Ellen Vollmers sets state mark in pole vault Scarborough, Greely state champs

GORHAM – Though she struggled a bit during the regular season, there’s something about state championship meets that brings out the very best in Orono pole vaulter Ellen Vollmers.

The Red Riots’ senior, who hadn’t cleared 8 feet, 6 inches this winter, vaulted 10-2 Monday to set a state record during the Class B indoor track state championship meet at the University of Southern Maine field house.

Vollmers’ performance was among many outstanding efforts in the meet, which was won by the Scarborough boys and the girls from Greely of Cumberland Center.

Scarborough tallied 62 points to outdistance runner-up Mount Desert Island, which scored 43. Ellsworth was third with 41, followed by Poland (39), Greely (21) and Gorham (30).

The Greely girls accumulated 95 points, while Cape Elizabeth scored 65 and Hampden Academy had 35. Gray-New Gloucester and Mount View of Thorndike rounded out the top five with 32 and 28 points, respectively.

Vollmers, who also holds the state outdoor record of 10-0, again saved her best for last in the pole vault.

“It was weird because I completely lost all my form at the end there,” Vollmers said of her record-breaking vault. “I was going over backwards rather than turning, but it worked.”

Vollmers emerged from a strong pole vault field during a grueling competition that lasted more than two hours.

“You stand on the runway and you forget everything,” Vollmers said. “You don’t think, ‘I’m really tired,’ you just use what [energy] you’ve got and hopefully it’s enough.”

The Red Storm utilized eight performers to win the boys meet for the seventh time in the last eight years. Only Andrew VanHoogenstyn finished third in the two mile and fourth in the mile.

Adam Eschner won the 400 in 52.78 and was a member of the winning 800 relay squad. Russ Prime took fourth in the 55 dash and ran the relay.

“The guys really pulled together. They did everything that they were seeded and more,” said Scarborough coach Jim Harmon. “We had some incredible performances today.”

Coach Ivey Menzietti-Ellis’ MDI boys turned in a solid outing. Liam McSweeney led the Trojans, winning the triple jump in 40 feet, 101/4 inches and taking third in the long jump.

“Liam McSweeney did a great job in the jumping, even though he’s been having a lot of knee trouble,” Menzietti-Ellis said. “He did a great job and pulled through with that.”

Da Chang finished third in the 55, Robin Fernald was fourth in the pole vault and Craig Johnnson was fifth in the 400 for MDI. Each also ran with Kyle Spratt on the runner-up relay team that finished two-hundredths of a second behind Scarborough.

“I’m glad they did as well as they did. They deserve it,” Menzietti-Ellis said. “They worked really hard all season.”

Adam MacBeth played a big part in Ellsworth’s third-place finish. The junior won the long jump with a personal best of 21-111/2, sped to a 7.99 in winning the 55 high hurdles and was third in the 200 (24.18).

MacBeth was happy “except for the 200, which I’m a little upset about at the moment,” he said. “It’s not my best event, but I was seeded to win and I got third. I felt I was going like usual, but I didn’t catch the two guys.”

MacBeth pointed out that USM is a flat track, while EM athletes are used to UMaine’s banked turns.

Greely scored 10 athletes in the girls meet led by Alexis Heimann, who won the 400 meters in 1:01.36, was second in the 200 and was a member of Greely’s first-place 800 relay squad. Jen Lockman and Lindsey Frost each scored in three events for the winners.

Two other state records fell during the girls competition, including one on the very first attempt of the day in any event. Abby Flynn of Cape Elizabeth broke a nine-year-old mark in the long jump when she leapt 17-43/4 on her first try.

The previous mark of 17-31/4 was set by Sara Tsika in 1992.

In the 800 meters, Bridget Gagne of North Yarmouth Academy eclipsed her own record with a time of 2:18.89. Runner-up Orianna Farley of Hampden Academy (2:21.41) and No. 3 Abby Chapman of Greely (2:22.53) also had times that would have bettered Gagne’s old mark of 2:23.89.

Gagne also won the two mile in 11:34.42, holding off Audra Caler of Mount View, who led for 151/2 of the 16 laps. Caler had held off Marshwood’s Jennifer Goransson to win the mile in 5:16.26.

Mount View’s Molly Feeney was the only other EM event winner, taking the high jump at 5-2. However, Hampden’s MacKenzie Rawcliffe did take second in the long and triple jumps.