Lisbon left behind its drive for five and is now steering for six.

The Greyhounds’ track and field teams have swept the boys’ and girls’ titles at the Mountain Valley Conference championship every year since 2006.

Six meets into the season, it looks like MVC rivals again will have a tough time competing with the perennial champions’ depth when they convene Friday, May 27 at Cony High School.

“Every year you have to look at how the sophomores are going to make out as juniors, and how much better are they going to be than the year before,” Lisbon coach Dean Hall said. “You have to find a few freshmen and see where they can fit in.”

Good news for the Greyhounds: They’re exhibiting both the depth and individual talent needed to win those postseason meets.

Monday provided Lisbon a nice dress rehearsal at Sacopee Valley High School in South Hiram. The girls won the meet, with the boys finishing second.

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“That was kind of a long day’s journey into night,” Hall said. “It was an open meet for Class C teams. It ended up being a 12-team meet. There originally were 22 schools signed up.”

Lisbon enjoyed the same results Friday against Class B Gray-New Gloucester.

The Greyhounds got the better of the Patriots on the girls’ side, 145-130, while the G-NG boys edged Lisbon, 158-127.

“Our girls probably have a little more edge than the boys right now,” Hall said. “The boys are a lot younger. We already find ourselves saying, ‘OK, where’s this kid going to be two years from now or three years from now?’ “

Senior sprinter and jumper Tara Metzger, jumper Allicyn Fitzgerald and throwers Briana Moore and Angie Bulgin help the Lisbon girls cover the score sheet.

“They don’t want to lose,” Hall said.

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Sabrina Wallace (hurdles), Lindsey Whitney (racewalk) and Gabby Ouellette (jumps) have been event winners for the Greyhounds.

Morgan Reeves (jumps), Keenan Grover (pole vault), Aaron Halls (sprints, jumps) and Jordan Torres (sprints, relays) anchor the boys. Lisbon also has seen marked improvement from Kyle Sheehan, who has multiple wins in hurdles and high jump.

“He’s the kid who has probably been our biggest surprise in the transition from freshman to sophomore,” Hall said of Sheehan.

Horse power

Monmouth Academy enjoyed a milestone moment in the history of its girls’ track and field program Monday.

The Mustangs won a hard-fought, seven-team meet against Mountain Valley Conference competition. The top five schools — Monmouth, host Hall-Dale, Winthrop, Wiscasset and Jay — were separated by only 25 points.

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There isn’t much time for celebration. Monmouth travels to Auburn on Thursday for a meet with Class A power Edward Little and four-time defending Class B champion Waterville.

“It’s an excellent challenge,” Monmouth coach Tom Menendez said.

Menendez is most enthusiastic about seeing how his talented group of hurdlers handles the heightened competition.

Sophomore Danielle Bumann leads the charge. A top-six finisher in both hurdle events at the Class C state meet last year, Bumann chalked up 38 points by herself at Hall-Dale.

Bumann swept the hurdles, ran a leg of the victorious 4×400 relay along with Melissa Brassard, Rosemary Bryant and Ashley Coulombe, and snagged second in triple jump.

“She’s one of those kids who just wants to compete,” Menendez said. “It’s ‘put me on the track and let me go.’ She’s just started the triple jump this year, but in the others we already knew she had all the skills.”

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Brassard, a sophomore, and freshman Tiffany Pease also are emerging as threats to join Bumann as scorers in the upcoming conference and state meets.

Monmouth’s Molly Menice (javelin) and Lanayria Urquhart (shot put) also won their events Monday.

“I don’t have any seniors, believe it or not,” Menendez said. “It has been more consistent. We’ve been able to spread out and cover more events than we did last year.”

Landing on his feet

The recent closing of Elan School hasn’t broken the stride of its best male athlete this spring.

Jack Peters is enrolled at Gray-New Gloucester, where he accounted for most of the Patriots’ winning margin in last Friday’s meet with Lisbon. Peters won the 100 and 200 meters and the triple jump. He broke the 11-second threshold in the 100.

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At Elan, Peters scored 32 points in the Class C state meet as a sophomore, winning the 200 and triple jump titles.

Peters also plays basketball and has a full year of eligibility remaining.

Wind sprints

— Winthrop’s boys won their meet at Hall-Dale on Monday. Joey Brennan (100), Kameron Souza (1,600) and Richard Van Twistern (300 hurdles) captured individual titles.

— Mt. Blue girls edged Messalonskee by a single point, 108-107, in a KVAC competition Friday in Readfield. Event winners for the Cougars were Emily Ramsey (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 4×100 relay), Gwen Beacham (1,600, 4×800), Allison Brown (400), Miranda Nicely (800, 4×800) and Addie Cullenberg (3,200, 4×800).

koakes@sunjournal.com


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