GORHAM — It didn’t matter that Charlotte Pierce was passed on the final lap of her last race of the day. Pierce, and her Thornton Academy teammates, were already champions, and the sprint medley relay all but became a victory parade for the Golden Trojans.
Thornton left Bonny Eagle and the rest of the SMAA in its dust in winning the Southwestern Maine Girls Indoor Track Championship at the University of Southern Maine on Saturday.
“We already knew our team was going to win, so there was no pressure,” Pierce said of the medley relay. “It was just kind of icing on the cake.”
Thornton took first in nine individual events to easily distance itself from the second-place Scots. Pierce, Amanda Arnold, Carly McKenna and Tori Daigle all won multiple events. That quartet made up the four members of the sprint medley relay, who Pierce called “the power team.”
Pierce dominated the distance events, taking first place in both the one- and two-mile runs, as well as finishing third in the senior 800-meter run.
Arnold won both the senior divisions in the long jump and the triple jump, and finished second to McKenna in the senior 55-meter hurdles. McKenna also won the senior high jump.
Arnold set a personal record in the triple on her first jump, with a leap of 33-2 1/4. Thornton girls coach Lisa Huntress said she had a feeling Arnold would have a good performance.
“I was watching her, and I was like, ”˜You know I think it’s going to be a good day for her today.’ And sure enough, her first jump ”¦” said Huntress, alluding to Arnold setting a personal record.
Daigle was the runner-up in the junior 55-meter dash, won the junior 200-meter dash, and won the junior 55-meter hurdles with the fastest time of either division.
Making Daigle’s performance even more impressive was that she ran the finals of the hurdles and the 55-dash back to back, with only a couple of minutes in between.
“Those are not easy races to run back to back. But she handled herself just beautifully,” said Huntress.
Thornton also got multiple point-scoring performances from Brayden Costa and Anna Mehlinger, with Costa winning the junior triple jump.
The Trojans picked up some awards during the meet, as Huntress was honored as Girls Coach of the Year, and Pierce was named the Most Outstanding Distance Runner.
Other notable performances on the girls side were a second-place finish in the senior shot put for Biddeford’s Ashley Belanger, and third-place finishes for Biddeford’s Olivia Jones in the senior triple jump and the senior 55-meter dash. The Massabesic 4×800-meter relay team also had a third-place finish.
Belanger was named the SMAA’s Most Outstanding Girls Field Event Performer during the meet.
Thornton Academy also had a good day on the boys side, as the Trojans finished third as a team behind heavyweights Scarborough and Cheverus, with 88 points. The Trojans got much of their help from two junior sprinters, Derek Boissonnault and Andrew Smith. They finished first and second in the junior 55-meter dash, with Boissonnault coming out on top. Boissonnault also took third in the junior 200-meter dash. The pair was also part of the winning junior 4×200-meter relay team, which finished with a season-best 1:39.84.
Thornton also got major contributions from Ryan Cadorette, who finished second in the two-mile run, and senior division shot-putters David LePauloue, Cody Meserve and Ian Paul, who finished second, third and fifth, respectively.
The Biddeford Tigers had two event winners on the boys side, with James Ociti winning the senior 400-meter dash and Justin Gagnon taking first in the junior 55-meter hurdles. Gagnon was the runner-up in both the junior high jump and triple jump. Ociti also had fourth-place finishes in the senior 55 and 200-meter dashes, which combined with the 400 that Biddeford track coach Ron Ouellette called “a tough triple.”
“James had a great day,” said Ouellette. “He was outstanding, and I can’t think of a kid that deserves more for the hard work he puts in.”
But the day belonged to the Thornton girls, who came into the meet as the favorites, and left as champions ”“ by more than 50 points.
Huntress was already looking ahead to the state championship meet, which the Trojans have a chance to win, she said.
“I was hoping that we would tighten up a little bit before states, and we definitely did that,” said Huntress.
— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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