BRUNSWICK – A season-long battle for bragging rights between the Lewiston and Edward Little boys’ track teams came down to one, final race. Along with those bragging rights was an elusive state title.
The Blue Devils edged the Red Eddies in the last race of the day to nip their neighboring rivals and capture their first track state crown at the Class A track and field championships held at Bowdoin College’s Whittier Field Saturday.
The Blue Devils defeated the Red Eddies by an 82.5-79 margin for the boys’ title. Bangor finished third with 56 points. Scarborough easily took the girls’ championship with a 104-93 win over Thornton.
With just 1 half points separating the two teams, the meet was settled by the 1,600-meter relay. Lewiston’s Abdirazak “Speedy” Mohamed came out of the blocks and quickly opened up a 20-meter lead over EL’s Chris Ash. The 800-meter specialist was coming off a disappointing finish earlier in his individual event.
“He ran aggressive,” said Lewiston coach Ray Putnam. “He wasn’t happy with his 800 performance. He just stepped up.”
The lead proved to be a pivotal one since the Blue Devils had Kurt Thibeault, the 400 state champion, waiting for the anchor leg.
“All we had to do was get a big enough lead,” said Mohamed.
As Thibeault grabbed the baton from Jeff Lucier, he had a 10-meter lead over Garner LaValley. The Blue Devils appeared to be in total control, but with 80 meters left in the race, the two were suddenly neck-and-neck down the stretch. It was then that Thibeault pulled away to grab a second-place finish in the race and gave his team the overall state crown.
“He closed about 10 meters on the state 400 champion,” said EL coach Ryan LaRoche of LaValley’s effort. “He made it a race. I didn’t think he had a chance at the handoff.”
“With Kurt, I figured even if we were behind that we were going to win,” said Putnam. “He’s an animal.”
The Red Eddies missed a great chance to pick up three points late in the day. In the 3,200 race, Tom Esponette, the 11th seed for the race, was the fifth runner to cross the finish line. Unfortunately for the Red Eddies he was disqualified for elbowing.
Colby Brooks led the Red Eddie charge with wins in the 100, 200 and an impressive anchor leg in the winning 400 relay. He also finished a close second to Thibeault in the 400. In the 100, Brooks established a new state record with his 10.86-second mark.
“I can’t even explain it,” said Brooks. “It’s such a good feeling. I wanted it so bad.”
The Blue Devils took home five individual titles, along with the 3,200 relay they had picked up last week before the meet was delayed by rain.
Matt Cyr hit 14-feet on the pole vault to win a tight competition over Brunswick David Slovenski. Cyr held the advantage by hitting his last two heights early, only to see Slovenski continue to hit the mark on his final vaults.
“It was nerve wracking,” said Cyr, “but I knew I had the confidence in myself to pull it off.”
Jared Turcotte won the long jump, while Toby Poirer captured the javelin.
The biggest surprise for the Blue Devils was George Foster’s performance in the 800. The fifth seed improved his best time by almost four seconds. He trailed top seed Caleb Levesque by 20 meters with only 80 to go, but surged ahead to pass the Mt. Ararat runner at the tape.
“We won this meet because of George Foster,” said Putnam. “He’s a big race runner. Nobody beats his kick. That’s his statement, but he backed it up today.”
Other records that fell include the girls’ pole vault and the girls’ 3,200. Cony sophomore Bethany Dumas vaulted 11-6 to break her mark set as a freshman. She also won the javelin. The 3,200 race went to Scarborough’s Erica Jesseman, who led the Red Storm to the girls’ title.
“I went out way too fast,” said the junior. “I tried to set my own pace, but I’m very happy with my time.”
The top local finish for the girls was by EL’s Teresa Ranucci in the 1,600-meter race walk. The Red Eddies also picked up a third in the 400 relay. They finished a distant 12th for the overall team title.
Multiple winners on the girls’ side included Thornton’s Jenny Pierpoint (100 and 200), Lawrence’s Vanessa Letourneau (400 and 800) and Messalonskee’s Jesse LaBreck (high jump and triple jump).
[email protected]
Comments are no longer available on this story