BATH – Carley O’Brien had a day to remember at Saturday’s Class C State track and field championships. With three first-place finishes along with a runner-up, O’Brien led Traip to its first state title since 1994.

The Rangers needed a strong third-place finish in the final race of the day from its 1,600-meter relay squad to help hold off runner-up John Bapst by a 79-76 margin. The relay unit’s performance was a surprise, with the group seeded  eighth heading into the day.

The Maranacook boys also captured a state title Saturday, wiping out its own  stretch of futility since winning three consecutive titles beginning in 1990. The Black Bears held off Orono by a 75-69 score.

O’Brien took individual firsts in the 100-meter hurdles (15.88 seconds) and the long jump (16-feet, 8¼ inches), while anchoring the 400-meter relay. She also finished second in the triple jump.

“I didn’t sleep last night,” O’Brien said. “After the hurdles race, I calmed down a bit. It still hasn’t hit me, I’m so excited. It’s been a great senior year for me.

The Rangers were also helped by a third-place finish by Ashleigh Roberts in the 100 hurdles as well as third and fourth-place finishes by Jocelyn Lorrey and Jessie Batchelder in the 100.

Lisbon was the top area team, placing fifth with 42 points. The Greyhounds were paced by Lindsey Whitney in the 1,600-meter racewalk and Briana Moore in the shot put. Whitney’s winning time of 8:42.53 was almost 18 seconds ahead of Jay’s Samantha Hutchinson.

Moore won the shot put with a throw of 33-feet, 5-inches. She also turned in a sixth-place finish in the discus. The junior had a bad experience at last year’s meet and had a score to settle — with herself.

“It feels wonderful,” she said of the win. “My sophomore year, I choked. I got down on myself and kind of shut down. This year, I was more familiar with the field. I wanted to go to New Englands.”

The Greyhounds also received key scoring from Angelica Bulgin, who finished third in the javelin along with a third-place in the 3,200-meter relay.

Other local scorers included Danielle Bumman, who won the 300 hurdles in a time of 48.99, and sprinter Karen Rice of Winthrop, who was nipped at the finish line by Old Orchard’s Katie Hatch in the 100. She also turned in a fourth-place finish in the 200.

Mt. Abram sophomore Sadie James was second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600, while teammate Emma Houston came in third in the 400. Dirigo’s Kayla Gaudin was third in the shot put.

Maranacook junior Abby Mace swept the 1,600 and 3,200 to become a double winner in those events for the third consecutive year (In 2009, the Black Bears competed in Class B).

The Black Bears’ boys’ squad was challenged much of the day by Sacopee Valley, which finished in third with 68 points. Lisbon came in fourth with 41 points with Winthrop taking sixth.

Maranacook had balanced scoring throughout the day and had to absorb an early fall by favorite Taylor Watson in the 110-meter hurdles. The junior recovered to finish fourth. Watson also opened for the winning 3,200-meter relay team and took the top spot in the 300 hurdles.

“It was up and down all day,” said Maranacook coach Ronn Gifford. “Aaron fell in the hurdles, but did well to finish fourth. That’s how the day went, all day long. It was a full team effort.”

The Black Bears also has sterling efforts from Evan Vincent, who blew away the field in winning the 1,600-meter racewalk (6:42.16). Vincent finished 70 seconds in front of runner up Patrick LaChance of St. Dom’s. Teammate Chris Pelletier won the triple jump (44-9¾) and secured second in the long jump behind Lisbon’s Morgan Reeves while Harry Lanphear scored in the javelin and discus.

Monmouth’s Kevin Desmond won the 800 (1:58.11) and anchored a thrilling finish to the 1,600 relay. He caught Sacopee’s Kenny Bouchey around the 150-meter mark only to see Bouchey began to pull away on the corner at 200 meters. Desmond then gained the lead coming down the homestretch to win what would be a short-lived victory. Moments after the race, Monmouth coach Tom Menendez was called to the infield and told his team was disqualified after one of the runners used foul language at the finish line area.

Multiple event winners were Orono’s Miguel Caballero in the 200 and 400 and Madison’s Matt McClintock in the 1,600 and 3,200. Local athletes scoring high included Lisbon’s Reeves. Besides winning the long jump (27-7¾), the junior took second in both the triple jump and pole vault. Dirigo’s Bryan Blackman garnered third in the 100 before moving up to second in the 200. Telstar freshman Josef Holt was third in the 3,200 while Livermore Falls’ Jacob Freeman pulled in a third-place finish in the high jump and teammate Ethan Hutchins was third in the 300 hurdles. Lisbon’s Aaron Halls came in third in the long jump.

Winthrop’s Travis Hutchins was the discus champion for the second year in a row (140-7) and came in fourth in the shot put. Teammate Kam Souza was third in the 800

“Just to do it again is great,” said Hutchins of the win. “I felt really confident. There’s a lot of good athletes here and I told myself if I don’t do a P.R., I’m going to lose.”

dst.hilaire@sunjournal.com

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