LEWISTON — Greely distance coach David Dowling smiled at Chloe Smith after she finished eighth in the 2-mile run at the Class B state meet Saturday. Smith, a junior, was crying as she told Dowling over and over she was sorry for missing seventh place and the one point she would have scored.
Smith was terrified the missed point would cost the Rangers their first state title since 2008 in a hotly contested meet at Bates College. As it turned out, Greely edge Mt. Desert Island with a balanced team effort, finishing with 62.2 points to 53 for the Trojans. Old Town was third with 39.2 points.
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The boys’ meet also was close almost until the end. But when Giovanni McKenzie won the triple jump for MDI, the Trojans pulled away from the pack with 58 points, ahead of Greely’s 38.5 and Old Town’s 36.
Greely’s head coach, John Folan, collected his 11th girls’ indoor track state title in 24 seasons. He said the joy from Saturday’s meet was simply being in the hunt for another title, not necessarily the prize.
“What I’m most proud of is that every year we are near the top, we put in a consistently good effort,” Folan said.
The team got a lift from senior captain Katherine Leggat-Barr, who finished third in both the mile (5 minutes, 15.02 seconds) and 2-mile (11:47.09), and sophomore Carolyn Todd, who took fourth in both events (5:29.80 and 11:55.06).
“We said yesterday to just run for the team,” Leggat-Barr said. “On the last lap, when you’re tired, just run for the team. It’s an amazing feeling.
The Rangers also collected points from Maggie McCormick, who took third in the pole vault (8-6); Zoe Lambert, who was third in the long jump (16-2 1/4); Lauren Williams, who finished second in the high jump (5-0); Elizabeth Brown, who took fifth in the high jump (5-0); and Skylar Cooney, who was fourth in the 55-meter hurdles (9.24).
Their 800 relay was seeded fifth but ran 1:53.58 for third place.
Smith improved on her seed by one position to finish fifth (5:42.07) in the mile and also ran a leg on the third-place 3,200 relay team (10:18.40).
“I was overcome with emotion,” Smith said of being distraught after the 2-mile. “This is the most selfless team I have ever been on. Everybody does everything for everybody else. It is amazing.”
Folan noted that the tandem of Leggat-Barr and Todd helped offset the performance of MDI senior Tia Tardy, who scored 28 points by winning the mile (5:04.95) and 800 (2:18.58) and taking second in the 2-mile (11:43.69) behind Yarmouth’s Abby Hamilton (11:21.24).
Olivia Damboise of Old Town was the other girls’ double winner, capturing the pole vault (9-9) and triple jump (35-0 1/4).
In the boys’ meet, MDI was powered by McKenzie, who won the triple jump (42-8), and Noah Hutchinson, who took the high jump (6-2).
The Trojans also got eight points from their second-place 800 relay team (1:37.05). Griffin Maristany was fourth in the 200 (23.70) and second in the 400 (52.35), Liam Higgins was fifth in the 400 (53.95) and Josh Bloom placed fifth in the 800 (2:05.72).
MDI collected 12 points in the shot put from Micah Hallett (second, 40-10 1/4), Samuel Hoff (fifth, 40-1 1/2) and Gilbert Isaacs (seventh, 39-9).
“We’ve wanted this for a long time,” said McKenzie, who missed the finals at last year’s state meet.
“We just kept believing. I knew if I scored 10 points for my team in the triple jump, that would help us win. This is my first (individual) state title. But it’s means more to win for the team than myself.”
Yarmouth’s Luke Laverdiere captured both the 2-mile (9:49.73) and mile (4:24.35). In the sprints, Michaiah Robinson of Washington Academy won the 200 (22.83) and 400 (50.83).
Correction: This story was updated at 10:37 a.m. on Feb. 19 to correct Greely coach John Folan’s record.
Deirdre Fleming can be reached at 791-6452 or:
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