While some of the top athletes from Maine won't be competing in the New England High School Championship due to High school graduations or New Balance Outdoor Nationals, their is plenty of talent remaining looking to make their mark against the best in New England. For the first time the New England HS Championship is being held at the same time as the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, this means defending 100m champion Kate Hall will be missing, as will Class B 800m champion Aleta Looker. Entering the meet Class A 400m champion Jake Dixon, York's Jacob Bouchard the Class B javelin champ, Kennebunk's Shelby Strickland the Class A high jump champ, & Class A 800m champion Isaiah Harris are the top seeds in their events.
All eyes will be of Lewiston's Isaiah Harris who will run a leg on the 4x800 before competing in the 800m, and closing it out in the 4x400m. Harris who was the NE runner-up a year ago will be looking to better his time of 1:52.96 from the Class A state meet a week ago, the mark he is chasing is Mark McCauley's 1:52.80, the all-time Maine best at the distance. If his state meet quad from last week is any indication, Isaiah is ready for even bigger things this weekend.
Strickland who was on the podium last spring with a 5-3 clearance for 4th, she had a personal best 5-6 clearance to win the Class A championship last week. She will face shift competition from Ellen DiPietro (Marshfield, MA), DiPietro was the New Balance indoor national champion jumping a best of 5-10 1/2. Strickland will be joined by several Maine athletes who have a shot to end up on the podium, including Rashad Zagon (Deering), Haley Bantz (Massabesic), Erin Esty (Gorham), & Emma Egan (Yarmouth) all cleared 5-4 at their state meets.
Class A 400m champion Jake Dixon become one of the few Maine HS runner to break 49 seconds in the 400m in his winning effort of 48.93. The time ranks him #1 enetering the meet, the all-time state best of 48.58 is within reach for the junior. He will combine with his teammates Elijah & Isaac Yeboah plus Luke Trickey in the 4x100m relay, the team ran the fastest ever time 43.32 in Maine history in winning the Class A state meet last week, they enter with the 8th fastest seed time. In the 4x400, Cheverus will be seeking to break the Maine all-time best of 3:25.4(HT).
York's Jack Bouchard had a massive throw of 186-08 to win the Class B title, he enters the meet as the top seed.
Synclaire Tasker one of the top athletes in Maine is ranked in the top 10 in 3 individual events. Tasker best shot at a podium looks to be the triple jump where Umaine bound senior is seeded third after winning the Class A state meet with a personal best 37-3 1/4, she also is the 9th best 300m hurdler (45.37),&10th fastest in the 100m hurdles (15.35). A year ago Synclaire finished 9th in the triple jump.
Waterville's Rachel Bergeron had her best throw of the season 39-4 3/4 to win the Class B title last week, that mark places her 4th in the field.
Kennebunk's Austin Weigle is tied for the 4th best performance after his 6-4 clearance to win the Class A state meet. He is joined by Class C champion Judson Smith of Foxcroft who also has jumped 6-4.
Belfast's Drew Nealey is a podium threat in the pole vault, the sophomore Class B champion won the title with a 13-6 best, that ties for 5th fastest.
Class A discus champion Nick White of Cheverus enters as the 5 best seed (155-2)
Maranacook's Kelby Mace won the Class C long jump title with a personal best 21-8, that distance ranks him 6th best. He also has the 9th best mark in the triple jump as well.
Maine has 3 shot putters ranked in the top 10, they are led by sophomore Daniel Guliani of South Portland who had a huge day to win the Class A title a week ago throwing a 53-6 best. Class B champion Chapin McFarland is the the 9th ranked (51-10 1/2) while Class A runner-up Damen Bickford of Messalosnkee is 10th ranked (51-4 1/4)
The triple jump is an event Maine looks to do well in as they have two of the top 6 seeds. Surprise Class A champion Nate Pratt-Holt jumped a personal best 44-9 to edge Class A indoor champion Michael Cuesta of South Portland 44-8 1/2 for the outdoor title.
Class A 400m champion Audrey Weyand & Class A runner-up Amanda Knight are the 9th & 10th seeds respectively with a shot to make it on the podium. Weyand ran a seasonal best 57.69 to Knight's 57.91.
