By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
The Caribou track and field teams capped off their successful seasons Saturday by participating in the State Class B Track and Field Championships. Along the way, the Vikings pulled out a pair of individual state titles.
jMavor Photography photo
Emily Soderberg of the Vikings, left, stays on the shoulder of Waterville’s Courtney Williams while competing in the 1,600-meter race walk at Saturday’s Class B state championship track and field meet in Augusta. Soderberg ended up coming in first with a time of 7:43.92.
The Viking boys placed eighth out of 23 teams by scoring 25 points in the meet, while the girls were 10th out of 26 and registered 20 points.
Leading the way for the Caribou boys was Christian Sleeper, who won the 800-meter run in 1 minute, 59.69 seconds. He was 1.36 seconds faster than runner-up Nicholas Byers of Hermon.
Sleeper was also the final leg on the 4×800-meter relay team which came in sixth place. D.J. Flynn, Ron Lund and Matt Till were the other competitors on the team which had a time of 8:48.42.
Three Caribou athletes placed in the 1,600-meter race walk. Flynn was the runner-up in 7:45.74, Josh Kovach was fourth in 8:16.15 and Jake Michaud placed seventh in 8:45.43.
In the girls’ meet, Emily Soderberg won the 1,600-meter race walk with a 7:43.92 clocking. Placing fourth in the event was teammate Paige Small, whose time was 8:49.61.
jMavor Photography photo
Morgan Swan gets ready to throw the javelin during Saturday’s state track and field meet in Augusta. Swan, a Caribou High School junior, was sixth in the event with a throw covering 96 feet, 1 inch.
Olivia Sleeper placed seventh in the 400-meter dash in 1:02.81. The 4×800-meter relay team, consisting of Mackenzie Belyea, Katie Plourde, Dayna Michaud and Kendra Stephens, placed seventh in 10:37.91. Morgan Swan was sixth in the javelin at 96 feet, 1 inch and took seventh in the shot put at 33 feet, 1/2 inch. Sam Murchison was seventh in the javelin at 86 feet, 11 inches.
Washburn’s Carsyn Koch picked up the third state championship victory of her young career Saturday.
At McCann Field in Bath in the State Class C Track and Field Championship, Koch finished the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 26.94 seconds to win by a one-second margin over runner-up Chelsie Oldfield of Foxcroft Academy.
The win capped a brilliant year for the Beaver freshman, who had already won a cross country individual state title in the fall and was part of the state champion basketball team this past winter.
Koch also placed second in the 1,600-meter run during Saturday’s meet. Abby Mace of Maranacook won that event in 5:19.76, with Koch recording a time of 5:27.18.
Fort Fairfield had one athlete place in the meet. Katy Donovan was seventh in the discus with a throw of 88 feet.
On the boys’ side, Jahleel Williams of the Tigers took third in the triple jump at 39 feet, 10-1/4 inches, while teammate Andrew Lewis was fourth in the discus at 131 feet, 6 inches.
jMavor Photography photo
Matt Till of the Vikings stays ahead of Winslow’s Chad Colford in the third leg of the 4 X 800-meter relay, which was held Saturday in Augusta during the Class B state track and field championships. Caribou placed sixth in the event with a time of 8:48.42.
jMavor Photography photo
Caribou’s D.J. Flynn, center, stays close to Medomak Valley’s Ian Rixon, left, and Falmouth’s Matt Goldstein in the 1,600-meter race walk. Rixon won in 7:28.73, followed by Flynn in 7:45.74 .
