LEWISTON — Three seniors had upset wins and four other athletes bettered their seeds Saturday at Bates College to lead York to its second Class B boys’ indoor track state title in four years.
Jon Burke, Jon Rodrigues and Nick Rainforth all won individual events for York despite being seeded lower entering the meet.
That helped the Wildcats collect 77.5 points to finish ahead of Hermon, which totaled 57. Greely finished third with 49.5.
In the girls’ meet, Brewer won its first Class B indoor state title, scoring 71 points. York finished with 63 and Greely was third with 60.
The York boys began their charge to the title when Burke, who was seeded third in the 55-meter hurdles, pulled ahead of the defending champion, Zachary Beaton of Hermon, to win in 7.88 seconds. Beaton was timed in 7.95.
“Spikes help a lot,” Burke said, referring to the one high school meet in which athletes are allowed to use spikes.
“I was very close to Zach last year and I wanted to beat him this year. But my goal was to get our school record and help the team, which I did.”
The Wildcats also received a big boost in the high jump when senior Ben Hay, who was seeded 15th, moved all the way up to finish third with a leap of 6 feet. Beaton won the event in 6-2.
York also fared well in the sprints. Rainforth, who was seeded seventh, took third in the 200 (23.95), and also won the 400 (53.01) after being seeded second. York senior Trevor LaVigne, who was seeded eighth in the 400, finished second (54.83).
Finally, with the meet winding down, Rodrigues moved up from the fourth seed in the triple jump to come away with a victory with a jump of 42 feet, 3 1/2 inches.
Cayden Spencer-Thompson of Mattanawcook Academy, an All-American who competes independently in USA Track and Field meets, was the top seed in the long jump and triple jump but didn’t attend the meet.
“I improved from a personal best of 40-11 to 42-3. I just kept improving on all six jumps,” said Rodrigues. “After my preliminary jumps, I just kept improving a few inches with each (of three jumps). I wanted to help the team.”
The relays were no different for York: The 3,200-meter relay improved from the third seed to take second (8:49.61), and the 800 relay squad improved from the fourth seed to finish as runner-up (1:37.78).
“York is performing really well. We won’t catch them,” said Luke Marsanskis of Greely after winning the 2-mile run (10:22.06) for the defending champion.
Beaton was one of three double winners in the boys’ meet, taking the 200 (23.27) in addition to the high jump. Jack Hansen of Belfast won the long jump (21-8 1/2) and pole vault (13-0). And freshman wheelchair athlete Jonathan Schomaker of Leavitt won the 1-mile (9:09.70) and the 400 (1:56.03).
In the girls’ meet, Brewer was led by individual winners Sophie Inman, who captured the high jump (5-2), and Kaitlyn Helfen, who won the pole vault after a jump-off (9-6).
The Witches proved deep and steady, finishing in the top three in seven of the 14 events. But Helfen set the tone at the start of the meet in the pole vault, which came down to a showdown with Phoebe Slovenski of York after they both cleared 9-6 on one attempt.
Used to vaulting four to six attempts in a meet, Helfen had to vault 10 times because of the jump-off and wasn’t sure she could clear 9-3.
“I was so tired,” Helfen said. “We went up to 9-9 on the jump-off and I couldn’t clear it, and then we went back (down) to 9-6 and I couldn’t clear it (a second time), and then at 9-3 I was so afraid I wouldn’t clear it.
“My legs were so tired. I wasn’t even focused on how tired my arms were.”
Camille Kohtala of Orono won the 400 (60.59) and long jump (18-4 3/4), and Cymeria Robshaw of Penquis Valley was the winner in the triple jump (36-1 3/4) as well as the 55 (7.33).
Deirdre Fleming can be reached at 791-6452 or:
dfleming@pressherald.com
Twitter: FlemingPph
Send questions/comments to the editors.
