The York senior acknowledges he’s had a case of the jitters when it comes to big meets, but Saturday, he knew he and his fellow Wildcats couldn’t wilt under the pressure.

“I’m one that tends to panic a lot, especially in the past state meets,” Arsenault said. “I’ve struggled with the mental aspect of it. This meet, I was focused on doing what you’ve got to do and it only one jump.”

Arsenault’s resolve paid off at Bates College. He won the triple jump. He was seeded third but was victorious in the event. As if that wasn’t a great enough achievement, the win gave the Wildcats the overall team championship. It was the fourth state title in five years for the York boys.

“It’s actually incredible,” Arsenault said after the victory. “We knew coming in that it would be between us and Foxcroft all the way through.”

York won the meet with 56 points, while Foxcroft settled for second with 44. Mount Desert Island was third with 38 and Old Town followed in fourth place with 34. Traip rounded out the top five with 30.

Among the local boys’ teams, Poland finished 17th, led by a win in the 4×200 relay. Lisbon and Gray-New Gloucester finished tied at 22nd.

On the girls’ side, Orono ended Waterville’s five-year reign. The Red Riots have won four straight Class C outdoor state titles, but Waterville has dominated the B indoor meet in recent years. 

“There’s always that thought of what if we could?” senior Lauren Stoops said. “Mostly, it’s about how people do and we hope the individuals or relays have PRs. Then we let the rest take care of itself.”

Orono led for much of the meet and finished with 87 points. Greely was second with 65, while York took third with 50. Yarmouth (36) and Old Town (24.5) were also in the top five respectively.

“We were talking about it this week,” said Orono junior Tia Tardy, who won three events. “Everyone was pumped up. We have a great team with some great athletes. We just wanted to come in here and do our best and whatever the result was we’re going to be happy with it.”

Gray-New Gloucester was the top local team, finishing eighth with 19 points. Poland was 28th.

The boys’ meet was a tight one down the stretch and it appeared as though it might come down to the final relay. After 11 events, York had 41 points, while Foxcroft had 39 and MDI was close behind at 38.

York picked up a point in the two-mile, but the lead was only 42-39 with two events left. In the triple jump, Foxcroft’s Hunter Smith was the top seed, while Arsenault was seeded third. Arsenault won the event with a jump of 40-03.75. Smith finished fifth at 38-07.50, well under his seeded distance of 40-11.50. Arsenault, who also finished third in the hurdles, knew the meet was close and that the triple jump was crucial.

“You just try to forget about the score, even though people are coming up to me and asking, ‘Where are you at? or ‘Where do we stand overall?'” Arsenault said. “Coach always says to ignore everything else as much as possible.”

The win by Arsenault provided enough of a cushion that the final relay didn’t matter. York did finish fourth in that relay, one place ahead of Foxcroft.

“At the beginning of the week, I’m thinking we were going to need divine intervention just for this to happen,” York coach Ted Hutch said. “We were seeded at 36 and they were seeded at 54. But we made up 18 points at the beginning of the meet in the 4×800 and the long jump.”

Hutch, whose been coaching for over two decades, says he’s never had a team overachieve like this year’s squad. He said Arsenault has been a key leader on the team.

“He’s a four-year veteran,” Hutch said. “He does summer track. He’s been doing track since he was a kid. He’s a captain. He’s a wonderful and hard-working athlete. He’s really matured over the last year, and he’s been to the state meet every year the last four years.”

The best finish of any local team in the boys’ meet came from the Poland boys’ relay team in the 4×200.  Ben Bernier, Joseph Kaczynski, Tommy Flint and Evan Gallagher were the top seeds going into the race and finished in 1:37.05. The four Knights just edged out Old Town, which finished in 1:37.10.

“We knew they were coming in seeded No. 1,” Poland coach Rick Kramer said. “They haven’t had great handoffs all year long. Today, once again, we didn’t have great handoffs, but we still came through those handoffs and held off that kid from Old Town. It was incredible.”

Bernier also finished sixth in the 200 for Poland in 24.13.

Lisbon’s Nick Harriman was fourth in the mile in 4:42.45, while Gray-New Gloucester’s Ben Garcia placed fifth in the two-mile with a time of 10:17.34.

Stoops and Tardy led Orono’s win in the girls’ meet. Tardy, who transferred from Mattanawcook to Orono this year, won three events.

“I knew there would be some tough competition here,” Tardy said. “So I wasn’t expecting to win. There are great girls here and everybody had great performances today. I just come in with a strategy in mind. I just do what I can.”

Tardy won the mile in 5:10.46 and added a win in the 800 in 2:23.24. She completed the day with a victory in the two-mile in 11:30.72. She was the defending state champ in both the 800 and the two-mile.

“After doing the mile and the 800, my legs were really tired and I’m coming off a cold,” Tardy said. “So the two-mile is just whatever’s left in the tank and I used it up. I try not to burn myself out at the beginning of the race. I’ve definitely been there before. So I just learn as I go and whatever is there, I use up every last bit of it.”

Stoops won the hurdles in 8.70 and won the 200 in 26.68. She finished second in the 55 dash in 7.49, losing to Yarmouth’s Emma Egan. Stoops was the top seed in both the hurdles and 200 and was seeded second to Egan in the dash.

“I think it’s amazing for our team,” Stoops said of the day. “Normally, it’s the bigger teams that win because they have the depth. We have a lot of very talented people on our teams.”

Some local highlights from the girls’ meet included the shot putters from Gray-New Gloucester. Senior Clara Phillips was third with a throw of 24-05.50, while teammates senior Tram Ho (33-07.50) and junior Emma MacCallum (33-04.50) followed in fourth and fifth, respectively. Madison Post also placed in a pair of events for the Patriots. The freshman took fifth in the 55-meter dash in 7.70 and fifth in the 200 in 27.66.

Poland best finish came from Leah Desjardins. The senior placed seventh in the 55 dash in 7.71.

kmills@sunjournal.com