Saturday was a day to celebrate for the Gorham boys’ track team as they captured the title at the SMAA championship track meet.
The Rams were strong all the way around, scoring 99 points and winning five individual events. Winners for the Rams were Kyle Perkins, Josh Maxwell and the 4×100 meter relay team.
Maxwell claimed three event wins in a very successful day. He won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.92. He also won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.36. Maxwell was also the victor in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 22.78.
The 4×100 meter relay team dominated their race with a time of 44.70, finishing nearly two seconds ahead of runner up Deering. Perkins took the championship in the pole vault by clearing the bar at 13 feet.
The Rams had many other athletes who turned in strong performances. Justin Villacci was third in a very close 100-meter dash. His time was 11.46. Lucas Seiferth was sixth in the 1600-meter race walk with a time of 9:01.61. Tim Millett took fifth in the mile with a time of 4:39.20. He then turned around and ran the 3200 meters in a time of 10:24 to finish fourth. The Rams had three runners in the top six in the 400-meter dash. Cam Stevens was second, Jake Brown was third and Tim Lord was sixth. Stevens’ time was 52.26, Brown’s was 53.5 and Lord’s was 56.26.
The 4×400 meter relay team finished as the runner up to Deering with a time of 3:33.72. Simone Nogare was fifth in the long jump with a distance of 20’1″. Kyle Brown finished third in the javelin with a top throw of 147’5″. Andrew Nash and Peter VandeKrol finished fifth and sixth in the discus throw. Nash was fifth with a throw of 130’3″ and VandeKrol was sixth with a throw of 126’2″.
The girls’ team had a successful day as well, winning six individual events and scoring 86.5 points on their way to a third place finish. Alyson Fearon, Liz Demski, Leigh Maniscalco and the 4×100 meter relay team were the winners for the Rams.
Maniscalco won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 46.55 and she was also the top long jumper with a distance of 16’5.5″. Fearon took the top spot in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.65 and won the 200 meters by a tenth of a second over Maniscalco with a time of 26.21. Demski was the winner in the race walk with a time of 8:56.74. The 4×100 meter relay team clipped Bonny Eagle with a time of 51.39.
The rest of the Gorham girls squad turned in many other strong performances. The 4×400 meter relay team was fifth in their race with a time of 4:28.50. Aside from Maniscalco, the Rams had two other strong showings in the long jump. Lindsay Hansen and Marissa Owens were third and fourth respectively. Hansen took third with a distance of 15’9″ and Owens was fourth with a jump of 15’7.25″. Owens was also sixth in the triple jump going 32’8.5″. Also in the triple jump, Corey Perkins was fourth for the Rams with a distance of 33’7.25″. Katie Bola finished fifth in the pole vault by clearing a height of 7’6″.
Scots, Blazes turn in solid performances
The Bonny Eagle boys finished seventh while the girls team placed eighth at the SMAA meet. The Scots didn’t win any individual events, but turned in many strong efforts.
The boys earned 41 points on their way to the seventh place finish. The 4×800 meter relay team finished sixth with a time of 8:46.09. Nate Doehler was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.87. He then finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.9. Allen Cox and Dalton Groeger had strong performances in the 1600-meter race walk. Cox was the runner up with a time of 7:51.26 and Groeger was fourth with a time of 8:44.86.
The 4×100 meter relay team finished third in their race with a time of 46.27. Evan Semle finished fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.12. In the 3200-meter run Noah Schoneberg finished third for the Scots with a time of 10:20.80. Jamie Ruginski was the runner up in the triple jump with a distance of 43’2″.
“Overall I think our young kids did well,” said Bonny Eagle coach Greg Wilkinson. “We knew we were going in short handed. I figured we could get second if we had everybody. I had a sophomore go 42 feet in the triple jump; which is outstanding. The Doehler kid scored in both hurdles. Our 4×100 team was three sophomores and a freshman and got third. We need to build up we don’t have a lot of depth right now. The young kids are coming along and we will have a great group coming along next year.”
The girls’ team earned 35.2 points on their way to their eighth place finish. Melissa Carrier was the runner up in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.86. She was also fourth in the 200 with a time of 26.96. Ashley Cox was third in the race walk with a time of 9:01.36. The 4×100 meter relay team finished second in their race with a time of 51.63. Kat Pagano was fifth in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:27.73. The Scots had two in the top five of the high jump. Amber Cronin was third with a height of 4’10” and Lindsay Dyer was fifth also at 4’10”.
While there were no individual winners for the Westbrook Blue Blazes, some individual strong performances stood out.
The girls earned 12 points and finished 12th and the boys got two points for a 15th place finish overall. Erin Murphy finished third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.83. She also finished third in the triple jump with a distance of 33’8.5″. Joel Chadbourne was fifth in the boys’ shot put with a throw of 46’2″.
This Saturday the teams will be in action again at the Class A state meet at Morse High School in Bath. The meet begins at 10 a.m.
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