By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

BAR HARBOR – Leavitt’s Jeff Ramos didn’t let the conditions get the best of him.

After taking second place last year, he won the high jump at the Class B track championship on Saturday at Mt. Desert Island High School.

“You try to stay warm and dry,” said Ramos, who nearly slipped and fell on his first attempt of the day. “It’s really hard to stay stretched out in cold and wet weather. I just tried to stay inside the school most of the day.”

Fryeburg’s Jenna Ligor tried to look on the bright side.

Granted, the rain-soaked competition had little signs of brightness among the dreary clouds that constantly poured down on competitors, but Ligor looked for the positives.

“I tried to tell myself “I love rain. I love rain.'”, said the Fryeburg senior. “It won’t bother me as much as other people, especially since I have a lot of allergies. So when it rains, the allergy level is pretty low.”

Ligor used that perspective to win the 800.

It was a day where athletes not only were pushed by opponents, but were also challenged by the elements.

The meet was the only state event not to be postponed. The meet, however, still did not finish. The pole vault was rescheduled for Monday at Winslow High School.

The participants and officials had to brave steady rain, gusty winds and various other obstacles to get through the day. At one point, the long jump pit was nearly flooded and the event schedule was tossed aside early in the afternoon as the weather worsened.

“It’s always tough in this type of weather,” said Fryeburg coach Terry MacGillvray. “It’s the ones that don’t get in as good a shape that this kind of weather doesn’t hold true for.”

The team standings through Saturday had York ahead in both boys and girls. The boys’ meet is still very tight with the Wildcats at 61 while Waterville is second in 58. Lake Region and Cape Elizabeth each have 48.

Mountain Valley was ninth with 32 while Leavitt was 12th with 23.

York won the girls’ meet with 93 points while Cape Elizabeth was second with 73. The Capers cannot get enough points in the pole vault to pass the Wildcats. Greely was third with 61 while MDI was right behind with 60.

Maranacook was seventh with 32 followed by Fryeburg with 30.

“We’ve got a great sophomore class,” said MacGillvray. “You want to watch for Fryeburg in two years.”

Sophomore Coreen Hennessey had one of the better days for the Raiders. She won the girls’ long jump and took sixth in the triple jump. She also joined Ligor, Yasmin Azel and Felicia Hart to take fifth in the 4×100 relay.

“I thought I wouldn’t do as good because it wasn’t very good conditions, but I pulled it off,” said Hennessey of the long jump in which she was seeded fourth.

Ligor had a tough go of it in holding off the pack in the 800 but shrugged off a late push by the competition.”

“Coming down the final stretch, it was pretty much a battle,” said the senior who is headed for Bates next year. “Girls were elbowing, and I got off my stride three times, but at the end, I just poured it on.”

Fryeburg also got a fourth from Rebecca Kurnick in the high jump.

Maranacook got a fine day from Abby Pullen. She was second in the 3,200, third in the 1,600 and fourth in the 800. The Black Bears also got a win from Livia Gaewsky in the race walk and a fourth from Eryn Neptune in the triple jump.

Poland got a fifth from Chelsea Bernardo in the high jump and a sixth in the javelin from Paige Piper. Leavitt’s top performances came from Amanda Adamen with a sixth in the long jump. The Hornets team of Becca Paquette, Jess Fields, Jessie Hinckley and Lauren Fereshetian also took sixth in the 4×800 relay.

The Leavitt boys’ got most of its points from Ramos, a senior headed for Maine next year. He won the high jump and was seventh in the long jump. He also joined Ben Parkin, Corey Witham and Rich Lake to place sixth in the 4×100 relay.

“I knew it was going to rain,” said Ramos, the top seed in the high jump. “So I wasn’t expecting to get very high, but I was expecting to win because I was seeded so high.”

Lauren Turner added a fourth in the high jump, and Witham was sixth in the long jump. Ryan Fitzsimons took third in the 1,600.

Mountain Valley’s Ed Booker was second in the high jump. The Falcons also got a fourth from Josh Burke in the 400, a fifth from Tyler Jasud in the 800 and a third and fifth from Dylan Cayer in the 200 and 100 respectively. The Falcons 4×100 relay team of David Martin, Burke, Devin Roberts and Cayer finished second.

Sequoyah Reynoso led the Fryeburg boys’ with a win in the 200 and a fourth in the 100. Max Hoddwells won the 110 hurdles for Maranacook. Poland’s top performances came from Mario Giampetruzzi with a fifth in the javelin and a sixth in the 110 hurdles from T.J. England.

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