Edward Little's Jillian Richardson took third in the 1600-meter
race with a personal best of 5:31.54. The leaders were tightly packed but Richardson
led for early parts of the race and at the bell was neck-and-neck with Messalonskee's
Avery Brennan, the eventual winner. In the final hundred Cony's Anne Guadalupi
took second place following Brennan up the inside. None of this sat well with
Richardson.
In the 3200 Richardson set a torrid pace from the start opening up a ten-meter
lead on Messalonskee's Peyton Arbour after two minutes. By the end of the race
the lead on Arbour had grown to twelve seconds and Brunswick's Micaela
Ashby had established a comfortable pace to take second place. Richardson
finished in 12:02.57, another personal best. Ashby's 12:07.8 was also a
personal best.
The Eagles of Messalonskee had been putting up points all over the track; they scored in every event save the 400. But in the end Richardson's Red Eddies
put up 133 points to Messalonskee's 132.5. Lewiston was third with 97 followed
by the Mt. Ararat Eagles (67), Brunswick (56.5), Skowhegan (56), Cony and
Oxford Hills tied with 35, and Mt. Blue (32).
The Messalonskee machine was dominant in the middle and long
distances. In addition to the 1600, Avery Brennan won the 800, leading an Eagle
sweep of the top three spots with Emma Concaugh 2nd and Alexa
Brennan 3rd; the Eagles claimed 6th and 7th in
the 1600 (Sarah Kohl, Alexa Brennan), and 3rd and 4th in
the 3200 (Peyton Arbour, Sarah Kohl).
Avery Brennan picked up two more first place finishes in the 4 x 800 and 4 x
400 relays. The 4 x 800 team included Arbour, Alexa Brennan, and Concaugh. The
4 x 400 team included Concaugh, Libby Breznyak and Emma Wentworth. Not to be
outdone the Eagles sprinters also put together a winning team to take the 4 x
100 where Wentworth and Breznyak were joined by Caitlin Parks and Jacey
Richard. Wentworth won the 100-meter dash with a personal best time of 13.26
and took second in the 200M.
Even so, EL won the meet. While the Red Eddies did not completely occupy a
block of events, they scored well in hurdles and distance, collected a few
points in sprints, and did well in jumps and throws. In addition to Richardson's win in the 3200, the Eddies had
individual wins in the pole vault, long jump, and javelin. Lauren Berube took
the pole vault with a jump of 9-6 to defend her 2016 title, Berube also took 2nd
in the long jump, 5th in the triple, and was part of a 2nd
place 4 x 100 team.
Kaylee Vallee won the long jump, was 2nd in the 100-meter
hurdles, and 2nd in the triple. The triple jump saw four Eddies on
the podium. Vallee established new personal marks in each event.
Britane Nouchonthavong won the javelin with a throw of 115-10, and claimed the
second spot in the discus.
Pacing the third place Lewiston Blue Devils were Jenny Martin and Kayla Allen.
Martin is the defending champion in the 200, the 100 MH, and the 300 MH where
she also holds the state title. Martin won all three events and was part of a
third place 4 x 100 team. Kayla Allen, the reigning champion on the 1600
race-walk took the event again for the Blue Devils. Allen has an uninterrupted
string of first place finishes stretching back to her first high school meet in
May 2014. She is a four time KVAC champion, and has won three state titles, so
far.
Other top individual performers were Maighread Laliberte of Oxford Hills who
defended her 2016 title in the discus and added the 2017 shot put title, and Leah
Savage of Skowhegan. Savage, the defending champion in the high jump, won the
event again with a jump of 4-10, added a title by winning the triple jump, and
placed in both the long jump and 100-meter dash.
Rounding out the title winners was Mt. Ararat's first year Wyley Fitzpatrick whose
400-meter run in 1:01.64 marked a personal best. Fitzpatrick also scored in the
200, long jump, and 4 x 400 relay.