BRUNSWICK — Had she pushed it, Olivia Tiner could have won the Class B girls 2-mile race by as much as she wanted. But knowing she had a huge lead with just a few laps to go, the Winslow High School freshman’s mind was on bigger prizes.
“I just tried to run a smart race. My coaches are really smart with this stuff, so I went with what they were saying. I was like, all right, I’ve just got to finish this out. I just went for it for the team,” Tiner said. “That’s what’s more important overall.”
With her wins in the 2-mile and mile, as well as a third place finish in the 800, Tiner helped the Winslow girls earn the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B title. The Black Raiders scored 96 points, well ahead of second place Belfast’s 76 points. Lawrence took third with 75 points.
Tiner was named the Dave Ryan Class B Girls Athlete of the Meet. Tiner deflected credit to the Winslow coaching staff and her teammates.
“I just ran. That’s all I can say,” Tiner said. “We’re all contributing to get to that (championship) goal.”
The Belfast boys won the Class B team title with 143 points, with Winslow (102) second and Nokomis (68) third. With his wins in the 55 hurdles, 200, and 400, Winslow’s Max Spaulding was the Class B boys Dave Martin award winner.
In Class A, the Brunswick boys held on to beat Mt. Ararat by a half point, 114.5-114. It appeared Mt. Ararat earned the win when Edward Little edged past Brunswick at the finish line in the 4 by 200 relay, but the Red Eddies were disqualified for an illegal baton exchange, securing the win for the Dragons. In the Class A girls meet, Mt. Ararat scored 130 points to hold off second place Messalonskee (126.5).
In the 2-mile, Tiner pulled away from the pack early and cruised to the win with a time of 12:49.24, 21 seconds ahead of second place Emily Eastman of Nokomis. In the mile, Tiner’s plan was to come out moderately, then pick up the pace. It worked, and she won in 5:41.74.
“Take it easy at first, slowly pick them off,” Tiner said of her mile. “I had it in the tank so I went for it, and I’m really glad that I did.”
MAXIMUS EFFORT: Spaulding was dominant in the 400 (53.16 seconds) and 200 (24.07 seconds), but the foundation of his day was the 55 hurdles.
“That was the one event I was really focusing on. I knew that would be the hardest race of the day. After I got that, I was much more confident for my other races,” Spaulding said.
In the hurdles, Spaulding got off to an excellent start. It was key to keep Belfast’s Jack Hansen behind him, Spaulding said. Spaulding won in 8.36 seconds, just ahead of Hansen (8.47).
“I knew if I didn’t have a good start, Jack Hansen was going to be there with em the whole time,” Spaulding said.
REPEAT WINNER: Waterville’s Sarah Cox repeated as conference Class B girls shot put champion. While Cox was happy with her winning throw of 38 feet, 10 inches, she felt she could improve at the state meet next week.
“It feels good, but I still want 40 (feet),” Cox said.
Cox’s teammate, Rasheed Parker, won the boys shot put for the Purple Panthers. Parker’s winning throw was 43-7, three inches better than Lawrence’s Alex Higgins.
DOUBLE CHAMPION: Messalonskee’s Emma Wentworth was among the double winners from central Maine, taking Class A girls titles in the 55 (7.72 seconds) and 200 (27.46).
“I’ve been working on my block starts lately. I guess it’s paying off,” Wentowrth said after her victory in the 200.
Other double winners included
BIG DAYS: Lawrence’s Cheyenne Poulin, who took the Class B girls pole vault with a vault of eight feet. The vault matched Poulin’s personal record.
“I just really practiced hard,” Poulin said. “I was definitely nervous.”
Winslow’s Alister Piccini won the Class B boys mile, and credited teammates Nicholas Tiner, who placed second, as the key. Piccini won with a time of 4:56.13, with Tiner second in 5:02.41.
“That kid’s the reason I run as fast as I do,” Piccini said, pointing at Tiner. “He pushed me at the start of that race, and it was a fun race.”
Messalonskee’s Charlotte Wentworth won the Class A 400 (1:01.41), while Eagles teammates Jacey Richard and Libby Breznyak took first in the 55 hurdles (9.11 seconds) and pole vault (9 feet), respectively. Skowhegan’s Kyle Jacques took the Class A boys triple jump (41-2.75).
In Class B Waterville’s Lauren Pinnette won the girls 55 hurdles (9.74 seconds). Erskine’s Kaylee Porter took the 800 (2:20.87). Payton Goodwin of Lawrence won the girls long jump (16-02), while Victoria Friend of Maine Central Institute won the triple jump (31-10.25). Waterville’s Ethan Nurick won the boys triple jump (41-2.5). Betsy Hunt won the girls high jump (4-11), while Lawrence’s Thomas Kenney took the boys high jump (5-8).
CLASS A DAVE MARTIN AWARDS: With wins in the 800, mile, and 2-mile, Mt. Ararat’s Katherine Leckbee was the Class A Girls Athlete of the Meet. On the boys side, Mt. Ararat’s Lisandro Berry-Gaviria won the Dave Martin award with victories in the mile and 2-mile, and second place in the 800.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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