Nokomis’ Adam Allen, left, Skowhegan’s Billy Alberston and Cony’s Danny Phan compete in the 55-meter dash during a Jan. 6 indoor track and field meet at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Some sports seasons roll into the next nicely. Few do it the way indoor and outdoor track and field can.
The sports go hand in hand with many athletes participating in indoor in the winter and outdoor in the spring. The events are largely similar, albeit with the former being done in controlled fieldhouse environments and the latter held out in the cold April air, the fresh May breeze or the hot June sun.
“There’s a little bit of, ‘hey, we have these other events now,’ but there’s a lot of things that carry over,” said Winslow head coach Ken Nadeau. “You see a lot of the same kids, and you don’t have to do the reintroduction of the little things, which is nice.”
Some central Maine runners, throwers and jumpers are fresh off great seasons, both outdoors a year ago and indoors just two months ago. That’s set the stage for a 2023 track and field season in which area teams are primed for individual championships and strong team showings.
Few athletes in Maine are on a bigger tear right now than Skowhegan’s Billy Albertson. The junior enters the season as a top contender to win Class A state titles in the long and triple jumps after winning indoor crowns in both. He took second in the triple jump at the New England championships last month.
Elsewhere in Class A, Mt. Blue’s Cyrus Evans will look to defend his Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference outdoor title in the 400-meter dash and improve on his third-place finish at states. Skowhegan’s Emma Corson is the reigning KVAC Large School shot put champion in both the indoor and outdoor fields.
In Class B, Gardiner’s Ashlyn Poulin, who won the race walk by over a minute last year, is the overwhelming favorite to win the state title in that event. Poulin is one of 11 returning girls who competed in last year’s state championships for the Tigers, who placed sixth in that event,
“Yana Montell placed third for us (in the javelin) at states with a throw of 115; she just blew it out of the park,” said Gardiner head coach Jen Boudreau. “Sophie Mathieu started throwing shot put halfway through the season and went to states. Taryn Nichols also throws shot put and is a good sprinter. She’s going to step it up big.”
At Cony, Emma Brown will look for glory in the 400-meter dash title after winning the KVAC Class B indoor crown. Conor Morin, who won KVAC indoor titles in the high and triple jumps and placed second in the former at states after losing a tiebreaker, will buoy the Cony boys. The Rams swept both KVAC B titles last year.
For Waterville, junior jumpers Kara Anderson (long jump) and Maddie Yakimchick (triple jump) will look to build on KVAC Class B indoor titles. Erskine Academy boasts two athletes who just placed in the B state indoor championships, Sadie Pierce (third in triple jump) and Nick Choate (fourth in mile run).
Perennial powerhouse Winslow, which is fresh off a boys outdoor state championship in Class C, has some rebuilding work to do this season. After graduating 18 seniors from that title-winning squad, Nadeau knows his team has an uphill climb ahead of it this season.
“It’s kind of a weird transition year for us,” Nadeau said. “I don’t think we’re going to be in there for a state championship — we’re just missing too many pieces — but we have some great kids, and we’ll be in the mix for some individual championships, for sure.”
Indeed, the Winslow boys have a state championship contender in Joey Richards, who won the indoor 400-meter dash. Richards was also part of the Black Raiders’ state indoor champion 4×400 relay team with Ryan Yang, Braden Rioux and Samuel Schmitt. On the girls side, Allie Kimball is a contender in the 400.
Gardiner’s Ashlyn Poulin competes in the 1,600-meter race walk at the Capital City Classic on May 20, 2022, at Cony High School in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Maine Central Institute, the reigning KVAC Small School outdoor and Class B indoor girls champ, has a good shot to reign in the conference again with one of the state’s premier runners in Emma Burr. For the MCI boys, Owen Moore should be a contender in the discus throw and shot put.
Elsewhere in Class C, Hall-Dale head coach Jarod Richmond believes he has one of his best girls teams in years. The Bulldogs must replace the state javelin champ in Iris Ireland but have a great around-athlete in Karlie Reith and a runner who’s made great strides in Kylie Rolfe.
“I’m really excited to see what this girls team can do with all these really great athletes we have this year,” Richmond said. “For our boys, we have Austin Lizzotte in the shot put and Nick Dyer in the discus. Our boys team is always strong in the field, and this year, I think we’ll be able to add the track component to that, too.”
Winthrop, Richmond said, should also be an improved team in Class C and the Mountain Valley Conference. Back in KVAC Class C, Maranacook returns a top solo runner in Lina Martinez Nocito as well as some competitive girls relay teams. Mount View has a top jumper in Wyatt Evensen.
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