AUGUSTA — The annual Capital City Classic, held under the lights Friday at Alumni Field, drew hundreds of athletes representing 10 schools.
It also featured matchups in which standout athletes from different conferences raced, jumped, hurdled or threw head to head.
Additional Photos
None were more intriguing than the sprints, which pit Cony junior Luke Dang against Hall-Dale senior Tyler Fitzgerald in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.
“I was really nervous all day,” Fitzgerald said. “Luke Dang beat me here last year and I didn’t want to lose my best event again. It’s great to face such good competition. It’s definitely a meet I look forward to.”
Dang helped the Cony boys win the meet with 147.33 points. Maranacook was second with 116. Lisbon (103.5), Hall-Dale (100.33) and Erskine (89) followed.
Lisbon won the girls meet with 160 points. Erskine was second with 124.5 while Cony (103.5) and Maranacook (85.5) followed. Lisbon senior Morgan Reeves won three events — the pole vault (12 feet, 6 inches), long jump (20-9) and triple jump (41-6).
Hall-Dale senior Bri Crisci also enjoyed a big day with three victories — the 100, 200 and 400. She set the school record in the 400 with a time of 1 minute, .97 seconds.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “I’m so overjoyed. I definitely feel like I was fast.”
Dang and Fitzgerald, meanwhile, squared off all day and into the evening, staging one close race after another. After Fitzgerald won the 100, Dang rebounded with victories in the 400 and 200.
“We both won one,” Dang said. “They were up for grabs. It’s all adrenaline.”
Fitzgerald edged Dang in the 100 with a time of 11.21. Dang finished in 11.32.
“It’s overwhelming,” Fitzgerald said. “I just ran my hardest. It was close.”
Added Dang: “I ran out of track. I was gaining on him but I couldn’t make up the difference at the start. He was a missile coming out and I couldn’t recover.”
Maranacook senior Abby Mace and Gardiner senior Olivia Reny were among a handful of multi-event winners Friday. Mace won the 1,600 in 5:12.30 and the 3,200 in 11:13.64 Reny swept the hurdles, edging Cony’s Erin Bolduc in both events.
“I’m always happy with wins,” Reny said. “The 300 (hurdles) is so hard because you are tired and jumping stationary objects. It’s a challenge. In the (100 hurdles), I could see (Bolduc) a little bit and that got me going. I knew I wanted it and I just had to keep going.”
Maranacook senior Taylor Watson swept the hurdles. He finished the 110 hurdles in 15.46 and the 300 in 41.76. Watson said he’s been working on trying to avoid clipping hurdles, something he’s done a few times this spring.
“I’ve been trying a few things differently,” he said. “I’ve been sprinting through the hurdles and I’ve been catching them with my lead leg. I’m really focusing on not hitting them.”
Erskine’s Bridget Humphrey won the high jump (4-10) and discus (102-4).
Cony senior Julian Hubbard won the high jump (6-2).
Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.