AUGUSTA — They entered this meet as the favorites to take home their respective conference championships.
They would seize control of the competition early — and would lock up those championships long before the results were announced under the Fuller Field lights.
The Cony boys and Lincoln Academy girls breezed to team titles Friday in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Medium School championships at Cony High School. It was a repeat win for the Cony boys, while the Eagles dethroned the Cony girls after the Rams swept both meets last year.
“Last year, we won it for the first time in something like 80 years, so to back it up this year as repeat champs, it’s a testament to our kids,” said Cony head coach Shawn Totman. “We have a lot of depth on this team, and they run and throw and jump for each other. They dug deep every step of the way.”
Leading a dominant effort for Cony in the field, Conor Morin won the long jump (20 feet, 9 inches), triple jump (43-4 1/2) and high jump (5-6). The Rams also got field wins from Danny Phan (pole vault, 9-0), Jaden Geyer (shot put, 46-3) and Jonny Lettre (javelin, 150-6).
On the track, Cony got a key win in the 4×100-meter relay as Phan, Jahmiyo Gillis, Eli Orth and Cohen Parker posted a time of 45.66. That, along with a number of athletes who outperformed their seedings, was enough to propel the Rams to 179 1/2 points, 44 1/2 clear of second-place Lincoln.
“We had a kid (Cohen Parker) who was seeded eighth in the triple jump but finished fifth,” said Morin, who was named the meet’s top boys field athlete. “We had a bunch of kids like that. … That 4×100 was also great. I’d say we all worked hard — it’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears — and it feels really great.”
Although Cony had been favored to win the meet, the massive margin of victory came as a bit of a surprise as the seedings had the host team as a roughly 20-point favorite over Lincoln. The Eagles racked up the anticipated points, but the Rams, who had 26 athletes accumulate points, ran away with it by blowing away expectations.
“There is no question the team score is not what I thought it would be,” Totman said. “Lincoln Academy is an incredible team with some great athletes, and to have this result is as surprising to me as anybody. I knew we had a chance to win, but to have this type of performance by our kids, it’s absolutely amazing.”
Kodi Quimby of Mt. Blue won the boys race walk as he finished with a time of 7:32. The Mt. Blue boys also got a win from Cowen Young, who won the 1,600-meter run in 4:41.62. Other local boys winners were Adam Allen of Nokomis (100-meter dash, 11.37) and Nick Choate of Erskine Academy (3,200-meter run, 10:17.45).
The Lincoln girls got wins from Mya Bessey, Ashly Campbell, Juniper Jacobs and Adeline Hall in the 4×800 (10:49.70), Jennifer Campbell in the high jump (5-0) and Audrey Hufnagel in the 3,200. Yet second-place finishes, such as those in the 1,600 and 100-meter hurdles, were more than enough to lift the Eagles (158 points) past Morse (109 1/2).
Gardiner senior Ashlyn Poulin set a meet record in the 1,600-meter race walk, crossing the finish line in 7 minutes, 13.12 seconds. That time also marked personal and school records for Poulin, the top race-walker in the state as well as one of the best nationally.
The time put Poulin within touching distance of the state record of 7:10.66 set by Izabelle Trefts of Old Town just two years ago. Poulin felt she could approach that record entering the meet, and she’s confident she can eclipse that mark when she competes in states next week.
“It was tough toward the end, but I knew I had to work, and I was pushing very, very, very hard to get the time I wanted,” Poulin said. “That state record is what I was working for, and I came really close. At the state meet next week, I’ll have that record; I’ll definitely hit it next week.”
Erskine’s Sadie Pierce added a pair of wins in the long jump (15-0) and triple jump (34-11), and Cony got wins from Elise Cunningham (javelin, 111-6) and Avery Theriault (shot put, 34-0 3/4). Other girls winners locally were Mt. Blue’s Cassidy Hardy (discus, 95-11) and Nokomis’ Ebony Parker (100-meter hurdles, 16.98).
All that remains now are the state championship meets, which are scheduled for next Saturday, June 3. While Mt. Blue will head to Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham for the Class A meet, the rest of the teams that competed Friday will be traveling to Freeport High School for the Class B competition.
“It’s going to be a good one,” Morin said. “You’ve got Corbin (Flewelling) from Old Town, Drew (Pierson) from Ellsworth, Stephen (Pierre) from Leavitt — all my jumping buddies from around the state are going to be there. It’s going to be good competition.”
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