BETHEL – It was a long time coming for the Telstar Rebels’ track and field team. Where there were once rolling hills behind the school littered with trees, rocks and stumps, now stands a state-of-the-art track, complete with pits and throwing areas.
“On one hand, it’s nice to be able to have this here,” said Telstar coach Gary Wight. “You can’t ask for much better, really. The drawback is that you’d think there would be more people out for the team now with this track here.”
Despite several gutsy performance by the Rebels’ teams, including Brianne Bailey’s 12 individual points and a race run with puncture wounds on her legs from sticking herself with spikes, there was just no catching up to the Lisbon Greyhounds.
As the Greyhounds spilled off of the two buses that carried them to the facility, it looked like a wave of red was taking over the hill beside the track. Those numbers helped propel Lisbon to a convincing 67-point win in the girls’ competition, and to a 23-point win in the boys’ events.
“Our boys, they’re ahead of where we thought they’d be at this point,” said Lisbon coach Dean Hall. “The boys will have an outside chance next week (at the MVC meet), and the girls will have a really good chance, but we’ll see. The big meets start now.”
One of the more encouraging performances for Lisbon on Thursday was in the throws, where Mindy Sullivan set personal records in all three events. In the shot put, she launched the weight 32 feet, 7 inches. In the javelin, she bested her previous best by seven feet with a throw of 104 feet, 7 inches, and in the discus she bettered her old mark by five feet with a throw of 97 feet, 3 inches. She won all three events.
“She’s really come a long way this year, and she will be an important piece next week,” said Hall.
On the boys’ side, Elijah Trefts also had a good throwing day, winning the shot put and coming in second in the discus.
Mountain Valley, meanwhile, is not quite as deep as it was last year, and the Falcons knew coming into the meet that it would take a near-miracle to overtake the Greyhounds in a dual- or tri-meet.
“It’s almost impossible to beat them head-to-head,” said Mountain Valley coach Al Cayer. “In the bigger meets though, based on what we saw today, we might have a chance with the boys.”
While Lisbon dominated the meet Thursday in the racewalk and pole vault, the Greyhounds were absent from the scoring in the sprints. Dylan Cayer, meanwhile, cruised to wins in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and anchored the winning 4×100-meter relay team for the Falcons.
Tyler Jasud of Mountain Valley also placed well Thursday, taking first in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs and in the 4×800-meter relay, where he ran anchor.
On the girls’ side, Lisbon had events where most or all of the participants wore red and black, and even though the Greyhounds may not have won a certain event, they took second, third and fourth to make up the difference in points.
“These meets are always about PRs,” said Hall. “Whatever these runners did yesterday, they have to do better today.”
All three teams will compete in the MVC meet at Bates College next Saturday, but Lisbon may have the tougher schedule. The Greyhounds will also compete this afternoon at Oxford Hills in a meet with the Vikings and with Hebron Academy.
“It’s tough back-to-back like that, but at this point, it’ll be good for them,” said Hall.
If today’s results are anywhere near as good as Thursday’s were, the team, and Hall, are sure to be pleased – again.
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