Staff Writer
At Mount Desert Island on June 6, high school track and field athletes met to compete in the Maine State Championship track meet. Representing Aroostook County’s Eastern Maine Class B were the Presque Isle and Caribou track teams.
“We had a great day,” remarked Caribou coach Roy Alden. The day’s events were highlighted by a state record, two state champions and two school records thanks to Hannah Saunders, who took the 1,600 race walk with a new state record of 7:36.32.
“Hannah went out fast and maintained splits under the old state record the entire race. It was fun to watch a very special athlete have her best day on her biggest stage,” Alden said.
The other Viking champion was Nate Swan, who placed first in javelin with a throw of 165-04, his first throw. “The rest of the field never caught up to him,” said Alden, though Presque Isle’s Lucas Richards placed second with a 160-05 throw.
“It was [Swan’s] personal best and could not have come at a better time.” Swan also placed in the 400 and Viking Christine Savage had a personal best in the pole vault to medal.
Caribou’s 4×400 relay school record was broken by Jesse Stephens, Matt Till, Steve Melbourne and Nate Swan. The four “finished off the day with third place and another school record,” Alden explained.
“The old 4×400 record of 3.34.8 dates to 1981, 27 years ago, and was set by Bill Schofield, Greg Jenson, Dan Winters and Kent Cousins.” This year’s team set a new record at 3:32.43.
Team results for the girls are as follows: 1, Waterville 119; 2, York 109; 3, Greely 62; 4, MDI 56; 5, Falmouth 43; 6, Cape Elizabeth 42; 7, Poland 32; 8, Winslow 31; 9, Maranacook 25; 10, Leavitt 24; 11, Catherine McAuley 14; 12, Nokomis 12; 12, Caribou 12; 14, Yarmouth 10; 14, Gardiner 10; 16, Old Town 9; 17, Gray-New Gloucester 8; 18, Ellsworth 4; 18, Belfast 4; 18, Camden Hills 4; 18, Lake Region 4; 22, Erskine 3; 22, Presque Isle 3; 24, MCI 2; 25, Medomak Valley 1; 25, Fryeburg 1; 25, Mt. Valley 1; 25, Hampden 1.
Individual results for the Viking and Wildcat girls are as follows. 4×800: 7, Caribou (Hannah Saunders, Dayna Michaud, Megan Bossie, Katie Plourde) 10:30.95. 100 Dash: 13, Emily Collins 13.5. 1,600 Race Walk: 1, Saunders 7:36.32. 1,600 Run: 13, Mackenzie Pinette 5:43; 16, Bossie 5:50.16; 19, Michaud 5:53.54.
Also, 4×100: 8, Presque Isle (Shae Adler, Brooke Long-Postell, Erica Hemphill, Katrina Whittier) 54.28; 15, Caribou (Sarae Sager, Annie Collins, Christine Savage, E. Collins) 55.61. 400 Dash: 21, Katie Plourde 1:07.2. 300 Hurdles: 5, Whittier 49.12; 15, Sager 55.07. 800 Run: 21, Michaud 2:41.39.
Also, 3,200 Run: 10, Saunders 12:12.5. 4×400: 12, Caribou (Sager, E. Collins, Plourde, Michaud) 4:39.23. High Jump: 10, Kelly Kashian 4-06. Triple Jump: 11, Whittier 31-10.5; 17, Plourde 30-07.5; 19, E. Collins 30-02. Javelin: 19, Danielle MacDonald 76-00. Discus: 21, Emily Anderson 79-08. Shot Put: 12, Whittier 30-11; 16, Hallie Bartlett 29-08.5. Pole Vault: 7, Savage 8-00.
Team results for the boys are as follows: 1, Falmouth 112; 2, Waterville 94.5; 3, Hampden 62; 4, Greely 49; 5, Belfast 34; 6, Maranacook 29; 6, Caribou 29; 8, MDI 27; 8, York 27; 10, Erskine 26; 10, Poland 26; 12, Gray-New Gloucester 24; 13, Wells 19; 13, Camden Hills 19; 15, Presque Isle 14; 16, Hermon 9; 17, Old Town 7; 17, Leavitt 7; 17, Winslow 7; 20, Medomak Valley 5; 21, Ellsworth 4; 21, Fryeburg 4; 21, Lake Region 4; 24, Cape Elizabeth 3.5; 25, MCI 2; 25, Nokomis 2.
Individual results for the Viking and Wildcat boys are as follows: 4×800: Caribou (Jesse Stephens, Christian Sleeper, Steve Melbourne, Tim Freme) 8:40.06. 100 Dash: 9, Nate Swan 11.81; 22, Logan Good 12.3.
Also, 1,600 Race Walk: 2, D.J. Flynn 7:37.93; 5, Jake Michaud 8:21.25. 1,600 Run: 18, C. Sleeper 4:52.56. 4×100: 20, Presque Isle (Sam Clukey, Justin Good, Ben Sipe, Logan Good) 48.93. 400 Dash: 6, Swan 51.89; 13, Matt Till 53.71. 800 Run: 10, Melbourne 2:05.96; 11, Stephens 2:05.98; 19, C. Sleeper 2:09.04.
Also, 4×400: 3, Caribou (Stephens, Melbourne, Till, Swan) 3:32.43. Javelin: 1, Swan 165-04; 2, Lucas Richards 160-05. Discus: 3, Jason Johnson 128-05; 16, Richards 108-09.
Both Presque Isle’s Richards and Caribou’s Swan have been invited to attend the New England Track and Field Championship as a result of their placement on Saturday. The New England Championship with be held in Burlington, VT on June 13.
