Class B Boys State Meet Preview

Team Outlook

The Waterville Purple Panthers who won the KVAC Championship on Monday are primed to return the Class B title back to Waterville. The Pantehrs who won the team last in 2011 have been one of the premier teams for many years under the leadership of coach Ian Wilson. Waterville will need to ride the arm of senior Nick Danner who is the top seed in all three throwing events, plus get a big day of senior Devin Burgess who is the top seed in the pole vault, and an accomplish jumper & hurdler. Last year Falmouth & York tied for the state titles, the two teams are once again in the mix for a state title. Falmouth has a little bit of everything, but will need a big day out senior sprinter Jacob Buhelt to retain the title. To keep the theme consistent York will rely on two seniors to bring them another title. Tom Reid & Joe Vogel will carry the heavy load for the Wildcats.

Hurdles:

York's Tom Reid is the top seed in the event with a personal best 15.30 this season, he placed 3rd last year. Erskine's Zac Lee has been improving as of late after dealing with an achillies issue throughout the season, he has a best of 15.46. Waterville counters will Troy Gurski & Jordhan Levine the #3 & #4 seeds. This could be an event that gets the Panthers off on the right foot.

In the 300m hurdles it will be the same athletes from the shorter race but add in Devin Burgess instead of Troy Gurski for Waterville. Reid is the defending champion, and enters the meet with the only time under 41 seconds with his 40.40. Levine has run a best of 41.63 good for the #2 seed. Burgess who placed 6th a year ago enters as the 3rd seed, while Lee who placed 4th last year, has the same seed this year. Reid is the class of the field, but it's the hurdles, anything can happen.

Sprints:

All eyes will be on Wells senior Denzel Tomaszewski as he runs his last state meet. Tomaszeswki has established himself as one of the greatest sprinters of all-time in Maine. On Monday he shattered the state all-time in the 100m with a blazing 10.76 clocking. Denzel, the defending champion, has his eyes set on former Wells star sprinter Justin Vigeant's 11.0 state meet record, as he looks to add to his already impressive resume. It would be a huge upset if anyone other than Tomaszewski stood atop the podium on Saturday.  Falmouth's Jacob Buhelt, 11.22 has the second fastest seed time.

Tomaszewski will again be the favorite in the 200m, he is coming off a lifetime best of 22.56 on Monday at the WMC Championship. He finished 3rd in this event a year ago, and has stated he wants to take a run at the state meet record of 22.22 held by Vigeant. Defending state champion Jacob Buhelt will be looking to win his second half-lap title in a row, his fastest time of the season is a 23.0. Brandon Murphy of MDI enters with a best of 23.24 that will place him in lane 3, he'll get to chase Tomaszeswki & Buhelt.

The last time Joe Vogel & Jacob Buhelt races the 400m against eachother they produced two of the top times in Class B. Vogel got the better of Buhelt in that race, and enters with the fastest time of the field, 51.24, Buhelt is the only other runner in the fiels under 52 seconds, via is 51.74 time.

Jumps

Ryan Werner's state meet pole record of 14-6 3/4 could go down the way Waterville senior Devin Burgess has been jumping this spring. Burgess enters will a personal best mark of 14-8 from the spring, he has consistently been jumping 14-0 or higher in each meet this season. Devin is the defending champion in the event. The field is strong this year with 7 vaulters with seeds above 12-6, including freshman Drew Nealey of Belfast who has jumped 13-0.

Greely's Nick Maynard is the top seed in the triple jump with a 43-0 mark, he was 4th in the event a year ago. He will face a strong field that includes Jonathan Hendrickson-Belloguet of Medomak who was the state runner-up last year, he has a best mark of 42-10. It wouldn't be right to talk about the triple jump and not mention a jumper from Watervillle, who has produced numerous state champions in the event. Jordhan Levine the #3 seed will try to uphold the tradition of Purple standing on top of the podium.

