By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

WINDHAM – As if the heat wasn’t enough to make Saturday’s Class A track and field championships challenging, a couple of Edward Little standouts had to overcome a little more adversity.

For sprinter Colby Brooks, it was a right ankle so swollen from a spraining early in last week’s KVAC meet, that he couldn’t put his running shoe on for Friday’s practice. For all-around star Lindsey Visbaras, it was a hyperextended elbow suffered in her first event yesterday, the long jump.

Brooks and Visbaras gritted their teeth, mopped their brows, won two events each and led the EL boys and girls teams to strong fifth and fourth places finishes, respectively, on Saturday at Windham High School.

“With weather like this and performances like that, you don’t have to win the meet to enjoy the day,” said Edward Little boys boys’ coach Ryan Laroche.

As expected, Portland took home the boys’ title going away. Mt. Ararat knocked off two-time defending champion Thornton Academy for the girls’ title.

Following Portland, South Portland finished second with 77.5, followed by Bonny Eagle (53), Kennebunk (39) and the Red Eddies (37).Mt. Blue placed 17th, Lewiston 21st and Oxford Hills 23rd.

“We knew coming in that Portland and South Portland were going to run away with it,” said Laroche. “We got a lot of good performances. We were seeded for ninth, and we’re going to score about the number of points we were supposed to score.”

Portland swept the relays, and was really only challenged by the Eddies’ 4×100 team of Chris Ash, Garner Lavalley, Nate Guerette and Brooks, which finished .16 of a second behind. The Bulldogs also received strong performances by Skip Edwards, who won the 400, high jump and long jump, and senior brothers Sintayehu and Ayalew Taye, who combined for 38 points. Both of them, along with third place finisher Eric Giddings of South Portland, shattered Ben Fletcher’s seven-year-old record in the 1,600 meters, with Sintayehu setting the new mark at 4:09.69, more than fives seconds ahead of Fletcher’s standard.

“The funny thing is, coming into the meet, Sintayehu was kind of hesitant about running it,” said Portland coach Carroll Nappi. “Then he goes out and shocks everybody because Ayalew won in record time last week, and then he comes back and beats Ayalew in record time this week.”

The pain in Brooks’ ankle wasn’t enough to make him have second thoughts about running in the 100, but he may have had doubts after a slow start in the sprint event. He was able to finish strong in the final 50 meters, though, and edged Bonny Eagle’s Kyle McKague with a time of 11.17.

“My block start was horrible. I had to play catch-up the whole time, but then I pulled it off, so that felt good,” Brooks said moments after getting a bag of ice taped to his still swollen ankle.

“He was fourth with about 50 meters to go (in the 100). I attribute that to the ankle,” Laroche said. “He’s one of the best starters in the state, so obviously that was hurting him.”

Brooks felt the pain return in the 200, but he enjoyed a much smoother run, finishing in 22.56, besting Biddeford’s Dan Belanger (22.83), Oxford Hills’ Dan Magoon (22.85) and Joe French of Mt. Blue (22.85).

“I had an awesome start. I planned on kicking (in the final 100) and I picked it up and set a new school record,” said the junior.

Beth and Jessie Wilcox led Mt. Ararat to its first championship in 30 years. combining to win four events and two relays. Thornton (91.5) placed second, followed by Scarborough (88), Mt. Blue (43) and Edward Little (43). Oxford Hills finished 17th, Lewiston 27th.

Second place finishes by Tess Perry (100), Lisa Hartung (400) and Carly Lochala (1,600 meter race walk) helped the Cougars overcome some low numbers.

“With 12 girls competing, I couldn’t ask for any more,” said Mt. Blue coach Kelly Cullenberg.

Visbaras shook off the elbow injury to win the long jump with a distance of 17-04, an inch ahead of Thornton’s Jenny Pierpont. Pierpont got her revenge in the 200, finishing in 26.11, two-tenths of a second ahead of the EL senior. EL’s 4×100 team of Visbaras, Gina Gaetani, Katie Hughes and Kelsey Pettengill, placed second behind Pierpont and her teammates, but Visbaras finished strong in the triple jump, landing 36-08.5 on her final jump before rushing home for graduation ceremonies.

“It started a little scary,” said EL coach Rebecca Hefty. “It’s tough for seniors coming in. They’re exhausted emotionally and mentally, and then they come in here and it’s 85 degrees. But she pulled it out on her last jump for the triple jump, from a 34-foot jump to a 36-8. She had a wonderful day. It put a great exclamation point to her four years at Edward Little High School.”

Other notable finishes among locals included Oxford Hills’ T.C. Cole (second in the shot put), EL’s Kristin Keene (third, discus) and Tom Esponette (third, 1,600 race walk), Mt. Blue’s Noah Paytas (third, 400). Lewiston’s 4×800 relay team of Tyson Morgan, Nate Gosselin, George Foster and Jason Robustelli placed third.