AUBURN — The York boys track and field team produced two unexpected individual champions and several other teammates stepped up as they upended Foxcroft Academy, 56-44, and won their fourth Class B indoor state title in five years Saturday at Bates College.
Orono ran away with the girls title holding off Greely, 87-65, as Tiara Tardy won three individual events and Lauren Stoops finished first in two events and second in one.
“Foxcroft was the overwhelming favorite. We were looking for divine intervention. We got it,” York coach Ted Hutch said. “This is one of the most bizarre state meets.”
York’s unlikely upset started when senior Jack Bouchard went into the long jump seeded eighth and won the event improving by 2 feet to win it in 20-feet, 10-inches.
Then at the end of the meet senior Matt Arsenault went into the triple jump seeded third and walked away the champion with a personal-best indoor jump of 40-3.75.
“I couldn’t even tell you how I won that. It came down to a fourth of an inch. I didn’t know who won after I finished,” Arsenault said. “I think it helped us not being seeded to win the team title. We came in knowing we can do amazing things.”
Trever Gray of Waterville won the shot put with a throw of 52-7.75 with Maine Central Institute’s Curtis McLeod second (52-2.25) and Waterville’s Brandon Choate fourth (42-6). Also for Waterville, Ethan Nurick was fourth in the triple jump and seventh in the high jump. In the pole vault, Erskine’s Raymond Weymouth was second followed by Waterville’s Drew Burgess and Isaac Pellerin in third and fourth, respectively, and MCI’s Jorge Miralles in sixth. Erskine’s Ethan Dodge was fourth in the 55 hurdles and Chris Weymouth fifth in the high jump.
On the girls side locally, Waterville’s Lauren Brown was fourth in the mile and 2 mile; Alison Linscott was third in the triple jump and seventh in the high jump and Ella Ruehsen was sixth in the pole vault. Winslow’s Paige Smith was fourth in the long jump and triple jump, Nokomis’ Erin Martin finished second in the 55 hurdles and Mount View’s Angela Straing third in the 400. Erskine’s relay team of Hunter Mahon, Celina Nadeau, Kassie Nadeau and Ella Johnson was sixth in the 4×800.
Everywhere in between there were Wildcats who did better than expected, like senior Alex Brockelman, who was seeded eighth in the mile and out of the scoring, but then finished fifth (4:47.26) to add three points. Brockelman also finished seventh in the 2 mile (10:25.69) to score another point.
“When Jack won the long jump, that was pretty inspirational,” Brockelman said. “It was completely unexpected. This is what Hutch tells us, to just focus on doing our best.”
Two athletes took multiple individual state titles in the meet.
Traip junior Evan Porter won two events, capturing the 55-meter hurdles (8:05) and the 55 dash (6.55). And Mount Desert Island senior Ryan Bender also was a double-winner taking the 200 (23.00) and the 400 (51.64).
In the girls meet, Tardy dominated then flashed the TV camera a huge grin after winning her third event.
She won the mile with a powerful sprint from 100 meters out to pull away from the pack and win by 4 seconds (5:10.46). And then she took the 800 with ease exercising her mighty kick once again to out kick Yarmouth’s Anneka Murrin and win in 2:23.24.
Finally, Tardy hung behind the leaders in the 2-mile until the last lap when, with 100 meters to go, she once again pulled away with ease for another win (11:30.72) to help lift the Red Riots to the team title.
“My strategy was to work on placing and to focus on that,” Tardy said. “I knew if I was going to push myself for time it would be a little harder to win for the events. Fortunately I have a meet at Harvard this weekend and can work on my time in the 800. So I have a few meets left.”
Greely was close for much of the meet. Senior Alyssa Coyne won the shot put (38-01) and distance training mates Katherine Leggat-Barr and Carolyn Todd ran with Tardy for much of the mile and the 2 mile, but couldn’t out kick her.
Leggat-Barr, a junior, finished second in the mile (5:14.30) and two mile (11:32.11), and Todd, a freshman, took third in the mile (5:16.38) and two mile (11:34.25).
“She’s amazing,” Leggat-Barr said of Tardy. “I knew she had a phenomenal kick. I saw it in the mile. I felt like I was walking when she pulled away. Then in the two mile I tried to put distance between us at the end.”
Orono also had help from Stoops who won both the 200 (26.68) and the 55-meter hurdles (8.70) and finished second in the dash (7.49). And Red Riots senior Allison Pickering captured the pole vault state title (10-0).
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