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CLASS C TRACK AND FIELD STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Maranacook comes together to win boys title

By Bill Stewart bstewart@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

BATH -- The Maranacook Community High School boys track and field team had its slips, it had its stumbles and it certainly had its setbacks.

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WE DID IT: Maranacook’s Chris Pelletier celebrates with teammates after his championship-winning 44-foot, 9.75-inch leap in the triple jump at the Class C track and field championships Saturday in Bath. The Maranacook boys won the title.

Maine Sunday Telegram photo by Carl D. Walsh

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EYEING THE FINISH LINE: Marancook’s Taylor Watson jumps over the last hurdle on his way to first place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class C track and field state championships in Saturday in Bath.

Maine Sunday Telegram photo by Carl D. Walsh

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But when the Class C state championship meet was over Saturday and final times and measurements were tabulated, the Black Bears had something else at McMann Field: A state championship.

"It was just a great job by all the kids," Maranacook coach Ronn Gifford said. "We nit and picked our way along the day. We didn't do what our seeds were, but we held on."

Maranacook wasn't particularly dominant on this sun-splashed day, but it didn't need to be to win its sixth Class C state title and first since 1992.

The Black Bears scored 75 points to edge Orono (69) and defending state champ Sacopee (68). Mountain Valley Conference champ Lisbon was fourth with 41 points while Boothbay (36.5) and Winthrop (36) followed.

Traip won the girls crown with 79 points, denying John Bapst (76) a fourth straight state championship.

"It was an amazing day," Traip coach Larissa Simonds said. "The girls just stepped up."

Individually, it wasn't the best of days for Maranacook's top point producers.

Together, however, they triumphed.

Junior Taylor Watson won the 300-meter hurdles in 40.71 seconds, but finished fourth in the 110 hurdles after an early mishap in the race. Watson was seeded first in both events.

"The gun went off and my first few steps were OK," Watson said. "But when I got to the second hurdle I couldn't get my leg up and I hit the ground. It was very frustrating."

Maranacook senior Chris Pelletier won the triple jump with a leap of 44 feet, 9.75 inches. He also finished second in the long jump (20-3), but he was seeded first in the event.

"We wanted to win this all year," said Pelletier, who didn't compete last season. "It was a blast."

Harry Lanphear was seeded fourth in the shot put, but failed to make the finals. He did pick up points in the javelin, finishing fifth.

"We had our ups and downs," Gifford said. "We went in thinking we had 50 points pretty close in the bag, but it didn't happen. But we also picked up points where we didn't expect to, either."

Maranacook scored key points in the 4x100 relay and pole vault, two events it wasn't expecting to score anything.

Evan Vincent won the 1,600 race walk and finished fifth in the 3,200. He won the race walk in 6:42.16.

"I was hoping to get under 6:35, but I was feeling pretty tired at the end," Vincent said. "I held on for as long as I could."

Maranacook opened the meet by winning the 4x800 relay. Watson, Connor Lacasse, Walker Thompson and Luke Wenzel finished in 8:28.75.

"We wanted to set the tone," Watson said.

Added Gifford: "Winning the 4x800 was huge. We picked up some points there."

Maranacook junior Abby Mace won the 1,600 and 3,200 to lead the girls team, which finished sixth with 42 points.

Mace ran the 1,600 in 5:19.76 and the 3,200 in 11:37.89.

"I was hoping to get my times down, but I am happy," she said. "I pushed myself (Saturday)."

Elsewhere Saturday, Hall-Dale received strong performances from junior Bri Crisci and sophomore Tyler Fitzgerald.

Crisci, after being disqualified in the 100, won the 200 in a personal-best 26.31 seconds.

"I wanted to get a (personal record), but this was crazy," she said. "I knew I was ahead of everybody, but I didn't know by how much."

Fitzgerald won the 100 in 11.42 and finished fourth in the 200.

"It was a big race," Fitzgerald said of the 100. "To win it feels great. It was a fast race and I held my hands up after it but then pulled them back down because I didn't know if I had really won."

Miguel Caballero of Orono was second in 11.46.

Winthrop senior Travis Hutchins won the discus with a throw of 140-7.

"It feels good because you work all year for one goal," he said. "I get really worked up and am hard on myself at times, so this feels really good. In my freshman year I was throwing 70, 80 feet and I thought I'd never get there. But all my hard work paid off."

Monmouth senior Kevin Desmond turned in an impressive performance in the 800, winning it in a blistering 1:58.11, a little more than a second off the Class C state record.

Desmond said he waited two years for the moment.

"It's just a great feeling," he said. "When I saw I was 59 (seconds) after the first (lap), I knew it was hammer time from that point on. I was hoping for the win and to get a (personal record), and I got the best of both worlds."

Monmouth sophomore Danielle Bumann won the 300 hurdles in 48.99. She trailed for most of the early part of the race, but a late surge was enough to hold off Maeve Downey of Sacopee.

"I was really nervous," Bumann said. "I was behind a lot of people and I had to make it up in the end."

Maranacook senior Madeline Nazar won the triple jump with a leap of 36-11.25.

Madison junior Matt McClintock, one of the top distance runners in the state, also won the 1,600 and 3,200.

Bill Stewart -- 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com