BREWER — When Anna Reny crossed the finish line of the 300-meter hurdles at the Class B state track and field championships Saturday, she was pretty sure she had set a Cony High record. Turns out Reny did a little better than that.
With her time of 45.12 seconds, Reny set the Class B girls’ record.
Nokomis’ Chance Graves, left, Presque Isle’s Trace Cyr, middle, and Greely’s Atticus Smith embrace after finishing the 400-meter race at the Class B track and field state championship meet Saturday in Brewer. Kennebec Journal photo by Joe Phelan
“Oh my gosh. I had no idea,” Reny said. “When they said I got the state record, I was just dumbfounded.”
Brewer won the girls’ team title with 84 points, followed by York with 70 and Cony with 59.
In the boys’ meet, York won the championship with 63.33 points – without an individual winner. Greely placed second (53 points) and Mt. Desert Island was third (40).
Reny, who also placed second in the 200, was never challenged in the 300 hurdles, pulling away to beat second-place Hayley Smith of York (46.99) by almost 2 seconds.
“I was just trying to get through the finish line,” Reny said.
Carly Warn of Winslow kept the triple jump championship in the family. Her older brother, Jake, won three state titles in the event for the Black Raiders. Warn, a sophomore, became a state champion for the first time with a jump of 34 feet, 6.75 inches. Her best jump was her first.
“I was nice and fresh. I had the 200 right after so I knew I needed to have fresh legs to do my best,” Warn said.
Jack Jowett of Erskine Academy knew he had the javelin championship sewn up before his final throw because no competitor had bested his earlier effort of 159 feet. With that in mind, Jowett cut loose, going 167-5.
“I had one more throw and I figured, why not go out with a bang,” Jowett said. “It was a very solid ending to a good state meet. It was a nice way to end the whole event.”
Kahryn Cullenberg of Mt. Blue took the 3,200 title with a time of 11:29.09. A newcomer to the event this season, Cullenberg was seeded fourth, 18 seconds behind top-seeded Carolyn Todd of Greely. Cullenberg said her plan was to try and simply close the gap between herself and the top three runners.
“I just started it this year and it’s been cool because I found this event uses more strategy. You have so much more time to think about what you’re going to do. For me, I just really like playing mental games. I like having time to think during the race,” said Cullenberg, who also placed third in the 1,600. “The 1,600 was a crazy race because I feel like everybody was trying to do the exact same thing. I didn’t feel like I held back.”
Marin Provencher of Greely won a tight girls’ 1,600 with a time of 5:19.27. The race went out at a conservative pace, Provencher said. A tight pack of runners traded the lead over the first 1,200 meters before Provencher pulled away over the final lap.
“I was just trying to stay near the top of the pack. I was just trying to stay calm during the race and I think I did a pretty job doing that,” Provencher said. “Toward the end I felt like I could go. The pace was being pushed a little bit so I decided to take it and go.”
Wayne Dorr of Old Town took the boys’ 100 title, holding off a late-charging Taylor Bielecki of Waterville to win in 11.57. Dorr and Bielecki entered the day as co-favorites. In the final, Dorr got out of the blocks faster but Bielecki came on strong over the final 50 meters, placing second in 11.60.
“I could feel him right next to me. I just barely got him,” Dorr said.
Other records also fell.
Zachary Beaton of Hermon set a mark with his 14.53 in the boys’ 110 hurdles preliminary round; he also won the 300 hurdles title. Izabelle Trefts of Old Town set a record in the girls 1,600 racewalk with a time of 7:26.07, taking first place by close to a minute and a half over Julia Hatch of Mt. Blue, the defending champion.
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