Maine New England Championship Preview

 

 

Will Geoghegan (Brunswick pictured left)  the Class A champion and indoor new england mile champion is the #1 seed, with his 4:12.7.  Geoghegan will be looking to chase the all-time Maine best for 1600m, which is 4:09.69 set by Sintayehu Taye back in 2005. Will won’t run the 4x800 before the mile, so expect him to chase a fast time.  Class A runner-up Jack Terwilliger (Cheverus) comes into the meet as the #3 seed 4:15.6, but will most likely be running the 4x800 beforehand and may opt to run the 3200 instead. Class B runner-up Alex Moser (York) is the #9 seed 4:19.08, he also will be running the race fresh.

 

New Class A state record holder Abbey Leonardi (Kennebunk pictured right)) comes into the meet with the #3 seed 10:43.2. Leonardi has opted to run the race fresh, and without  question will be looking to run faster than al-time Maine state record she ran earlier this year, 10:36.3. Abbey’s time is currently the 29th fastest in the country. She should be pushed by CT all-state 1600m/3200m champion and NIN 5k champion Lindsey Crevoiserat, who is seeded with a 10:37.83. With someone helping out with the pace, Leonardi has a shot to run under 10:30, the meet record is 10:25.2. Last year as a freshman Abbey finished 3rd in the 1600m.

 

The Cheverus Stags fresh off a new Class A state meet record, 7:54.32 will take aim at the new England title and the all-time state best, which is 7:51.8 held by Cheverus, the time was set back in 1981 by the team of Tom Briggs, Marty Ashley, Colin Peddie & Brian Pettingill. The Stags ran alone in breaking the state meet record last week, with decidedly better competition the Stags could be pulled to a fast time. Each member of the relay (Jack Terwilliger, Taylor Dundas, Tim Woods, & Andrew Snyder -pictured left)) has run 1:57 or faster for 800m at some point in their high school careers, if they can all do it on the same day the record will go down.  Last year the same Cheverus team placed 3rd, running 7:54.03. 

 

Class B 100m hurdle record holder Allison Fereshetian is the #4 seed, 14.72. Allison is no stranger to high level hurdling, as she had the fastest prelim time last spring in the New England meet before going on to finish 4th and earn a spot of the podium in the final.  With the added competition there is a chance Fereshetian could challenge the all-time state best of 14.48, held by current Umaine star Jesse Labreck.

 

The defending New England champion Keila Grigware (Biddeford) is back looking to make it two titles in a row.  Grigware won the Class A title last weekend, throwing 126-0.  Keila is ranked #4 coming into the meet, but her best throw of 139-7, an all-time state best from earlier in the year, would rank her #2. 

 

       In the girls shot put Class A champion Keila Grigware (pictured right) is the #6 seed after her 38-9 throw at the state meet. Grigware is the only Maine athlete seeded in the top 6 in multiple events. Class B champion Natasha Griffith (Waterville) is the #8 seed 38-6 ¾, while Class A runner-up Randi London is the 39 seed at 38-6.  Grigware the state leader has a best distance of 39-3 ½ this season.

 

 

 

 

 

Class A state champion Randi London (Mt. Ararat pictured left) comes into the meet as the #6 seed, after her personal best 122-1 throw at the state meet last weekend. Also watch out for the #12 seed Christy Manning (Scarborough), she was All-New England last spring placing 5th, she was the Class A runner-up 118-8.  Manning has the best throw in the state this spring 133-0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class B champion Ben Cummings is the #10 seed after his clearance of 13-6 last weekend. Cummings has cleared a best of 14-0 ½ this season. Watch out for Class A champ Mike Slovenski, who has a state best jump of 14-3 this year, and was a surprise 3rd place finisher last spring, when he jumped 14-9 to earn all-new England honors.

 

Class A state champion and Lehigh bound senior Patrick Ciez is the #10 seed, Ciez cleared 6-4 to win the title last weekend. Ciez will look to make it on the medal stand this year, as he has a seasonal

 best of 6-8, which equals the top seed in the competition. The high jump is his only event so his legs should be fresh.

 

Although no Mainers come into the meet ranked in the top 10, watch out of for Greely’s Mark McCauley (pictured right) photo by David Colby Young),who placed 5th last in this event running 1:55.83. McCauley, who won the Class B title last weekend, set the all-time Maine best earlier in the year when he ran 1:53.4. Mark won’t be in the fastest section but don’t count him out, he will be fresh.