BATH — With the Class B outdoor track and field championship meet approaching its end, the Waterville Senior High School girls were in a position they haven’t experienced often over the last decade: Second place.
True, the Purple Panthers weren’t far behind York — just a point and a half — and the deficit was easy to make up.
It was also short-lived.
With big points in the day’s later events, the Waterville girls pulled away from the Wildcats to win comfortably, 118.25 points to York’s 87.
“I try not to stress over it and try to stay calm, but yeah, there is that lingering thought that I really need these points,” said Waterville’s Kellie Bolduc, who won the triple jump with a leap of 36 feet, 1 inch.
York won the boys title, edging Belfast, 96-85. Waterville placed third with 58 points.
With just a few events left, York led the Panthers, 71-69.5. The remaining events, however, including Bolduc’s triple jump, proved to be Waterville strengths.
For example, Lauren Brown won the 3,200 meters and Cecilia Morin took fifth to give Waterville 13 points in an event in which York did not score. Earlier in the day, Brown placed second to Fryeburg’s Anna Lastra in the 1,600, an event in which Brown was the top seed. Brown took the early lead in the 3,200, hoping to avoid a mistake made in the 1,600.
“I was really boxed in in the mile, worse than I ever have been,” Brown, who won the 3,200 in 11 minutes, 42.96 seconds, said.
Brown led throughout the race, and until the final lap had Greely’s Emily Mason right on her tail. When the final lap gun sounded, Brown took off, leaving Mason behind.
“I could actually feel her on the back of my shoes,” Brown said. “In the mile, I was outkicked, and didn’t want it to happen again.”
Sarah Shoulta repeated as champion in the 100 and 300 hurdles for Waterville, winning the former in 15.77 and the latter in 47.65. While both wins looked easy, Shoulta said the 300 was tougher. When she reached the turn for the final 100 meters of the 300, Shoulta was confident she would win.
“The 300 never feels easy. I kind of new I could relax coming around that corner. I knew I was ahead because I was hitting the hurdle first. I made sure I could just stride it out,” said Shoulta, who also placed second in the pole vault (9-06).
Alison Linscott won the girls high jump for Waterville with a jump of 5-2.
“That’s only the second time this season I’ve gotten to (5-2),” Linscott said.
Erskine freshman Kaylee Porter won the girls 800 with a time of 2:24.64. Porter was seeded third in the event and clinched the win with a strong final 200 meters.
“A person was yelling at me, saying ‘Eagles can never win’. I wanted to prove him wrong. We can soar,” Porter said. “Every time I hit the (final) 200, I think of my friends who can’t run and I do it for them.”
The Waterville boys had two double champions. Chris Cote won the 1,600 and 3,200 while Trever Gray won the shot put and discus.
In each of his races, Cote won with a dominating kick on the final lap. In a tight 1,600 race, Cote pulled away from Ryan Morrison of Greely over the final 200 meters to win in 4:32.878.
“At the beginning of the race, I was feeling a little tight. I was a little nervous. At the start of the fourth lap, I knew if I didn’t stick with (the lead pack) I was going to lose,” Cote said.
In the 3,200, Cote spent the first seven laps on the heels of Leavitt’s Harrison Knowlton. Over the final lap, the two matched each other stride for stride in the final sprint, before Cote pulled ahead late to win in 9:52.31 to Knowlton’s 9:52.17.
“I was actually worried because (Knowlton) was pulling away in the middle. I knew from last week (the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference meet) he was going to have a kick too,” Cote said. “I was thinking, ‘Don’t give up. Don’t give up,’ because if he passes me, my stamina is going to go downhill.”
The top seed in both his events, Gray won both easily. His discus throw of 151-1 was almost 10 feet better than second place Anthony Benedict of Poland. Gray’s winning shot throw was 53-5.25.
“It was a good day,” Gray said. “Shot practice has been going really well this year.”
Lake Region’s Kate Hall had an impressive end to an impressive high school track and field career, winning the 100, 200 and long jump. Hall set the 100 record twice. First, she ran 11.72 seconds in the preliminary round, then Hall won the finals in 11.69. Hall’s long jump of 20-4.75 also was a record. Hall just missed the record in the 200, running in 24.82, short of the record she set last season (24.36).
Jack Bouchard of York set a record in the boys javelin, throwing 200-6.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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