Portland: Postseason meets filled with highlights

The indoor track, swimming and skiing state meets have come and gone and local athletes once again turned heads.

Here’s a recap:

Indoor track

At the Class A indoor track state championship meet last week in Gorham, Portland’s girls scored 49 points and came in third, the Bulldogs’ best showing since 1999 (Bangor came in first with 94). Samantha Moore won the 800 in 2 minutes, 21.56 seconds and captured the mile in 5:24.15.

Moore, who remains undefeated this season, ran a personal-best split of 2:22 in the relay and then came back to win the mile, followed by the 800 in a personal best time. Moore recorded the stellar day despite being out of school and practice last week because she was ill.

“I haven’t even done any speed work yet because I got sick, but I’m ready to crank it up now,” said Moore.

“(Samantha) doesn’t have any pain receptors,” said Portland coach Frank Myatt. She’s so tough.”

Portland’s 4×800 relay team (Alice Anderson, Ava Chadbourne, Anneliese Collin and Moore) also placed first (10:02.33). Collin was also runner-up in the pole vault (9 feet, 6 inches) and third in the high jump (5-2). Chadbourne was fourth in the two-mile (12:06.6).

Deering (12.5 points) finished 14th. Saya Breiting-Brown finished second in the 55 hurdles (8.86 seconds). Mya Landry was sixth (2:29.72). Claire Dunn tied for seventh in the high jump (4-10).

Cheverus (9 points) tied Kennebunk and Marshwood for 16th place. The Stags’ 4×200 relay team (Finley Brown, Sophia Monfa, Alaina Holmes and Maddie Hom) finished fourth (1:52.57). Lucy Olson was fifth in the 800 (2:29.32).

In the boys’ meet, won by Scarborough 69 points, Portland (36) came in fifth (its best finish since 2010). Nathan Blades was runner-up in the mile (4:22.38) and finished third in the two-mile (9:59.4). Myles Hang placed fourth in the 55 hurdles (8.08). Benjamin Prestes came in fourth in the 800 (2:02.19). Jason Hargesheimer placed sixth in the 400 (52.82) and seventh in the high jump (5-8). The Bulldogs’ 4×200 relay team (Ricardo Mbuco, Reegan Buck, Hargesheimer, Morris Tifiano) came in fifth (1:36.99). The 4×800 relay squad (Charlie Jacques, Charlie Brewer, Owen Blades and Elias Coleman) was sixth (8:39.57).

Cheverus/Waynflete (16 points) was 15th. Dominic Cortez placed third in the pole vault (11-6). Bryan Stark-Chessa was fifth in the two-mile (10:23.71). James Baur was seventh in the pole vault (10-6). The Stags’ 4×800 relay team (Cash Kellen, Ambrose McCullough, Danny McCartney and Stark-Chessa) finished fifth (8:38.88).

Deering (8 points) came in 18th. Haytham Ramadan was runner-up in the 800 (2:00.81).

The New England championship meet is Saturday in Boston.

Swimming

At the Class A boys’ swimming and diving championship meet, held at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, the Deering-Portland co-op squad tallied 105 points and came in eighth (Scarborough repeated as champion with 369.5 points). Andy Marvin came in third in the 50 freestyle (22.88 seconds) and fifth in the 100 free (50.51). The squad’s 200 free relay team (Caden Hemond, James Ackerman, Otis McCanna and Marvin) finished fifth (1 minute, 43.21 seconds).

Cheverus did not score for the first time since 1972.

In the Class A girls’ state meet, won by Camden Hills with 285 points, Deering-Portland (109) finished ninth. Sophia Harrod-Kim was sixth in the 100 butterfly (1:07.59). Kaia West finished eighth in the 500 free (6:00.99). Deering-Portland came in eighth in both the 200 medley (Axel Townsend, Anica Spencer, Harrod-Kim and West, 2:06.6) and 200 free (Spencer, Anya Heiden, Olivia Chong and West, 1:55.25) relays.

Cheverus (81.5 points) came in 14th. Sarah Agren was seventh in the 100 free (1:00.52) and seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:07.87). The Stags’ 400 free relay team (Reese Belanger, Kali McCarthy, Hannah Derrig and Agren) placed eighth (4:12.49).

