Greely sweeps track meets, OT boys, HA girls second

GORHAM – The Greely High School track and field teams proved Monday there is more than one way to win a state championship. And the Rangers did it almost to the extreme.

Greely of Cumberland Center breezed to the Class B girls title with a talented, deep team. Meanwhile, the Rangers placed only four individuals and one relay unit in the scoring column while claiming the boys crown.

Coach John Folan’s Greely girls piled up 132 points to take its third straight indoor championship by easily outdistancing runner-up Hampden Academy (45 points). Mount View of Thorndike and Gorham tied for third with 33 points, while Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough shared fifth with 23.

The Greely boys exceeded expectations in what had been billed as a battle among four teams. The Rangers’ 74 points kept runner-up Old Town (54) at bay. Falmouth placed third with 36 points, Gorham had 35 and Hampden wound up fifth with 33.

“The girls had that depth and the guys needed to have a perfect meet,” Folan said. “That was what we needed to do and they did it. They were really ready.”

In the girls’ meet, Greely scored in 12 of the 14 events with 16 athletes contributing to the effort. Abby Chapman set one of seven Class B state records on the day, winning the 800 in 2 minutes, 15.28 seconds. She also won the mile in 5:12.93.

What could have stopped the Greely girls from winning?

“They’d have to go to Lewiston by mistake,” joked Old Town coach Rod White.

Burgess LePage claimed the two-mile title (11:33.74), was second in the mile, and anchored the Rangers’ record-setting 4×800 relay squad that clocked a 9:59.23. Amanda Chase, Julia Chase and Alexis Heimann were the other team members.

Heimann was second in the 400 and was a member of Greely’s first-place 4×200 squad (1:51.97) that also included Sara Dimick, Rachelle Doucette and Sarah Groom. Groom won the 400 in 1:01.16.

MacKenzie Rawcliffe played a pivotal role in Hampden’s second-place finish. The senior won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.96 seconds, took first in the triple jump (35 feet, 1 inch) and was second in the long jump.

“It was a pretty good day. It’s very hard to get all three,” said an upbeat Rawcliffe, who didn’t have a great day jumping but still repeated as triple jump champ. She won her first indoor hurdles title.

“Two firsts and a second, that’s great. It’s a good way to cap off your high school indoor career,” said Hampden coach David King.

The Broncos’ Oriana Farley was the runner-up in the 800 despite breaking the previous state record of 2:18.89 with her 2:16.27 effort.

Eastern Maine’s only individual winner on the girls’ side was Rachel Biggs of Mount View in the 200 (27.82). She also was fourth in the long jump and ran on a fifth-place 4×200 relay entry.

Old Town’s Cassie Hintz was third in the two-mile and anchored the Indians’ second-place 4×800 team.

In the boys meet, John Loren won the 400 in a state-record 50.89 seconds and posted seconds in the 55 and 200 to spearhead a small, but potent Greely contingent. The Rangers established a state record in the 4×800 as Casey Diehl, John Jensenius, Andy Levandoski and Will Lockman ran an 8:21.34.

Kevin Robinson claimed the two-mile (9:53.34) and finished second in the 800, while Diehl was third in the two-mile and fourth in the mile. Kenny Burke’s 6-foot effort in the high jump was the only other scoring for Greely.

Kalle Eko had a superb day while spearheading the Old Town effort. The lanky senior soared to victory in the long jump (20-7) and triple jump (41-4 1/4) while running a leg on the Indians’ third-place 4×200 squad.

Not bad for a young man who played basketball the past two winters and hadn’t competed in track and field since his freshman year.

“I decided to move over as kind of a change because I’m having more fun here anyway,” said Eko, who credits coaches Chris Cook and Andy Sibley for helping him make rapid progress this season. “Winning a state championship, I never dreamed I’d experience this coming into this season.”

Derek Bolden of Wells exhibited his outstanding speed, setting a state record in the 55 meters in a time of 6.60 seconds then breezing to a 23.27 finish in the 200. Falmouth’s Brandon Bonsey was also a double winner in the 800 (1:57.82, a state record) and mile (4:25.96).

Scott Theobold of Winslow was the pole vault champ at 12 feet, 6 inches. He came up short in three state record attempts at 14-2 1/2.

Old Town’s talented corps of jumpers enabled the Indians to claim the runner-up spot. Tim Niles complemented Eko with seconds in the long and triple jumps and fifth in the high jump.

“We’re pleased,” Niles said of the Indians’ runner-up finish. “This is the first runner-up we’ve gotten in a long time.”

Dustin Honey was fifth in the triple jump and ran a leg on the 4×200 unit that also included Andrew Reinzo, John Garrity and Eko. Tyler Eastman took second in the shot put.

“The key was Niles getting two second places and Dustin Honey wasn’t seeded to place and he got fifth, so those two kids were pretty big,” White said. “We couldn’t have scored any more points than we did.”