Maddox Jordan doesn't like to lead races, but the senior adjusted this winter to become comfortable at the front of the pack. Jordan showed his prowess in the New England Championship mile on Saturday as the Noble high school standout found himself at the front of the pack setting the pace through the first 1100 meters.
With 500 meters to go, Jack Ouellette of Xavier, CT took over the lead while Jordan remained right behind him. "It let me recover a little, which helped me at the end." Jordan wisely moved to the front just before the homestretch with 250 meters to go as he avoided getting boxed in. No one would be able to match the pace of Maddox over the last 200m as he crossed the line first in 4:15.45 covering the final 2 laps in 61 seconds.
In the girl's two-mile Class B state champion Teanne Ewings followed the lead of Ava Malagasi of Ridgefield, CT through the mile in 5:22.
"I definitely wanted to let them go out and set the pace, so I could get a feel for what they were running," Ewings said of her race strategy
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Ewings made her definitive move to the front just before 1100 meters to go and never looked back as she cruised to the New England title in her first indoor season with a 10:40.09 winning effort.
The girl's mile produced a pair of All-New England performances as York senior Cary Drake finished in the top three for the third year in a row. Drake finished third in 4:57.64 while Class A champion Samantha Moore of Portland was fourth with her 4:58.61. In the boy's 1000m, Kaleb Colson of Sumner earned his spot on the podium as he won section one in a strong time of 2:30.70. Colson running solo set a fast pace coming through 400m in 58 seconds, and 800m in 2:01 before sprinting the final 200m in under 30 seconds.
The Portland boys 4x800 quartet of Charlie Jacques, Elias Coleman, Benjamin Prestes, and Nathan Blades clocked a new state-leading 7:59.30 as they finished second in section two, and sixth overall. The time is the third fastest time ever run in the event in state indoor history.
Billy Albertson and Arnaud Sioho battled each other at the Class A state meet in the long jump, on the runway at the Reggie Lewis Center they once again found themselves in a duel as they entered the finals tied for the top spot with a jump of 22-4 3/4. Micah Blair of Amity, CT came from behind on his fifth-round jump of 22-11 but Albertson would finish second, and Sioho third.
Freshman Lucy Veilleux didn't let the bright lights of the New England Championship get to her. Veilleux produced a distance of 17-4 on her second attempt to secure her spot in the finals. On her first attempt in the finals, she leaped out to a new personal best of 17-10 3/4 to move from sixth to third. Veilleux's distance broke the freshman state record of Mia Taranko (17-6 1/4) set back in 2017 and ranks her eighth in state history.
In the sprints, Makenna Drouin of Lewiston the Class A champion found her way onto the 55m dash podium as the senior finished sixth in a time of 7.21. Drouin just missed the 55m hurdle final, she placed ninth. On the boy's side Class A state champion and record holder Andre Clark of Marshwood set the tone with 6.40 clocking in prelims but came up grabbing his left hamstring after the race. Clark lined up for the final despite the injury and somehow was able to clock 6.51 which was good for fifth. He was noticeably limping after the final and expressed his disappointment in a post-race interview.