BATH – The votes were all in.

Before the season had even begun, the Edward Little boys’ track team set its goals high. Despite losing 19 from a team that won a fourth straight KVAC title last year, the Red Eddies, by a majority vote, declared the KVAC in their sights once again.

“We set goals at the beginning of the season,” said EL boys’ coach Ryan LaRoche, who asked his team to each pick a team goal and three individual goals.

“Out of 55 kids, 42 of them said that the KVAC was the team goal. I went through the goals the other day, and I couldn’t believe how many said that was the goal.”

The only question was whether the Red Eddies could match their effort and performance with their desire.

Saturday, EL answered with a resounding “Yes!”

The EL boys’ claimed a fifth straight KVAC championship with 144 points. Brunswick was second with 108 while Lewiston was third with 82.

“Our goal from the season was to win KVAC’s,” said sophomore Jeremy Theriault. “From the beginning of the season, we knew this was what we wanted.”

It was also a goal for the EL girls’, and that feat was achieved as well Saturday, despite persistent rains and a lengthy delay because of a thunder storm.

The EL girls won a second straight title with 133 points. Brunswick was second with 100 while Mt. Ararat was third with 83.50. Lewiston took fifth with 61 while Mt. Blue was seventh with 26.

“I feel like we had the same expectations as always,” said junior Danielle Paul. “We’re always looking to win no matter what. We have a winning tradition at Edward Little. So coming in first, we wanted to win as much as we did last year.”

The EL girls entered the meet with expectations of a repeat but having not faced Brunswick this season, the Red Eddies knew it could be a challenge.

“On paper, it was pretty hands down, but everybody knows that on paper doesn’t mean anything,” said EL girls’ coach Rebecca Hefty. “Anything can happen and make a difference. We don’t put the pressure or the expectations on them. We just come in and perform.”

EL’s depth paid significant dividends. The Red Eddies only had two girls take first. That was Danielle Paul in the 1,600 and Christie Bernier in the racewalk. EL also had a win in the 4×100 relay. It was the abundance of EL girls in multiple events that racked up the points.

“It makes a difference when you’re here at the KVACs,” said Hefty, who has just two seniors on the squad. “You’ve got to have that depth.”

EL took first and second in the racewalk, with Bernier winning and Teressa Ranucci finishing second. Josie Lahey, Diana Kruzewski, Jamie Sevit and Frankie Lally took second through fifth respectively in the javelin. In the triple jump, Emily Dodge took second while Abby Downs was third.

Brunswick was within 96-92 after 14 events and the 200, but that was before EL’s domination in the field events put them well ahead.

“We didn’t have 20 points from the javelin,” said Hefty. “The javelin, the racewalk, the triple jump were huge today.”

In addition to her placing in the triple jump, Dodge was third in the 100 hurdles, long jump and 300 hurdles. Muriel Schwinn was second in the long jump, third in the 100 and fifth in the 200. EL also got a third from Emily Ranucci in the pole vault,a fourth from Hanna Mogensen in the 400 and Downs added a third in the triple jump.

Paul had to outrace Lewiston’s Toby Crispin in the 1,600. Paul was second in the event last year. She edged out Crispin by just six seconds.

“That’s what’s so great,” said Paul of racing against Crispin. “I know there’s someone there, either in front of me or behind me. It pushes me. Knowing she’s going to be there, I want to be able to get in front of her and get going.”

Crispin added a third in the 800. Lewiston was led by Lea Morin. She had a second in the 100 and 200 and took third in the 400. Kim Archibald was third in the discus and fourth in the shot. Lewiston also won the 4×400 relay.

Other local highlights included Mt. Blue’s Meloday Lam taking third in the 1,600. Oxford Hills got a fifth from Amelia Moore in the high jump and a fifth from Kara Wood in the shot.

The EL boys also jumped out to the early lead but watched Brunswick close the gap. The Dragons were within 61-53 prior to the 800. That was before Theriault and Tyler Gammon took first and second. Gammon also had a fifth in the 1,600.

“They were seeded like six points ahead of us, so we knew we needed to pick up some points,” said Theriault. “We were seeded third and fifth. So we were both like ‘Let’s go one and two and pick up some points.'”

EL never looked back after that. In addition to Theriault’s first-place finish, the Red Eddies got a win from Ben Hartnett in the high jump. He also took third in the long jump. Jacob Dubois was first in the shot and third in the discus. EL also got a win from the 4×100 relay team.

Other highlights for EL was Josh Clark taking second in the pole vault. Sean Daigle was third in the javelin while Dylan Therrien was fourth in the javelin, second in the discus and second in the shot. Garrett Wyman was fourth in the long jump, while Keith Trembly took second in the racewalk. EL also doubled up in the 300 hurdles with Nick Kazar in fourth and James Philbrook in fifth.

Merton Foss and Dustin Haupt did the same in the 200, claiming third and sixth respectively.

“Coming into the day, I knew if we had our absolute best day, we had a chance,” said LaRoche. “It’s the fifth in a row for the team and the fourth in a row for me as head coach. This is the best I’ve felt at the end of the day. Kids stepped up all over the place. Everywhere we looked, kids were stepping up for us from their seeds.”

Lewiston got a first in the 3,200 and a second in the 1,600 from Mohamed Noor. Josh Pelletier added a win in the javelin. Hossain Naji was second in the 110 hurdles and third in the triple jump while Tom Tripp had a third in the 110 hurdles and third in the 300 hurdles. Ryan Coleman added a third in the shot while the Blue Devils also won the 4×800 relay.

Mt. Blue was led by Eric Marceau. He finished fourth in the 1,600, sixth in the 3,200 and fifth in the javelin. Other Cougar highlights included a second by Sam Mungin in the 400 and a fifth by Kelton Cullenberg in the 800.

In the Class B meet, the Leavitt girls took third with 63 points. Waterville took the top spot with 193 while MCI was second with 74.33. In the boys’ meet, Waterville was first with 163 followed by Maranacook with 109 and Leavitt with 95.

Allie-Sue Fereshitian led the Leavitt girls’ team with a win in the 300 hurdles, a second in the 200 and a third in the 100 hurdles. Becca Paquette was third in the 800. Amanda Adamen had a fifth in the long jump while Nina Desoi was second in the pole vault.

The boys were led by Ryan Fitzsimons with a win in the racewalk. L.T. Sierra won the 800 and took second in the pole vault. Ben Parkin was third in the 100 and 200 while Justin Fereshitian was second in the 800 and 1,600. Drake Smith added a fifth in the 400 while Lauren Turner was third in the high jump. Josh Stickland doubled up with a second in the long jump and fourth in the shot.