ORONO – Bangor freshman Emily Capehart served as a perfect starting point for the Rams during Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference Championship at the University of Maine. Her first jump of the long jump trials depicted the effortless way in which the Rams dominated the meet.

Going into the event as the No. 2 seed behind indoor state champion and record holder Jen Puiia of Brewer, Capehart improved by an unlikely eight inches to win the event in 17 feet, 2 1/4 inches and erase the old record of 16-9 1/4 set by Foxcroft’s Sarah Keenan in 1997.

The Bangor girls went on to win with 383.5 points over defending champion Brewer’s 281.5 points, while the Bangor boys overpowered Brewer’s other defending title team with 402 points. The Witches scored 200.

Ever since Bangor coach Gary Capehart scored a state meet he expected the Rams to win – and didn’t – he said his athletes have been reserved in their optimism.

“I don’t score meets [ahead of time],” Gary Capehart said. “The last time I did we went belly-up. I put athletes every place we wanted to score… The kids did fabulous. The bottom line is kids can go beyond [what they were able to do before].”

Emily Capehart’s reaction to her sudden improvement exemplified the ingrained cautiousness the Rams brought to the meet. She felt fit enough to break 17 feet – but it still took her by surprise.

“It didn’t feel like a solid jump,” Emily Capehart said. “I have a sore foot. I jumped 16-6 before, I never thought I’d jump 17-2. I didn’t think I’d break the record.”

When Rams middle distance ace Colin Pile won the 800 by five yards after running in third and fourth place, he said much the same thing.

“I was hoping to come in first, I didn’t expect that,” Pile said. “I thought Kris Rolleston [of Foxcroft, who finished second in 2:04.13] would come up on me. I’m always cautious. We have a tendency to be ranked well on paper, and then not do well.”

That didn’t happen Saturday as the Bangor boys took the lead from the start and the Bangor girls started building their lead early.

The meets featured tighter battles for runner-up honors as Hampden trailed Brewer in the girls meet by 29 points and in the boys meet Mount Desert Island was 35 points behind Brewer with 165 points. Hampden took fourth with 157, while Ellsworth had 155.

In addition to Emily Capehart’s PVC mark, four other meet records were set.

Foxcroft hurdle specialist Nelly Campbell prevailed in her continuing battle with Hampden freshman Jani Bosse with a win in the 300 hurdles (46.43) erasing the 10-year-old mark of 47.9 set by Wendy King of Old Town.

Brewer’s Abby Bouzan-Kaloustian set a record in the pole vault soaring 8-8, to break former teammate Becca Smith’s mark of 8-5, while the Witches’ 3,200-meter relay team of Rachael Bodkin-Rubino, Abby Weissman, Liz Boone and Heather Jovanelli erased Bangor’s 1997 record of 10:13.34 with a new time of 10:01.55.

And, in the first running of the 1,600-meter racewalk, Anne Favolise of Narraguagus High in Harrington set the meet mark in the girls meet (9:19.58) as did Ellworth’s Ben Shorey in the boys meet (7:32.18).

Stanford-bound Ellsworth phenom Louie Luchini ran to a strong victory in the 3,200 (9:23.81) in only his second race back from a knee injury – and his first in spikes. Luchini ran effortlessly and said the race felt easier than he expected when he still is not back at 100 percent.

“My legs felt great,” Luchini said. “I wasn’t as tired as usual. I’m happy with that. I won’t be going past states to Nationals or Junior Nationals. [I’m returning] too late in the season for that.”

The Rams, who had nine top-three finishes in the girls meet and seven in the boys meet, but only four individual winners overall, won two of the three relays in each meet. Pile, who anchored the 1,600-meter relay, said Bangor’s mission was not just to win – but to gain momentum for the challenges ahead.

“Coach Capehart talked to us yesterday and said this was a step to regionals,” Pile said. “If we do well here, we’ll do well at regionals. Then we’ll face those tough schools from down south. When Edward Little came up to the PVC relays, it was a culture shock. We realized we had to start working harder.”