SACO — Thornton Academy juniors Jason Montano and Travis Snyder achieved something that most high school athletes can only dream of when they captured state championships at the Maine Class A Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Snyder won the gold medal in the pole vault and Montano was the state champion in the shot put at the University of Southern Maine on Monday.
The standouts were thrilled to climb to the top of the podium with a gold medal hanging around their necks, but they are nowhere near satisfied.
“I was kind of upset after the state meet because I didn’t jump very high,” said Snyder, who won the state meet with a vault of 14-feet, 6-inches.
Snyder, whose personal record is 16-1, would have loved to set a new PR at states but above anything else wanted to jump high for one simple reason.
“I really just want to jump high because it’s just fun,” Snyder said.
Montano won the state crown with a toss of 57-feet, 1 1/4 inches — just under five inches off his PR — but he quickly turned the page to the future.
“I wanted to place first, obviously, and I was trying really hard and working for it,” said Montano. “When I achieved it I was pretty proud … but I want to work harder, keep going and set more goals of hitting (longer) distances.”
TA throwing coach Lisa Huntress, who is also the girls head coach, was happy with Montano’s performance.
 “It’s exciting. As a coach I’m always looking for what I call ‘lock in,’ which means we are in the ballpark consistently, and 57 has been the number, so I was very happy about that,” said Huntress.
“I was pretty happy, I wanted to hit another PR, but I was happy because I was consistent with my throws. It was a good day for me,” added Montano.
TA boys coach George Mendros has been impressed with the two standouts.
“Getting two in the same day, both being juniors, is pretty impressive. I mean when you consider Travis is ranked tied for 10th in the nation right now, and Jason is in the top 35, I never thought I’d have one guy ranked that high,” said Mendros.
Snyder winning a state title in the pole vault probably shouldn’t surprise people since he has grown up with a pole vault pit in his back yard.
“I’ve been pole vaulting pretty much since I was a toddler, kind of just playing with it, but I really started taking it seriously after the eighth grade going into high school,” said Snyder, whose dad, Paul, was a vaulter in college. “My dad was a pole vaulter. We have a pole vault pit in our back yard, so I just kind of played around on it … I just kind of fell in love with it.”
Snyder believes having a chance to work on vaulting before starting high school gave him a leg up on the competition.
“It helps a lot. It helped me develop an instinct for it instead of just trying to learn everything from scratch (in high school),” said Snyder, who also won a silver medal in the 55-meter hurdles on Monday.
The junior will have one more season of indoor track and he is hoping to reach new heights.
“I want to jump 17 feet, that would be fun,” said Snyder.
Montano didn’t grow up in a shot put family — in fact, he first picked it up to simply get off the track.
“I just didn’t want to really run in a way, so I decided I wanted to try throwing … I found shot put and I stayed interested in it and just kept going with it,” said Montano, who first tried throwing shot in the sixth grade.
The junior now has a gold medal in his trophy case and is looking to add to his collection in the outdoor season.
“I feel like it will give me some momentum, but I’m still going to have to work for it. It’s not just going to be handed to me,” said Montano. “I want to for sure hit 60 (feet), and I’d like to win another state title.”
Both athletes will head to Boston next weekend to compete in the New England Championships. Snyder will compete in hurdles at the meet as there is no pole vault competition, but he will get another shot to vault this season when the duo heads to nationals in a few weeks.

Locals bring home hardware

The two TA standouts weren’t the only locals to bring home gold at Class A states as Noble’s Nina Tasker won the 55-meter hurdles title. TA’s Sara Montano was fifth in the event.
TA’s Allie Gross was third in the high jump, while Noble’s Tessa Cyr was fourth.
Biddeford’s Bekah Robertson was third in the pole vault and Noble’s Aspen Dyer was the bronze medalist in the shot put. TA’s Idalis Baez was fifth and Noelle Michaud was sixth in the shot.
The TA team of Katie-Marie Roy, Kieya Dion, Merrifield and Mia Taranko finished third in the 800 relay. Biddeford’s Jordina Coleman, Serena Speight, Virginia Tiah and Robertson finished fifth, and Massabesic’s Breanna Messier, Kylie Johnson, Syeira New and Logan Champlin sixth.
The Trojans got a fourth-place finish from Sabria Merrifield in the 55 meters, while teammate Mia Taranko was fourth in the long jump and Noelle Boudreau was sixth in the triple jump.
Massabesic’s Kylie Johnson came home in fifth in the 800 with TA’s Annie Duong seventh and Kennebunk’s Hannah D’Orso eighth.
Noble’s Samantha Croteau, Morgan Griffin, Izabella Haagensen and Jackie McEvoy finished fifth in the 3,200 relay, and Biddeford’s Speight was seventh in the 200 meters.
On the boys side of things, TA’s Landon Heidrich was second in the 800 with teammate Dawson Desrosiers third and Massabesic’s Jarrod Hooper fifth.
Biddeford’s Ben Drummey was fifth in the pole vault with Sanford’s Brendon Tremblay in sixth. Noble’s Matt Chambers was fifth in the 55 meters and TA’s Isaac Ofielu finished in seventh place.
TA’s Thomas Palmer was sixth in the shot put and Noble’s Cam Wilson came home in eighth place.
In the 800 relay, TA’s Dominic Dadiego, Snyder, Michael Underwood and Ofielu finished sixth with Noble’s Chambers, Aydin Fitchett, Owen Podolec and Coby Johnson seventh.
Massabesic’s Jakob Saucier, David Phinney, Jeffrey Waters and Hooper finished sixth in the 3,200 relay, which saw TA’s Owen Hey, Parker Redlon, Peyton Townsend and Jackson Pierce finish eighth.
Noble’s CJ Nicely was seventh in the high jump and Biddeford’s Scott Berry was eighth in the 55-meter hurdles.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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