The Lewiston Boys Outdoor Track and Field team took the annual River Rivals meet just holding off Bangor with 102 points to the Rams' 98.5. Brewer followed with 57 points while Edward Little brought up the rear with 34.5.
From the bluff where Lewiston High School's new track sits, the cityscape, dominated by the spires of Lewiston City Hall, the old St. Patrick's Church, and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, shows the way to Auburn and the home of the Red Eddies. The Eddies girl's team flipped the tables to claim the girl's meet with 98 points, Bangor and Lewiston each notched 74 points and Brewer followed with 46.
EL, which took first place in seven of the nineteen scored events, was led by senior distance stalwart Jillian Richardson. Richardson took the top spot in the 800, 1600, and 3200. Other winners for the Eddies included Ella Boucher in the 300 meter hurdles, Julia Berube in the 100 meter hurdles, Lindy Hyndman in the 100, and Giana Boulet in the 1600 meter race-walk.
After placing second in the preliminaries Hyndman came back to claim the 100 meter final, just edging Lewiston's freshman Amelia Wedderburn by 0.05 seconds. A scoring glitch shows the margins in the girls 100 but final times are not available.
Boucher had a strong meet for the Eddies, scoring in four events. She added second place finishes in the long jump and 200, along with a third in the 100 to complement her top spot in the long hurdles. Boucher's long jump of 16-8 scorched her prior season high by a foot and half and established a new personal best for the defending KVAC Champion.
Julia Berube scored in three events as she added a second in the 300 meter hurdles and a third place in the triple jump, claiming new personal bests in each event. Other multi-scorers for the Eddies included Olivia Jalbert and first year Brooklyn Alexander.
Bangor also had a triple winner as Alyssa Elliott took the top spots in the 400, the long jump, and the triple jump. Her long jump of 17-06.25 is a new personal mark.
The Rams swept the relays claiming the top spot in each race.
The host Blue Devils had three-first place finishers. Amelia Wedderburn took the 200, Benedict Citenga put the shot 36-03.75 for a first place and a new best throw. Laila Bunnitt took first in the discus. Benedict and Bunnitt were both runners-up in the State Class A meet last season; each is performing well now in advance of next week's KVAC Championship, and States the following week.
The Class A State Championship meet will be hosted by Lewiston Saturday, June 1, 2019.
Brewer's Ashley Tanguay claimed the win in the javelin, Kaitlyn Helfen took the pole vault, and Sophia Inman won the high jump adding three inches to her prior best outdoor jump to finish at 5-04. Inman finished second in the State Class B championship last spring and claimed the indoor title this past winter.
On the boy's side Lewiston needed every point. The Blue Devils did take six-first place finishes, but the Bangor Rams collected eight. Kamundala Crispin led the Blue Devils winning the long jump (21-05, PR), and triple jump. The senior also picked up a fourth place in the 400 and took a leg of the Blue Devils' second place 4 x 400 team.
Jeremiah Williams jumped 6-0 to take the high jump, added a second in the 200, and a third in the 100 to go with a leg of the winning 4 x 100 team. Noor Shidad also claimed a piece of the 4 x 100 title to go with an individual win in the 400 (51.87 PR) and a third place in the 200. Jordan Carter won the javelin. First year Nigel Katende placed in the 300 meter hurdles (2nd), the long, triple (2nd) , and high jumps. Maurice Beaulieu took second in the 800 and 1600 for the Blue Devils.
Bangor's eight-firsts came from Andrew Munroe (200 & 110 hurdles), Daniel McCarthy (800 & 1600), Dwight Knightly (3200), Landyn Francis (100), Kyle Larrabee (300 hurdles) and the 4 x 800 team.
Bangor's harriers had a big impact on the track as they took four of five spots in the 3200 and showed the cross-country runners finish in all three distance events. McCarthy just edged Lewiston's Beaulieu in the 800, and used a strong final quarter to overtake Beaulieu in the 1600. In the 3200 the eventual winner Knightly overtook teammate Gordon Doore in the final 200 after Doore had led from the first 100 meters. Bangor also put up a decent 4 x 800 time.
Munroe led Bangor's scorers as he placed in four events with a new PR (52.20) in the 400 to take second, and a third (19-9.75) in the long jump. With his winning time in the 110 meter hurdles a personal best, the sophomore put down three new personal marks on the day.
Brewer had two pole vaulters jump 12-06 with Josh Hart taking the first spot while Andrew Gillette took second. The Witches also claimed the top spots in the discus as Jacob McCluskey threw 162-11, while Sean Neal heaved the shot 47-06. McCluskey is the defending champion for Class B and New England. Neal's 47-06 is a new personal mark; he also set a new mark while taking 3rd in the discus.
It is clear that something is going on with throwing in Brewer. In addition to scoring well, participation is high. Fourteen different Brewer Witches entered the circle to throw the discus for the girl's team.
Edward Little's lone first place finisher was Matt Syphers. The defending State Champion will be angling to take the podium for the fourth consecutive year in two weeks when Lewiston hosts the state championship.
The facility is coming together beautifully. Concessions were up and running for River Rivals, the grass has filled in nicely in most areas and the surrounding vegetation has begun to thicken and turn green. Wetness persists in the throwing areas with the longer discus throws hydroplaning through the thin grass and skittering beneath the retaining fences onto a walkway.
In two meets so far this season wind has been a factor. It follows the bluff that rises from the hollow where the Colisee, another cathedral of sorts in the skyline of Maine's second largest city, sits. The long and triple jumps can be run in either direction but so far they have been run with the generous tail wind following the athletes and producing some very solid jumps. At the River Rivals meet nine of ten female scorers managed personal bests. If the weather patterns hold and there is no early June heat wave expect some huge jumps at the Class A meet in two weeks.
The Lewiston Boys Outdoor Track and Field team took the annual River Rivals meet just holding off Bangor with 102 points to the Rams' 98.5. Brewer followed with 57 points while Edward Little brought up the rear with 34.5.