Deering and Thornton repeat as state champs.
GORHAM – In a day of record setting performances, Edward Little’s Sam Fletcher left everyone else in the dust.
Fletcher knocked almost two seconds off the previous state mark in the boys’ 800-meter run, winning by almost a quarter of a lap with a time of 1:56.25, in the Class A State Indoor Track Championships at the University of Southern Maine’s Costello Sports Complex Monday.
“I was looking to go pretty even 29’s (second lap times),” said Fletcher. “I’ve been doing a lot of mileage so I didn’t want to go too hard. I just wanted to keep the pace. With about 300 (meters) left, I looked back and didn’t really see anyone, so I figured I go for the record. I was really looking for the record. It was my goal for the day.”
Every move Fletcher made at the meet was to give him a shot at the record.
“It was the fastest 800 ever run by an Edward Little runner,” said EL coach Art Feeley. “He ran the 4X800 not as fast as he could have so he could save himself for this race. It was probably the right thing to do. It was a pretty darn good effort.”
Overall six state records fell, with Courtney Albin of South Portland recording two. She won in the 200- and 400-meter events. Deering set a record in the girls’ 4X200 relay, Mt. Ararat in the girls’ 4X800 and Deering’s Brian Vail set a new mark in the boys’ 400.
Vail was a distant second to Fletcher in the 800.
Team-wise it was business as usual as the Deering boys and Thornton Academy girls teams repeated as state champs.
One other local athlete came in first. Oxford Hills’ Jared Maher posted a win in the boys’ triple jump.
“This makes me feel a bit better,” said Maher. “I wanted to get me a new PR and I did.”
Maher had competed earlier in the long jump and finished third.
“I could have done better, but it wasn’t too bad either,” said Maher of his long jump. “I got my PR for the year. My steps really messed me up.”
One of the more inspiring stories was that of Livermore Falls’ Kelsey Biliouris. The Andies don’t have an indoor track program so she was taken under the wing of Feeley and the EL program. Livermore Falls isn’t even a Class A school, but the sophomore earned third place in the 200 and a fifth in the 55-meter dash.
“I think I did all right in the 55, but my preliminary time was actually better,” said Biliouris. “I got a bad start out of the blocks. I am also really happy with the 200. It is my personal record for this year.”
Still, Biliouris is happy for the opportunity to work with the EL program.
“It’s about a 30-minute drive and I try to get down there as often as I can,” she said. “I competed with them this winter, but I couldn’t place because I was only Class B. But they petitioned me up to Class A so I could compete for this.”
Colby Brooks was the only other local athlete to place in two events. The sophomore took third in both the 55- and 200-meter events.
“I thought I did pretty well for my sophomore year,” said Brooks, regarding the 55-meter event. “I came in here seeded sixth and finished third.”
Ally Thomas finished second in the pole vault with a nine-foot leap.
“I was seeded third and I got second,” said Thomas. “I was pretty happy with that. It is the first time I have made nine feet indoors. It felt good.”
Other Edward Little athletes included Rachel Barlion with a fourth-place finish in the long jump, Lauren LaRoche with a fourth-place finish in the 1 mile, Abby Wilikins and Amanda Burgess with sixth-place finishes in the triple jump and the 800, respectively.
Lewiston placed in two events. The 4X200 relay team took second in the final event of the day and James Spaulding was sixth in the long jump.
“We ran a school record,” said Lewiston coach Ray Putnam. “We got it by 1.4 seconds. This was an amazing day with a lot of speed. Our kids from Lewiston were catching up with the faster runners in our heats. It was one of the most competitive state meets we’ve seen in a while.
While Putnam sees improvement in the Blue Devil program, he knows there is a lot more work to do.
“Deering obviously is still too strong,” he said. “Our kids felt a little intimidated with the size of the meet, and it could have been better but I am real happy with them. We had a good season-finishing third in the KVAC’s.
In one of the bigger upsets of the day, Portland’s Ayalew Taye posted an easy win over Eric Giddings of South Portland in the boys’ one mile. Giddings, a perennial power in high school track in Maine, recovered to post a close win in the two-mile event.
pmullen@sunjournal.com
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