BATH – While the Edward Little boys dominated the track events Saturday at the KVAC track and field championship, its throwers obliterated the field events.

The Red Eddies easily captured their fourth consecutive conference Class A title by defeating the runner-up Brunswick Dragons 206-92. Lewiston was third with 60 points while Mt. Blue placed fourth with 55 points.

The Red Eddie girls scored in every event they were entered in beating Brunswick by a 154.5 to 120 margin. Lewiston’s girls were fifth with 46 points.

The Edward Little boys swept the scoring by capturing the top six spots in the shotput, five of the top six spots in the discus and four of the top five finishers in the javelin. Overall the throwers accounted for 86 points.

Matt Harmon won the shot put with a throw of 49-feet, 8-inches while Brian Depres (148-4) captured the discus and Troy Barnies took home the top spot in the javelin (163-2).

“The throwers were incredible today,” said Edward Little coach Ryan LaRoche. “They would have been third for the meet. It’s by far the hardest working team we’ve had.”

The Red Eddies also picked up big points from converted baseball player John Alexander. The senior and first-year sprinter won the 100 (11.09 seconds), 200 (22.57) and anchored the winning 400 relay team.

“John doesn’t just bring first-place finishes,” said LaRoche. “He brings leadership and work ethic.”

Ben Cleveland continued his dominance in the 400 (51.49), but he pulled himself out of his last two events after battling cold-like symptoms the past few days.

Lewiston’s George Foster distanced the field in the 800 with a KVAC-record 1:58.74. The defending state champion raced to the front of the pack from the gun and gradually increased his lead throughout the race. Getting out quick kept him from being boxed in.

“I was thinking back to the state meet last year,” said Foster. “I kept seeing (former Mt. Ararat runner) Caleb Levesque in front of me. I knew EL had five guys in there. All they had to do was throw them at me and box me in. I wasn’t going to take the chance of being disqualified for going out of the box.”

Lewiston also picked up wins from its 1,600 relay team and Hossain Naji in the 110 hurdles (15.97) and 300 hurdles (43.07).

Other local winners included Oxford Hills’ Josh Grenier in the racewalk (7:56.22) and Mt. Blue’s Eric Marceau who doubled up in winning the 1,600 (4:37.76) and 3,200 (10:11.15).

The Red Eddie girls only had three individual champions in shot putter Vicki Boehlert (31-0), discus thrower Josie Lahey (93-3) and racewalker Christie Bernier (8:41.17). The meet didn’t start well for them after a disqualification in the 3,200 relay, but they followed up by taking the top three slots in the racewalk. The sophomore-laden squad didn’t disappoint coach Rebecca Hefty as the youthful depth of the team carried them to victory.

“We brought 15 sophomores to the meet and they all scored,” said Hefty. “It’s still surreal until I go home tonight. We came in as the top-seeded team, but I’ve learned seeds mean nothing. Anything can happen. I’m a very superstitious coach. I don’t look at the scores as we go. I worry if we peak too early.”

She shouldn’t have been worried.

“I’m really proud of the girls,” said Hefty. “We had personal bests across the board.”

Other top finishers for EL included sophomore Danielle Paul who took a second-place finish in the 1,600, a third in the 800 and finished fourth in the 400. Fellow sophomores Emily Dodge and Muriel Schwinn combined for six top-four finishes.

Lewiston sprinter Lea Morin turned in three runner-up finishes and a third.

Waterville dominated both the boys and girls Class B meets. The boys beat runner-up MCI 202.33 to 100 while the girls defeated MCI by a 171.33 to 66 score. Maranacook’s girls placed third with 53 points while Leavitt was fourth with 48.

Leavitt’s Allison Fereshetian won the 200 (26.8) and was fourth in the 400.

Ryan Fitzsimmons of Leavitt was the lone local winner on the boys side as he won the racewalk (7:37.5).


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