Greely Girls' Completes Triple Crown, Winslow Boys' Wins First State Title Since 1966
The Winslow boys' last won a state team title in outdoor track back in 1966 when they competed in Class M. This year's team entered the meet at Yarmouth high school as one of three teams expected to contend.
The Black Raiders were able to outlast Mt Desert Island as Winslow scored 98 to win by three points.
Leading the way for Winslow was senior sprint star Ben Smith, who was competing in outdoor track for the first time in his high school career this spring. Smith swept the 100m (11.31) & 200m (22.60) titles while placing second in the 400m (50.65) to score 28 individual points. He also added a leg on the runner-up 4x400m relay
Fellow sprinter Jake Warn was also a workhorse for the Black Raiders. The junior won the triple jump with a personal best leap of 43-7, and finished as the runner-up to teammate Smith in the 100m & 200m dashes.
Freshman Maxamus Spaulding chipped in with 10 individual points as he placed third in the 300m hurdles (41.47), and fourth in the 110m hurdles (16.27). He also ran on the 4x400m relay
Senior Spencer Miranda came up big in the jumps, he finished third in the long jump with a leap of 20-10 3/4, and added another third place in the triple jump as he got out to 41-9.5.
Runner-up Mt Desert Island had a strong day. They opened the meet with a win in the 4x800m relay & ended it with another in the 4x400m relay.
Senior high jumper Noah Hutchinson cleared 6-0 to win the high jump.
Junior thrower Croix Albee won the shot put with a heave of 47-10 3/4, while sophomore Samuel Hoff was the runner-up in the discus (139-6).
Sprinter Griffin Maristany placed third in the 400m (51.36) and added a fourth place effort in the 200m (23.25)
Distance runner Nicolas Reznick added a fourth place finish in the 1600m (4:38.37), and 5th place in the 3200m.
Yarmouth junior Luke Laverdiere completed the grueling distance triple as he won the 1600m in a personal best and state leading 4:18.75, he followed with a 2:01 effort to take the 800m, before capping his day off with a win in the 3200m (9:31.69)
Waterville senior Zach Smith was a double winner in the throws. Smith won the discus with a throw of 143-10 and added another win in the javelin with his throw of 164-1
Freshman Jack Hanson of Belfast won his first state title with a leap of 21-1 1/2 in the long jump. He also placed third in the pole vault.
Senior teammate Benjamin Copeland & Gunnar McAllister of Lawrence both cleared 13-0, the bar moved to 13-6 but neither could clear, so they set the bar down to 13-3 to break the tie, and Copeland cleared on his first attempt to win the individual title.