Orrington youths shine at track

SCARBOROUGH – Lots of aspiring athletes showed off their skills during the Maine Association of USA Track & Field’s Junior Olympic Track & Field Championship at Scarborough High School over the weekend.

The meet, for those ages 15 to 18, also served as the USATF’s Region 1 Qualifying Meet for ages 10 to 18. The top six finishers in each event qualified for the regional meet.

Stephanie Dickey and Susan Zitaner, two athletes from Orrington who advanced to the national meet last year, turned in fine performances again.

They both competed in the intermediate division, ages 15-16, with Dickey winning the shot put and discus and placing second in the javelin.

Dickey finished first in the shot put with a throw of 32 feet, 101/2 inches and in the discus at a distance of 96-9. She placed second in the javelin with a throw of 96-2.

Zitaner finished first in the javelin with a throw of 100-5, but perhaps showed off her vast array of skills best when she won the heptathlon by accumulating 2,117 points for the seven events. The heptathlon consists of the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter run, long jump, javelin and 800-meter run.

Both Dickey and Zitaner advanced from last year’s regional meet to the national meet, and could stand a good chance of doing so again this year as they will be competing in the intermediate division, ages 15-16. The national meet is July 23-28 at Omaha, Neb.

At last year’s national meet, Dickey finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 106-5, qualifying her for All-American status. Zitaner was 18th in the discus, 20th in the pole vault and 24th in the high jump.

Christine Thoms of Brewer also enjoyed a strong meet at last weekend’s Region 1 Qualifier as she finished first for youth girls, ages 13-14, in the shot put and discus. Thoms had a throw of 35-6 in the shot put and 83-5 in the discus.

In the midget division, ages 11-12, Allie Clukey of Bangor recorded two first-place finishes. She clocked a time of 14.4 seconds in the 100 and won the long jump with a leap of 12-41/2.

Several other athletes in Greater Bangor also turned in top efforts to qualify for the Region 1 Meet. They are:

Lauren Maltz of Hampden, second in the youth 100 at 13.6; Kayla Kalel of Orrington, third in the youth 400 at 1:34.5; Holly Binette of Orrington, second in the youth 1500 at 6:50; and Anna Schwarcz of Orrington, fourth in the youth 1500 at 7:09.

Also qualifying were: Jessica Dunham of Bangor, second in youth high jump at 4-6; Noelle Lincoln of Dixmont, third in youth discus at 69-7; Jimmy Clukey of Bangor, first in youth 100 at 13.4 and third in long jump at 13-43/4; and Ryan McLaughlin of Brewer, first in young men’s 5000, ages 17-18, at 17:26.