LEWISTON — Moments after Cary Drake broke the Class B state meet record in the girls indoor mile, she received congratulations from the former record holder’s father. Ted Brown, father of Waterville’s Bethanie Brown, told Drake he got it after the York senior ran 4:59.07 to Brown’s 10-year-old best of 5:00.31 in just a seconds.
“That’s so sweet,” Drake said. “Bethanie Brown is such a big name.”
Led by Drake and her fellow distance runners, York repeated as Class B girls state champion on Monday at Bates College. With 63 points, the Wildcats continued their strong run of cross country and track and field dominance. Greely was second with 53 points, while Bucksport was third with 47.
York also won the Class B outdoor track title in 2022, swept the cross country, indoor and outdoor track championships in 2022-23, and added another cross country title in November.
The surprise of the meet came in the girls 55 hurdles. Leavitt’s Serae Fish squeaked into the finals in the eighth lane, then pulled out the win in 9.08 seconds, one-hundredth of a second ahead of favorite Sydney Legasse of John Bapst and Gabrielle Finelli of Maine Central Institute.
“I thought I was close. I thought maybe a second or third time because I could feel the other girls next to me. I knew I had to lean in and hopefully I got it,” Fish said.
Fish also placed third in the high jump, while teammate Kaisely Marquis placed third in the 400-meter run.
The Greely boys won their first team title since 2018 with 72 points, edging out York (64). Leavitt finished third with 46 points. The Rangers did most of their damage in the jumps, with Alexander Mendoza placing third in the high jump and long jump. Greely also scored 18 points in the relays, winning the 800-meter relay in 1:35.25, and placing second in the 3,200 relay to start the meet.
Stephen Pierre gave Leavitt a 55 hurdles sweep by winning the boys event with a time of 7.83 seconds. Pierre also won the state title in the long jump (21 feet, ¼ inch) and nearly had a third: his 6-4 in the high jump tied for the best, but Gavin Davis of York met the mark in fewer jumps to secure the title.
Maddox Demers added a second place showing in the boys shot put for the Hornets.
Several of the area’s other athletes earned top-three finishes on Monday.
Emmett Mooney of Lisbon, running for St. Dom’s co-op, placed second in the boys 55 dash and third in the boys 400, while teammate Chris Pottle (Winthrop) placed third in the 1-mile and 2-mile.
Mountain Valley’s Brooke Chase was runner-up in the girls triple jump, and Buckfield’s Mya Austin took third in the 55 dash (and fifth in the 200).
MEANT TO BE BROKEN
The three girls changed hands. Along with Drake’s record in the mile, Sarah Ouellette of Morse went 11 feet, 1 inch in the pole vault, beating the record set by Hermon’s Chantelle Haggerty in 2002 by an inch. Amelia Vandongen set Mt. Desert Island set a new mark of 2:14.83 in the 800, beating the 10-year-old mark set by Greely’s Abby Chapman (2:15.28).
MDI’s Miles Burr entered the state meet already holding the Class B meet records in the 55 and 200. While Burr didn’t break those marks Monday, he added the 400 to his collection of timed records which is 49.49 seconds. Winslow’s Joseph Richards (49.67) also bested the previous record, 50.65, set by Gorham’s James Sawyer in 2005. While Burr repeated as champion in the 55 in 6.55 seconds, he placed fifth in the 200.
Drake’s win in the mile was the only first-place finish for York. In second place for most of the race behind Houlton’s Teanne Ewings, Drake pulled away on the final lap, passing Ewings with 100 meters to go.
“Teanne is a crazy awesome runner, and I was scared going into this race. My plan was to cut behind her and outkick. She probably had the same plan, which is why we were slow on the opening lap, because we both try to keep up with each other,” Drake said.
The Wildcats earned the team crown with depth, particularly in the distance events. Molly Kenealy and Madelyn Hutchins finished third and fourth in the mile, and the York trio went 2-3-4 in the 2-mile. The Wildcats were third in the 800 relay.
Ouellette thought he might be higher at 11-1. With no other vaulters approaching her height, Ouellette competed alone.
“It’s really difficult. I’m psyched for next year when I’ll have some competition at college,” said Ouellette.
In the boys pole vault, Freeport’s Reece Perry won for the second year in a row with a vault of 13-6. Perry tried for 14-3, two inches above the record she set last year and one inch below her personal best.
“I didn’t want to waste any attempts on a jump that was an inch below 14 (feet). I was like, go an inch below my PR, go 14-3, and give it one shot. I don’t expect to reach, I don’t expect to reach. I’m just trying,” Perry said.
Sumner’s Kaleb Colson earned wins in the boys’ mile (4:33.82) and 800 (2:01.61). He needed a strong kick to pass Bucksport’s Gage Burns on the final lap.
“It was about everything I had just to get past Gage. The York boy Sam Hunter almost passed me,” said Colson, “I was more tired than I thought after running a pretty cold mile.”
The surprise of the meet came in the girls’ 55 hurdles. Leavitt’s Serae Fish squeaked into the finals in the eighth lane, then pulled out the win in 9.08 seconds, one-hundredth of a second ahead of favorite Sydney Legasse of John Bapst and Gabrielle Finelli of Maine Central Institute.
“I thought I was close. I thought maybe a second or third time because I could feel the other girls next to me. I knew I had to lean in and hopefully I got it,” Fish said.
Old Town’s Lucy Veilleux earned a pair of victories, in the long jump (17-1 1/2) and triple jump (34-3).
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