It was a good day on the track for both Biddeford’s Maria Curit and Thornton Academy’s Hannah Wiley.
The star performers for each of their schools won two individual state titles.
Curit won the 200 meter beating Wiley by less than a second. That capped her amazing day as she had set the state record for the girls long jump earlier in the morning with a leap of 17 feet, 6 1/2 inches at the indoor track at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.
“I am still a little in shock,” said Curit, who is only a junior. “I have been training hard for about three years at this event.”
Biddeford coach Ron Ouellette said he knew she had a chance to have a special day entering her three events.
“She is a great athlete,” he said. “I’m not really surprised, but I am very proud of her.”
Wiley was not to be out done. She entered the day favored to win two of her three events, the 400 meter and the 55 meter hurdles.
She took home state titles in both of those events.
“It feels pretty good,” she said. “There was a lot of tough competition and I knew I had to stay focused and good things would happen.”
The day didn’t end quite the way Thornton had hoped after winning the Southwestern Championship the week before, knocking off four-time defending champion Scarborough.
The Trojans finished third, scoring 58 points. Scarborough won yet another title, scoring 63 points, edging out second place Bonny Eagle, who scored 62.
“I couldn’t be happier for my team,” Thornton coach Lisa Huntress said. “We finished 15 points higher than was projected as our four seed. That’s amazing. These girls worked hard all year, but some teams stepped up and out performed us today. That happens.”
Thornton Academy finished the regular season racing at the Expo at 12-0.
Wiley and Curit were not the only two local runners who had success. Massabesic’s Hannah Pierce won the state championship in the 1-mile. She beat defending Western Maine Cross Country champ Fiona Hendry of Cheverus by 20 tenths of a second.
“She is so difficult to beat, but I knew I had a chance if I ran my race,” Pierce said. “This is only the second time I have beaten her and I have raced against her so many times.”
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