PVC Large School Championship Preview
by Paul Nantkes
The 2016 PVC Large School Championship Meet will be held at Hampden Academy Friday May 27th @ 3:00pm. The weather forecast is 68 degrees with a 60% chance of showers.
A total of 10 teams will be competing:
Brewer High School, Hampden Academy, MDI, Old Town High School, John Bapst, Presque Isle High School, Bangor, Ellsworth, Foxcroft Academy and Hermon High School.
Krystal Grant of Hampden Academy is the defending 200m champ and Ashley Anderson of MDI was the runner-up last year, watch for both to have a big meet on Friday.
Female Athletes to watch:
Christie Woodside a Sophomore at Hampden Academy has the top mark in the 100 hurdles, tied for 1st in high jump, #2 in triple jump and ranked #3 in long jump.
Ashley Anderson a Sophomore at MDI is a sprint specialist and has the top times in the 200m and 400m dash. Ashley is currently ranked #5 in the 100m dash.
Krystal Grant of Hampden Academy is the #1 300m hurdle athlete, #2 in long jump, #3 in 200m and #4 in triple jump.
Lia Johnson of Brewer High School is the #1 ranked 100m runner and #2 in the 200m.
Olivia Damboise a Sophomore at Old Town High School is #1 in the triple jump and #2 in the pole vault.
Daija Misler of Hampden Academy is #1 in the shot put, #2 in javelin and #2 in discus.
Maddie Wing of Presque Isle High School is #1 in the javelin and #6 in the 1600m race walk.
Arianna Geiser of Brewer is the top seed in the 800m.
Rihan Smallwood a Junior at Bangor High School is seeded #1 in the pole vault.
Simone Withers of Hampden Academy is a distance runner that is also a gymnast. Simone is #2 in the 800m and has a chance of scoring well for her team in the long jump and triple jump.
Thomas Darby of Hampden Academy will be one to watch in the sprints
Male Athletes to watch:
Paul Casavant of Hampden Academy is #1 in the 800m, #1 at 1600m and #1 in the 3200m.
Judson Smith of Foxcroft Academy is ranked #1 in high jump, #1 in 110 hurdles, #2 in 300m hurdles and #2 in long jump.
Erick Seekins of Brewer High School is #1 at long jump, #1 in 300m hurdles, #2 in triple jump and #6 in the 100m dash.
Croix Albee of MDI is #1 in Javelin, #2 in discus and #4 in the shot put.
Ryan Bender the senior from MDI is #1 in the 200m, #2 in the 400m and ranked #6 in the 100m dash.
Austin Lufkin of Brewer High School is ranked # 1 in the shot and #1 in discus.
Dominick Lizotte of Hampden Academy is seeded #1 in pole vault.
Thomas Darby of Hampden Academy is always a top sprinter. Thomas is ranked #2 in the 100m dash and #4 in the 200m.
SPRINTS
Lia Johnson of Brewer and Tori Koch of Presque Isle are both sub 13 second 100m sprinters. They enter the 100m dash #1 and #2. Ashley Anderson of MDI and Lia Johnson are #1 and #2 in the 200m dash. Ashley Anderson and Tori Koch are #1 and #2 in the 400m dash. These top sprinters will face some great competition from Mykayla Hoggard from Bangor, Brooke Hardy and Krystal Grant of Hampden Academy, Arianna Geiser and Moriah Newcomb of Brewer High School.
Nathaniel Church of Foxcroft Academy and Thomas Darby of Hampden are separated by .06 seconds in the 100m dash. Steve Fitzpatrick of John Bapst is ranked #3. Ryan Bender of MDI, Nathaniel Church and James Peterson of Hermon are the top three sprinters in the 200m dash. James Peterson, Ryan Bender and Wyatt Lord are the top 3 seeds in the 400m. Look for Andre Miller of Old Town, Joshua Willey of Old Town and Erick Seekins to place well.
DISTANCE
Amanda Boyd of John Bapst, Simone Withers of Hampden, Arianna Geiser of Brewer and Tessa Condon of Brewer High School all have a shot at winning their races. Hannah Smith of Brewer always places well and has a chance of winning the 3200m.
Paul Casavant enters the meet as the top distance runner in 3 events. Paul competed at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in the 2 mile run in March and has improved his 800m speed since indoors. I expect some fast times for PVC's. Mathieu Ract of Bangor is seeded #2 in the 3 distance events behind Paul. Look for Gabe Coffey of Bangor and Cooper Nelson of Foxcroft to have good showings.
JUMPS/HURDLES
Christie Woodside of Hampden and Hannah Hopkins of Brewer are both seeded sub 17 seconds in the 100m
hurdles. Ashlee Vilasuso, Megan Hymas and Ivy-sue Beal all of Brewer high school should finish 3rd 4th and 5th. Krystal Grant of Hampden Academy and Hannah Hopkins are both sub 50 seconds in the 300 hurdles and are heavy favorites to finish 1,2. Several girls have jumped over 32' in the triple jump. Oliviah Damboise of Old Town leads with 34' 7". Look for Krystal Grant to score well in the triple and long jumps. Christie Woodside should also do very well in both jumps. Moriah Newcomb of Brewer has the top mark in the long jump with 16' 6.25". Olivia St. Germain of John Bapst enters the high jump #1 tied with Woodside at 5' 0".
Judson Smith of Foxcroft Academy has an opportunity to finish high on the podium in several events. The future UMaine football star enters the high jump, 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and long jump seeded 1st or a close 2nd. His main competition is Erick Seekins of Brewer. Erick enters the meet #1 in the 300 hurdles, #1 in the long jump and #2 in the triple jump. Zachary Caron of Foxcroft is also another top contender to watch.
THROWS
Daija Misler of Hampden Academy is one of the best throwers in the state. Her 38' 1" shot is #2 in Maine and is 1 inch from being #1 overall. Daija also enters the PVC meet # 2 in javelin behind Maddie Wing of Presque Isle and #2 in discus behind Emily Mikoud of Foxcroft Academy. Emily's throw of 121' 7" is #2 overall in Maine this season. Look for Regan Nelson of Presque Isle to finish well as she is seeded #2 in shot, #3 in disc and #5 in the javelin.
Austin Lufkin of Brewer has the top marks in the shot and discus. Teammates Trey Wood, Garrett Graham, Jacob Mccluskey and Jordan Wood all look to place well in the throwing events. Croix Albee of MDI is the top seed in the javelin with 157" 1" followed by teammate Evan Jeannotte of MDI with a throw of 148' 2". Croix is also seeded #2 in discus.
Team Outlook
The Brewer Witches girls and boys teams are favorites to win the overall PVC Large School Championship Meets.The Hampden Academy girls are predicted 2nd overall and Foxcroft Academy is the predicted boys runner up.