In Class B, the Waynflete boys had 59 points and finished 10th (Cape Elizabeth was first with 355 points). Ty Davin finished eighth in the 100 back (1:01.91) and ninth in the 50 free (23.91). The Flyers’ 400 free relay team (Nico Herrera, Michael Marston, Wyatt Adams and Davin) was seventh (3:55.94).

Waynflete’s girls finished 12th with 55 points (Cape Elizabeth was champion with 356).

Skiing

Cheverus’ Annabelle Brooks skies to victory at the Class A Nordic state championships last week. Patrick Horne photo.

Porter Beaule helped the Falmouth/Waynflete boys’ Alpine team to a runner-up finish in Class A last week (the squad finished behind Freeport). Beaule, the lone Waynflete skier on the team, was second in the slalom (a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 13.08 seconds) and second in the giant slalom (1:28.63).

“Honestly, this year was a bit of a test year to see where we come out,” said Beaule, the elder statesman of the young Falmouth/Waynflete squad. “These guys and myself, we’re still developing. We’re still growing. We’re going to get stronger and ski better as we get older.”

Cheverus was 11th in the giant slalom and 15th in the slalom. Reis Stamaris placed ninth in the GS (1:33.27).

Cheverus’ girls placed ninth in the slalom and 11th in the GS. Maddy Marcisso was 16th in the GS (1:34.37) and 17th in the slalom (1:26.19).

In Nordic skiing, Waynflete’s boys finished second to Fort Kent in Class C. Will Barmby led the way with a sixth-place showing in classic (20 minutes, 6.6 seconds). Barmby was 11th in the freestyle (18:30.4). Reed Robinson was ninth in the classic (20:25.2). Oliver Eams placed 10th in the classic (20:31.9).

Waynflete’s girls were third behind Fort Kent and Orono. Leah Kramer finished fifth in the classic (22:04) and seventh in the freestyle (20:59.4). Sarah Morgan was eighth in the classic (23:02). Keegan Dolan finished ninth in the freestyle (21:19.7) and 10th in the classic (23:55.8).

In Class A boys’ action, Deering finished third behind Mt. Blue and Greely. The Rams were led by Zeke Zelonish, who came in 15th in the classic (18:50.5), Daniel Landry (16th in the classic, 19:00.1) and Asa Tussing (16th in the freestyle, 17:02.4).

Portland was fourth and was led by George Ayer (fourth in the freestyle, 15:33.5; and 10th in the classic, 18:11.5) and Daniel Niles (seventh in the classic, 17:34.1; and ninth in the freestyle, 16:00.1).

Cheverus finished ninth and was paced by Henry Morrison (12th in the classic, 18:29.1; and 12th in the freestyle, 16:22.2).

Mt. Blue won the Class A girls’ Nordic crown, with Falmouth second and Portland third. Greta Holmes paced the Bulldogs with an eighth-place finish in the freestyle (18:32.4) and a 12th-place showing in the classic (21:29.4).

Cheverus was sixth and featured individual champion Annabelle Brooks in the classic (18:41.7) and the freestyle (17:24.1).

Deering placed 10th. Maribel Creek was 26th in the freestyle (24:42.4) and 30th in the classic (28:20.1).

Boys’ hockey

The boys’ hockey playoffs begin this week and will wrap up the winter sports season.

Cheverus/Yarmouth wound up 10-6-2 and third in the Class B South Heal Points standings after closing with a 4-1 loss at Cape Elizabeth last week. Cheverus/Yarmouth hosts No. 6 Gorham (8-9-1) in the quarterfinals Wednesday (see our website for game story). Cheverus/Yarmouth won both regular season meetings, 1-0 at home and 4-2 on the road. If victorious, Cheverus/Yarmouth will go to No. 2 Cape Elizabeth (16-2) for the semifinals Saturday. In addition to the loss in the regular season finale, Cheverus/Yarmouth was beaten at home by the Capers, 6-1.

In Class A, the South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport co-op team finished 10-8 and fifth. The squad plays at No. 4 Scarborough (11-7), the reigning state champion, in the state quarterfinals Saturday. The teams split this year, each prevailing on the road, with the Red Storm winning in overtime (4-3) and South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport coming out on top (2-0). Scarborough won last year’s semifinal round meeting in double-overtime (5-4).

Looking ahead, the Class B South Final and the Class A state semifinals are Tuesday of next week at the Cross Insurance Arena. The Class A and B state games are Saturday, March 12 at the same location.

Press Herald staff writers Deirdre Fleming and Glenn Jordan contributed to this story.