TRACK – Scarborough's Kirk dominates at state meet

WINDHAM – On Saturday at Windham High School the weather seemed to be just as much of a story as the actual State meet itself. With rain growing in intensity from drizzles to a constant down pour throughout the day, track and field athletes from across the state were forced to conceal their water-soaked bodies underneath their team-designated tents. One could even dub it “Occupy Windham High School.”

The rain quickened the pace in which the events were held, and forced the postponement of the pole vault until Wednesday afternoon at Bates College, when the team titles were set to be decided. (For information on the final event, held after The Current’s deadline, go to keepmecurrent.com.)

As of press time, Edward Little held a slim, 75-74 lead over Scarborough High School on the girls side, both well clear of third-place Bangor (50), while Bonny Eagle (47) and Gorham (42) rounded out the top five.

For the boys, the Sanford maintained a 69-65 lead over the Cheverus Stags, with Bonny Eagle (55.50) and Gorham (45) placing third and fourth, respectively.

Two of the big stories on the day were Scarborough’s Nicole Kirk and Gorham’s Sarah Perkins. While neither competes in the same events, each girl came into the meet on Saturday determined to set and break individual records and collect as many individual state titles as possible.

Kirk collected three titles on Saturday, in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and as a member of the Red Storm’s 4×400 meter relay team. Kirk’s time of 12.25 in the finals of the 100-meter dash was her personal record and a new state record, as she improved her winning time from 2011 by .47 tenths of a second.

“She is always there at the end of the year,” said Red Storm coach Ron Kelly. “She’s worked hard, and that hard work and dedication is paying off. She’s focused and she destroyed the field in the 100.”

Kirk won the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.80 to once again defend her title from the previous year. Teammate Emily Tolman (26.62) finished in third.

Despite her consistent domination of the competition, Kirk’s focus has never waivered and she dismissed the notion of expecting to win.

“Definitely not,” said Kirk. “I mean you have to have confidence, but you can’t go into any competition expecting to win. You know that you’ve worked hard to get here. You should always run your best race.”

It was the understanding that Saturday marked her last meet as a high school athlete motivated Kirk.

“I’ve put so much hard work into this over four years so I just want to show everyone what I can do,” she said. “This is my last state meet and my last chance to see what I can do.”

As for Perkins, she continued her dominance in the girls’ hurdle events. Perkins, who won the 100-meter hurdles last year with a time of 15.52 improved on her time with a personal-best 15.02 while defending her title. Perkins dominated the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.43, over two-and-a-half seconds faster than second-place finisher Micki McConihe of Massabesic.

“First of all, she’s a hard worker and a great leader,” said Gorham coach John Caterina. “She’s put in so much time and effort this year to get where she is. She obviously has a lot of natural ability but she has worked very hard.”

Caterina admires Perkins’ ability to remain focused despite past success. “She keeps a level head about it,” he said.

With Perkins and Kirk combining for five titles on the day, Kelly acknowledged that having athletes of their caliber is a necessity.

“You need to have those people,” said Kelly. “Any team that is going to win is going to have those athletes.”