Looking back at a meet, there are always a few events here and there that a track coach can wonder about. With so many points up for grabs – 10 for first, eight for second, six, four, two and one – of course there will be some second guessing.
It’s easy to think, “Well, if a few athletes had finished third instead of fifth, and a few more had won instead of finishing second, maybe things would’ve been different.”
Thornton Academy girls coach Mark DeFrancesco was guilty of doing some of this after Saturday’s SMAA meet at the Portland Expo. He didn’t waste too much time counting and recounting, though. It was just one of those days for Scarborough, and DeFrancesco knew it.
The Red Storm knocked off the three-time defending champions, 149-132. Deering was third with 93 points, followed by Gorham (54), Bonny Eagle (45.5), Windham (28.5), Marshwood (28), Portland (24), McAuley (23), South Portland (21), Biddeford (19) and Cheverus (3).
“I think we just got beat by a better team on that particular day,” said DeFrancesco. “I think any time you can always look back and say, ‘We could’ve done a little better in a few places.’ But I think even if that would’ve happened they were running kind of on all cylinders.”
A bulk of Scarborough’s points came from Annie Mills, Whitney Chamberlain and Erica Jesseman, who all provided individual wins and also had a hand in relay wins. Mills was first in the junior 200 and the junior 45 hurdles and ran the anchor leg for the winning 4 x 210 junior relay team; Chamberlain was first in the junior 400 and ran the second leg in the 4 x 210 junior relay; Jesseman won the open two mile and led off for the winning 4 x 410 open relay team.
Those were all points that Scarborough coach Ron Kelly was counting on. It was the surprise performances that made the biggest difference for the Red Storm, though.
“I was pleased,” said Kelly. “We knew that on paper it was a meet within three or four points. We knew we had some events that were key for us. High jump was a key event. If we were going to stay in the mix we had to do well in the high jump. We had to get our points in the hurdles, but ultimately just about every event the kids were in they performed.
“We exceeded our seeds in a lot of events today, and that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
Scarborough got 11.5 points in the high jump as Lily Parenteau finished second to TA’s Jenny Pierpont; Devon Leighton was fourth and Cara Snyder tied for fifth.
“At the beginning of the year (Parenteau) was probably only the ninth or 10th seed and she finished second,” said Kelly. “We picked up a lot of fifths and sixths that we weren’t supposed to.”
Snyder picked up points in junior 40 (fifth place) and the junior 200 (sixth). Chamberlain, meanwhile, shaved a quarter of a second off her preliminary time in the junior 45 hurdles to finish fourth in the finals.
Scarborough also got key points from Hilary Curtis (second in the senior 800), Becky Sither (second in the senior 45 hurdles), Angie Damon (second in the senior shot put) and Kaitlyn Saldanha (second in the open mile).
The biggest performance of the day for the Trojans came from senior sprinter Jenny Pierpont, who will run at the University of Maine next season. Pierpont won three events – the high jump, the senior 40 and the senior 200 – but one stood out above all the rest. Pierpont set an Expo record by running a 5-flat in the 40.
“This was, like, the goal all four years, mostly like the last two,” said Pierpont. “When I was in the junior division the goal was to be 5.2, 5.1, but then right when I got to the senior division it was 5.1 and I really wanted it. This is the best way to go out.”
The Trojans also got wins from Marie Lemay (senior 800), Katie Pierpont (senior 45 hurdles) and Brynn Smith (senior shot put).
“I think my job is going to be to convince the team that we can win the (state) meet, which we can because scoring it out on paper, we’re looking at another one or two point meet kind of like we played it out before,” said DeFrancesco.
Gorham coach John Caterina will be trying to convince his team it can finish in the top five at the state meet. Based on Saturday’s fourth-place finish, he believes the Rams have a shot at doing just that in their first year in Class A.
“We’re very, very pleased,” said Caterina. “We knew we didn’t have the numbers or the depth to compete with Scarborough, Thornton and Deering, as was the case during the regular season, but if we had a good meet we could get into that second tier of teams and maybe take fourth. And we did. We had a fantastic day.
“On paper I had us scoring 45 points, based on our seeds, and we exceeded that. We scored 54.”
The Rams were led by Alyson Fearon, Sarah McCullough and Leigh Maniscalco. Fearon was second in the junior 40 and fourth in the junior 200; McCullough was second in the junior 800; Maniscalco was third in the junior 45 hurdles and third in the open 300. The Rams also placed second in the junior 4 x 210 relay.
For fifth place Bonny Eagle, the top performances came from Kristen Adams (second in the senior 40), Katherine Pagano (second in the open two mile) and Katlyn Gardner (third in the senior 45 hurdles). Also, Kelly Martin was fourth in the junior 400, and Courtney Wallace was fourth in the senior shot put.
Sixth-place Windham was led by Katie Cook (second in the junior shot put), Stephanie Shepard (fourth in the senior 200) and Kate McPherson (fourth in the senior 45 hurdles).
South Portland, which finished 10th, got a win from Lindsay Soule in the open 600.
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