All-time state bests go down at 1600m & 800m, Bethanie Brown wins 1600m & 3200m & Matt McClintock wins 3200m to higlight Maine performances at New England Championships
Thornton Academy played host today to the 67th annual New England Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Thousands poured into Saco from across the region in pursuit of personal bests, All New-England recognition, and for some, a place on top of the podium.
Athletes from Maine were competitive across the board today, ranging from a second place performance in the 300m hurdles from Gorham senior Sarah Perkins, to Thornton junior Charlotte Pierce, who, on her home track, ran 5:05 to place 3rd in her heat and set a 3 second personal record. Perkins also earned a spot on the podium earlier in the day in the 100m hurdles with her 6th place finish. Erzsebet Nagy, a junior from Lawrence, also found herself on the podium today with her 6th place finish in the 800m, clocking a time of 2:13.5 In addition to an improvement of a 3-second personal record, Nagy now holds the Maine all-time state best in the event, bettering a mark of 2:15.1 set by Scarborough's Kaitlynn Saldanha in 2007.
The Edward Little 4x100m relay team of Ayumi Ranucci, Jaclyn Masters, Avery Chisholm, and Marykate Masters took the win out of the slowest section, clocking 49.68, a time that after all was said and done, placed them 3rd overall, earning them All-New England honors and a spot on the podium; they missed the state all time best by just 2/10 of a second. The mark was an Edward Little school record, and the girls will be going to New Balance Outdoor Nationals to chase the all-time record.
The performance of the meet, however, has to go to Bethanie Brown of Waterville High School. The junior distance ace took home two individual titles today, winning the 1600m by less than half a second, then doubling back later in the afternoon to win the 3200m by a landslide. Brown clocked 4:50.39 in the 1600m and 10:31.1 in the 3200m, both state leading marks. The 1600m mark broke Abbey Leonardi's 4:51.57 from two years ago. Brown becomes the first Maine athlete to win 2 New England titles in the same meet in the distance races, she'll be heading to nationals this weeked, where she'll be running the 5k & 3200m, look for more fast times from the junior. Junior Kirstin Sandreuter of Greely won the first section in personal best time 5:03.76, the time would nab her a 6th, and a spot of the podium.
Freshman phenom Kate Hall from Lake Region also had a banner day, placing 3rd in the 100m dash with a time of 12.20. This betters Nicole Kirk's previous state leader of 12.25 set last week at the Class A State Championship. Not normally known for its sprints, Maine had a more impressive day than expected today in the shorter races, most notably the 400m dash, which saw Fryeburg senior Corinn Bedell and Brewer junior Teal Jackson place 5th and 6th respectively. Bedell came into the meet seeded 12th, while Jackson came in seeded 11th.
In the triple jump Class C champion Jocelyn Lorrey of Traip Academy had a big day as she improved on her lifetime best and nabbed her school with a leap of 36-9 1/4.The mark was also a new Maine state leader.
On the boys side, Harlow Ladd earned All New England honors, placing 5th in the 1600m with a time of 4:22. Madison senior Matt McClintock provided serious fireworks in the 3200m, clocking a new state leading time and massive personal best of 9:06. McClintock was aggressive, taking the first 1600m out in 4:31. From the halfway point on, McClintock never looked back, and took home his first New England title in fine fashion.
In the pole vault Waterville's Devin Burgess cleared 13-9 to set a personal best to finish 5th overall to earn ALL-NE honors, the juniors entered the meet with a ME best fo 13-6. In the triple jump Patrick Rice of Windham had a big personal best of 44-0 1/4 to secure a spot on the podium in 6th place.
Tom Reid of York won the 2nd section of the boys 300m in a fine 40.09, after all the heats were completed Reid finished 6th overall and earned ALL-NE honors
As a point of interest, Thornton Academy has seen two Mainers win New England Championships at 3200m, the first of whom was the one true Eric Giddings, who ran 9:00.70 (then a meet record) in 2005. Going down in distance, Trey Williams of Brewer took home the win in his section of the 800m, clocking 2:00 even. In the 400, Biddeford sophomore James Ociti clocked 50.64 to win his section.
Marred by injuries and fatigued from a long comeback train, McKenzie Gary of Mt. Ararat ended his senior year in style by clocking a 22.91 in the 200m. Caleb Pease of Camden Hills set a new state leader in the 200m running 22.51, a massive improvement over his seed time of 23.18.
Interviews with Maine Athletes
Check out some races with Mainers
Girls 1600m- Bethanie Brown sets Maine All-time best
Girls 100m Hurdle Final- Sarah Perkins 14.80 State leader
Girls 800m- Erzsebet Nagy sets Maine All-time best
Submitted to MaineTrackXC by Patrick Horan former Brunswick Dragon & current Dickinson Red Devil.