Defending state champion Marcus Riley of Belfast is back to defend his long jump title, Riley enters will the top jump of the spring 21-0 1/2. He'll be challenged by Devin Burgess of Waterville, who was 7th a year ago, plus the York duo of Joe Vogel & Tom Reid, while Wells Kyler Parker is close behind with a best fo 20-4 on the year.

Could a freshman steal the high jump, the way Tony St. Angelo of Falmouth has been jumping it would be no surprise. St. Angelo won the WMC title on Monday with a personal best 6-2 clearance. Only Gray New Gloucester's Elijiah Locke has jumped that high this spring. Locke does have the experience factor, he was 3rd in the event last year. There are 4 other jumpers who have cleared 6-0 in the field as well.

Distance

Sam Benner of Spruce Mountain is the favorite to win the 1600m racewalk. Benner has the only seed time below 8 minutes with his 7:56.31

The 1600m could turn into one of the best races of the day with defending champion & the top 1600m in the state this year Will Shafer squaring off against Ellsworth star Dan Curts. Shafer has had a strong spring running a best of 4:22.44, while Curts has run 4:23.29. The intriguing thing is Curts has races sparingly this spring, he didn't compete in the PVC Championship on Monday, and could be dealing with an injury, or just sacing himself for a huge effort at the state meet. Shafer has shown he has the speed this spring as well with his state leading 1:56 in the 800m.

Last year Shafer fell just short of winning the 800m as he finished second. He has 6 seconds on the field with his 1:56.24 personal best. Ben Trapini of Camden Hills & Wes Crawford of Yarmouth come in with seed times of 2:02.24 & 2:20.84 respectively.

The 3200m should be another strong race. Dan Curts of Ellsworth is lurking in the fiels, he enters with only the 6th best seed time, but his personal best is far superior to anyone else in the field. Besides Curts, Yarmouth's Ben Decker & Cape's Liam Simpson will be running the race fresh, and with the temps expected in the high 80's this could benefit them. Decker is the top seed with his 9:41.12 while Simpson has a best fo 9:49.45. Simpson just beat Decker for the first time ever on Monday in the 1600m at the WMC Championship, he'll look to do it again at the longer distance.

Throws:

It could be the Nick Danner show in the 3 throwing events. Danner, a senior from Waterville is the top seed in the shot put (47-10 1/2), discus (144-11) & Javelin (183-6).

Danner is the defending state champion in the javelin, he be looking to add title #2, and take a shot at the state meet record of 179-1, which he has thrown further than this spring. Ethan Harris of Old Town is the closest thrower to Danner with his 160-10 toss.

In the discus, Danner will be pushed by Ellsworth's Dan Cox who has had a strong spring, throwing a best of 144-8, just 3 inches behind Nick's best throw. Cox has been the most consistent thrower this season, and placed 5th last year as a sophomore.

In the shot put Danner has a little over 2ft over Greely's James Ferrar. Ferrar placed 4th as a sophomore last spring, he won the indoor shot title this winter with a best of 47-3.

Relays

The 4x800 should be a very competitive relay, Ellsworth has the top seed time of 8:30.70, while Greely counters with a best of 8:32.41. This could come down to an anchor of Dan Curts of Ellsworth versus Liam Campbell of Greely. York has the talent to be in the mix, they've run 8:38.87.

The 4x100m relay looks to be between Falmouth & Wells. Falmouth has the top seed time of 44.71, with Wells also under 45, at 44.93. Wells got the better of Falmouth on Monday at the WMC meet, so the Yacthsmen will be looking for a little revenge. Falmouth who won this event a year ago in a state meet record, will look to keep the title. Tomaszwseki and Buhelt lead their respective teams. Belfast is the only other team below 46 seconds with a 45.59 best.

The 4x400 has defending champion York as the top seed, the Wildcats have a best of 3:35.48 on the year. Other teams that will be in the mix are Waterville, & Belfast who have run under 3:40 this season.

What else do you need to know?

Class B Final Seeds

Time Schedule