Mia-Claire Kezal of Thornton Academy broke the state record while winning the 1,000 meters Saturday at the New England high school indoor track championships in Boston, leading a group of 15 Maine athletes who earned All-New England honors with top-six results.
Kezal’s time of 2 minutes, 53.47 seconds was .02 faster than the record set by Tia Tardy of Mt. Desert Island in 2017.
Scarborough’s Jayden Flaker and Zach Barry and Bangor’s Anna Connors also set state records. Flaker placed second in the boys’ 55 hurdles in 7.42 seconds, Barry was third in the boys’ 1,000 in 2:29.28, and Connors was the runner-up in the girls’ 300 in 39.16.
Connors also was one of three Maine girls who placed in the top six in the 55 dash, led by runner-up Makenna Drouin of Edward Little (7.20). She was followed by Connors in fifth (7.29) and Caroline Fallona of Scarborough in sixth (7.32).
York sophomore Cary Drake finished second in the girls’ mile with a time of 5:01.52 – just .003 behind Anna Keeley of Fairfield, Connecticut.
In the boys’ long jump, Fryeburg Academy’s Jacob Adams was third (21-7) and Bucksport’s Colin Simpson finished sixth (21-5 3/4).
Gorham’s Andrew Farr was the runner-up in the 300 with the second-best time in state history – 35.40. Abdirizak Abukar of Lewiston placed fourth in 35.77.
Mt. Ararat’s Grady Satterfield set a personal-best while finishing sixth in the boys’ 2-mile (9:12.53), and Megan Randall of Bangor finished fifth in the girls’ race (11:06.24).
Matt Charpentier of York placed sixth in the shot put (56-3 3/4), and Alyvia Caruso of Gorham was sixth in the girls’ 55 hurdles (8.74).
BASKETBALL
MR. AND MISS BASKETBALL: Jaycie Christopher of Class A champion Skowhegan, Anna Nelson of Class AA finalist Gorham and Grace Ramsdell of Wells are the three finalists for Miss Maine Basketball, which will be awarded next Saturday to the state’s best senior girls’ basketball player.
The finalists for Mr. Maine Basketball are John Shea of Edward Little, Brady Coyne of Class A finalist Falmouth and Hunter Curtis of Class B runner-up Ellsworth.
BOYS’ HOCKEY
GREELY 3, CAPE ELIZABETH 1: Ryan Moore scored two goals and Evan Dutil sealed it with an empty-netter as the top-seeded Rangers (16-4) held off the fifth-seeded Capers (10-7-1) in a Class B South semifinal at Family Ice Center in Falmouth.
The Rangers (16-4), who won state championships in 2019 and 2020, will play second-seeded Brunswick in the regional final at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Cross Insurance Arena. It’ll be the fifth straight regional final for Greely.
Moore scored with 4:18 remaining in the first period, then made it 2-0 when he fired in a wrist shot during a power play 1:10 into the third following a pair of crisp passes from Dutil and Brooks Williams.
Cape’s Dimitri Coupe scored on a power play with 4:02 remaining before Dutil put in a backhander from 50 feet into the empty net.
EDWARD LITTLE 5, LEWISTON 1: Tate Morse scored twice and the top-ranked Red Eddies (17-2) advanced to the Class A semifinals with a victory over the eighth-seeded Blue Devils in Auburn.
Aiden Gonzalez, Campbell Cassidy and Jack Keefe also scored for Edward Little after an early goal by Lewiston’s Tanner Anctil, helping the Red Eddies move on to play No. 5 Thornton Academy on Tuesday at Cross Insurance Arena.
WRESTLING
NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS: Jackson Sutherland of Mattanawcook Academy led Maine’s contingent with a runner-up finish in the 170-pound division in Providence, Rhode Island.
Sutherland was the only Mainer who advanced to the championship finals, but 10 others placed in the top six.
James Blood (106 pounds) of Sanford, Caden Frost (132) of Bonny Eagle and Dillon Worster (195) of Oxford Hills finished third, and William Orso of York was fourth at 285.
Ayden Cofone (113) of Windham, Brycen Kowalsky (126) of Mt. Ararat/Brunswick and Derek Cote (132) of Noble all won fifth-place matches. Cole Albert (120) of Mattanawcook, Spencer LeClair (152) of Mt. Ararat/Brunswick and Nathan Schobel (195) of Dexter finished sixth.
This roundup will be updated.
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