly around the track, clocking a 58.6 before collapsing into the arms of her teammates at the finish line. The winning time was 4:03.6, Edward Little put up a valiant fight running a huge seasonal best 4:06.x for 2nd. Outside in the discus, the Storm sealed their 3rd outdoor championship in the last 4 years with senior Christy Manning finishing 2nd.  With all the results in Scarborough was 8 points better than the Red Eddies, but one thing was clear these two programs are two of the best in the state every year.

 

 

In the boys meet, Cheverus was the pre-meet favorite but the Dragons of Brunswick were hungry to add to their indoor title. Cheverus came into the meet seeded for 49 points in the throwing events, they ended up scoring 30. The back injury to Beau Michaud certainly didn’t help things out, and neither did ankle tendonitis for 800m runner and 4x400m anchor leg Andrew Snyder. Cheverus got a win from John White (pictured left-photo by Pam Swan) in the shot put 52-7, and 2nd in the discus, good for 18 points. Distance runner Jack Terwilliger had a huge day smashing pr’s in earning a 2nd in the 1600m & 3200m for 16 individual points. Brunswick racked up the points in the distance races, with Geoghegan earning 30 and fellow senior, and Tufts bound Liam Cassidy was good for another 8 individual points. Hurdler Kenzell Crawford added 11 points with a 2nd in the 110’s and a 5th in the 300’s. In the end, Brunswick had pulled off the slight upset, winning their first title since 1996, for Cheverus despite some injury issue they showed resolve to earn the runner-up trophy.

Individually, Brewer’s Steven Rice was the top 110 hurdler, clocking 15.06. In the 400m, UMO bound Cam Stevens, defended his state title, getting out hard and holding on 50.34 for the win over Westbrook’s Emmanuel Vincent 50.61. Cony senior Richard Orio was the best 300m hurdler, holding off a late charge from Rice 40.56 to 40.62. Scarborough closed the meet out with a new state leader in the 4x400, clocking a fine 3:28.97. Patrick Ciez (Windham) took the high jump with a 6-4 clearance. Mt. Ararat’s McKenzie Gary (pictured right-photo by Pam Swan) leaped out to 20-10 to win the long jump. While EL’s Ricardo Hairston popped a huge one in the triple, getting out to a new state leader 44-3 ½. Gorham’s Eric Sawyer also set a new state leader in the javelin, winning with a huge 178-5, Sawyer won the event by 16ft. Bangor senior Joey Quinn broke through in the discus, winning with a throw of 151-8. Brunswick’s Mike Slovenski captured the pole vault with a 13-0 clearance.