Broncs sweep meets> False fire alarm interrupts mile

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ORONO – Even against the backdrop of the organized mayhem that is an Eastern Maine Indoor Track League meet, Tuesday’s regular-season opener for five squads was a little bit odd.

You can see all kinds of things at these meets – as long as you know where to look, and happen to be looking at the right time.

On Tuesday, for instance, you could see the Hampden boys and girls sweep team wins. You could see the HA girls top the six-member Orono squad 92-64. And you could see the Bronco boys outlast Bucksport 108-85.

But look a little closer, and you also had the chance to see an entire meet come to a screeching halt.

That’s because someone, somewhere in the University of Maine’s Memorial Gym complex pulled a fire alarm during the girls mile run.

And that meant after about a third of a mile, meet officials stepped onto the track, called the whole deal off – temporarily – and herded four track teams (and a race full of puffing, panting milers) out into the snow.

“I’m kind of ticked off,” Mattanawcook Academy junior Mary Lebrun said during the alarm-enduced field trip from the field house.

“You just don’t want to go through that twice.”

The “that” in question was the nerve-wracking start and crucial first quarter-mile that Lebrun has struggled with lately.

In the end, it really didn’t matter, Lebrun admits. Officials lined the field back up, re-ran the race in its entirety, and things turned out pretty much as people figured.

Corrie Pietras of Mattanawcook handled much of the pace-setting chores. Lebrun attached herself to the lead pack. And Orono star senior Sarah Taylor unleashed a withering kick to blow the race open in the late-going.

Taylor turned in a speedy 5 minute, 30.85 second time, putting almost 10 seconds between herself and the rest of the pack over the final 350 yards.

After running 5:40.15 to take second, Lebrun softened her stance a bit.

“I guess I never thought I’d have a halftime in a mile,” she said with a laugh.

Taylor admitted that she didn’t know what to do when officials told the field to stop after only two and one-third laps.

“I tried to just keep going,” Taylor said. “But he said, `No. Stop.’ ”

Taylor also won the 800-meter run.

Joining the milers in the momentum-killing fire drill was Bucksport sophomore Heather Jellison, who had just cleared a school record 8-feet in the pole vault and was eyeing her third try at 8-6.

“It was pretty frustrating, but I was pretty happy with 8-feet at that point,” she said.

Jellison won the 60-yard hurdles race to become one of four girls with at least two individual victories.

Hampden’s Danielle McCabe was the lone triple-winner, taking the 60-yard dash, as well as the 200-meter and 400-meter runs.

Orono’s Caroline Tjepkema added wins in the long jump and triple jump.

Hampden coach David King said that the meet was the first regular season contest of the year, and had more of a low-key atmosphere than athletes will find in a few weeks.

“What I tell the kids is this is a good day to patch up some little things, get a speed workout in, but we don’t treat it like a regular meet because it just doesn’t have the aura of a regular meet,” King said. “And there’s nothing you can do to give it that aura.”

King said part of the problem is that five teams just don’t fill the cavernous field house enough.

“I’ve been at practices a lot louder than this,” he said.

Eric Nickerson won the boys mile and two-mile for the Broncos, while Bucksport speedster Chad Gilley was victorious in the 60 and 200.

