The Leavitt hornets finish in a three-way tie.
By Peter Mullen
Staff Writer

ELLSWORTH – Of course it’s a team sport, but this championship trophy should have the name of Ben True added to it for good measure.

The Greely junior claimed state champion honors in the 1,600, 3,200, and ran a leg in the winning 4X400 relay as the Rangers took both girls’ and boys’ titles home in the State Class B Track Championships at Del Luce Stadium Saturday.

True set a new state record in the 3,200 with a time of 9:19.34, eclipsing the mark of 9:25.70.

In the 3,200, True’s qualifying time was five and a half seconds better than the 1982 state record, a fact that the runner said he was unaware of.

“I wanted to pick up the record,” said True. “I actually didn’t know what the record was until last night. I didn’t really run the race I wanted to. The second and third laps were a little to slow but I was able to pick it up.”

True took the lead from York’s David Woods at the end of the second lap and ran away with it. He finished close to 100 meters in front of the second-place finisher.

In the boys’ competition, Greely edged KVAC Champion Belfast, 116-108. The Rangers had an easier time on the girls’ side of the ledger, besting Mt. View, 99.5-62.

Locally in boys’ competition, Leavitt finished in a three-way tie for ninth with 16 points, and Fryeburg had 12.5 points.

For the girls, Gray-New Gloucester was sixth with 40 points, Fryeburg was 10th with 22, followed by Leavitt and Maranacook with 19 and 18.5 points respectively.

Maranacook took home a pair of state titles. The boys’ 4X800 relay team bested Greely and Belfast while Lia Prysunka won the 300-meter hurdles, setting a new school record, again.

“I thought it went well,” said Maranacook coach Amy Brown. “We had good performances from our guys in the 4X8. They put everything into that. Lia bests her time every single meet. She is the type of person that keeps practicing after practice is over.”

“I really wanted to win,” said Prysunka. “I just went all out. I set the record last year, then I broke it this season, then did it again last week, and now I did it again today.

Fryeburg’s Carissa Allain, a sophomore, took top honors in the 100-meter hurdles.

“We had a great performance by our hurdler today,” said Fryeburg coach Bill Riley. “So we had one state champion. My hats off to Greely. They have great runners. Competing in the Western Maine Conference isn’t easy.”

Gray-New Gloucester’s Louise Duffus ended her high school career, capturing her eighth and ninth state titles with wins in the discus and the shot put.

“I had my eye on the discus state record,” said Duffus. “It is 129 and I threw 126. It was kind of a high goal, but I’m pleased with my performance.”

Leavitt’s highest placement was second and it went to Kyle Libby in the racewalk. Ryan Staples finished third in the javelin and Nicole Rodrigue was fourth in the 3,200-meter run.

“I ran so fast because everyone ran so fast,” said Rodrigue.

“They dragged me along. I beat my personal record by something like 25 seconds. I have done better this year because now I am running the mile too and it helps me out.”

“We had a really good day,” Leavitt coach Tina Merserve.

“We’re a big team and we have a lot of above average athletes, but we don’t have a lot of stars. On a day like today it only takes four or five stars to win a state title.”

The event winners, and the next best three finishers from all three classes, qualify for the New England Championships to be held June 14 at Willow Brook Park, New Britain, Conn.