Track & Field

High school AT UMAINE, Orono

Hampden boys 108, Bucksport 85, Mattanawcook 22, Orono 21, Bangor Christian 12

60-yard dash: Chad Gilley (Buc) 7.05, Saunders (Buc) 7.06, M. Brann (HA) 7.24, Preston (HA) 7.30, Corey (O) 7.30; 60-yard hurdles: Michael Wood (HA) 10.00, P. Brann (HA) 10.07, Dicker (MA) 10.16, Edwards (MA) 12.08; Mile: Eric Nickerson (HA) 5:00.26, Grindle (Buc) 5:28.93, Bowden (Buc) 5:46.40, Purcell (Buc) 5:57.52, Hunt (Buc) 6:20.52; 400 meters: Ben Preston (HA) 55.85, Harriman (BC) 1:01.13, Bowden (Buc) 1:02.91, Robbins (MA) 1:04.60, Edwards (MA) 1:07.67; 200 meters: Chad Gilley (Buc) 24.96, Raymond (Buc) 25.94, Harriman (BC) 27.33, Patterson (BC) 27.35, Adams (HA) 27.53; 800 meters: Eric Nickerson (HA) 2:15.70, Tavantzis (O) 2:16.62, Hassell (HA) 2:17.84, Grindle (Buc) 2:18.49, Coffman (HA) 2:20.81; 2-mile: Johann Geisel (HA) 12:31.64, Edwards (MA) 13:45.24; Shot put: Allen Corey (O) 39-11 1/2, Raymond (Buc) 38-11 1/2, Tribou (HA) 38-4 3/4, Curtis (Buc) 33-6 3/4, McHale (Buc) 33-2; Long jump: Pete Saunders (Buc) 17-4 3/4, Harlan (Buc) 15-7 1/4, Booth (Buc) 12-1 1/2; High jump: Mike Nealley (HA) 5-8, Simpson (HA) 5-6, Howard (Buc) 5-6, Corey (O) 5-4, Robbins (MA) 5-2; Triple jump: Sam Bosse (HA) 39-7 3/4, Robbins (MA) 33-2; Pole vault: Matt Brann (HA) 11-0, P. Brann (HA) 10-6, Stecher (O) 10-6, Blanchette (HA) 10-6, Bosse (HA) 9-6; 880-yard relay: Hampden (Ben Preston, Sam Bosse, Matt Brann, Pat Brann) 1:42.20, Bucksport 1:45.39

Hampden girls 92, Orono 64, Bucksport 42, Bangor Christian 31, Mattanawcook 27

60-yard dash: Danielle McCabe (HA) 7.87, Jackson (HA) 7.95, Sage (BC) 8.18, Jellison (Buc) 8.30, Ross (BA) 8.44; 60-yard hurdles: Heather Jellison (Buc) 10.23, Bosse (HA) 10.91, Bossie (HA) 10.99, Denis (Buc) 11.81; Mile: Sarah Taylor (O) 5:30.85, Lebrun (MA) 5:40.15, Pietras (MA) 5:42.66, Bennett (HA) 5:48.60, Pelletier (Buc) 6:17.87; 400 meters: Danielle McCabe (HA) 1:05.27, Alvarez (O) 1:08.10, Licata (Buc) 1:09.69, Comeau (MA) 1:12.13, Donnelly (HA) 1:14.19; 200 meters: Danielle McCabe (HA) 28.80, Sage (BC) 29.48, Ross (BC) 30.77, Licata (Buc) 32.00, Comeau (MA) 32.44; 800 meters: Sarah Taylor (O) 2:32.58, Bennett (HA) 2:36.82, Lebrun (MA) 2:40.93, Alvarez (O) 2:45.30, Whittier (MA) 2:47.30; 2-mile: Corrie Pietras (MA) 12:19.92, Pelletier (Buc) 13:44.61, White (HA) 13:56.30, Vicnaire (BC) 15:38.47; Shot put: Kate Yerxa (O) 38-9, Smith (O) 33-1 1/2, Dubay (HA) 30-5 1/4, Enright (Buc) 27-6, Raymond (HA) 26-6 1/4; Long jump: Caroline Tjepkema (O) 13-8, Wengrzynek (BC) 12-9 1/2, Licata (Buc) 11-6 3/4, Taskula (HA) 11-3 3/4, Denis (Buc) 10-11 1/4; High jump: Katie Ingram (HA) 4-10, Bossie (HA) 4-8, Smith (O) 4-8, Baird (Buc) 4-0, McCarthy (MA) 3-10; Triple jump: Caroline Tjepkema (O) 30-9 3/4, Jackson (HA) 28-0, Wengrzynek (BC) 27-4, Bosse (HA) 27-1 3/4; Pole vault: Heather Jellison (Buc) 8-0; 880-yard relay: Hampden (Katie Jackson, C. Groleau, M. Seymour, Jani Bosse) 2:03.14, Orono 2:04.38, Bangor Christian 2:12.19, Hampden 2:12.47