Carson, Largay, Zitaner help Bangor teams win

BANGOR – The weather was anything but spring-like Saturday as members of seven different teams competed at Cameron Stadium, but the fact they were at least able to compete outside was good enough.

The host Bangor Rams overcame prolonged wind gusts and chilly temperatures to sweep both meets in convincing fashion as the boys scored 227 points to runner-up Mattanawcook Academy’s 122.5 and the girls put up 201 to easily outdistance the 71 scored by the MA Lynx of Lincoln.

The Bangor boys were led by dual winners Dan Carson, who swept the 110- and 300-meter hurdles races; Ryan Largay, who won the 200 and ran the anchor leg of Bangor’s winning 4-by-100 relay team; Nick Achorn, who took the long jump and ran the third leg of Bangor’s 4×100 relay; and Conor Stephens.

Stephens won the javelin – no surprise considering his status as one of the premier throwers in Eastern Maine – and the high jump. The high jump? Yes, the two-way lineman for the Bangor varsity football team, all 210 pounds of him, finished ahead of all the lean, lithe, greyhound-like jumpers who would seem to have him at a big disadvantage.

“I’ve got a lot more weight than most guys doing this. Probably the biggest guys doing this are 180 or so,” he said.

Stephens has had hardly any training in the high jump and was competing in it at a meet for only the second time since eighth grade. Heck, he only decided to do it because the long wait in between javelin and discus was getting to be too much to bear.

“I was always sitting around for a couple hours and I wanted to do something fun and not too strenuous,” said the senior, who will throw the javelin for the Lafayette College Leopards in Easton, Pa., next year.

Stephens’ approach is all matter-of-fact. It was with awe that even his own teammates watched as he cleared 5 feet, 8 inches on just his third attempt of the day and won the event with a jump of 5-10, without even bothering to remove his wind pants.

“Well … It’s cold today and that’s all I’m saying,” he said with a chuckle.

Rather than let a lack of technical skills stop him, he relishes it. In fact, he prefers a simple approach. The less technical stuff he knows, the better.

“My other teammates and my coaches started telling me things to do and I understand what they’re saying, but I really don’t want to worry about all the detailed stuff,” he said with a laugh. “This is more a fun thing for me to do. Javelin’s more my serious event.”

And he’s seriously good at it. When you’re throwing 166 feet, 11 inches – good enough to eclipse the rest of the field by at least 30 feet – and you come away disappointed despite having to throw into constant gusts on a frigid late afternoon … Well, that’s serious.

“I was throwing 180 pretty consistently in practice yesterday and I my best was 175 at states last year,” said Stephens, who isn’t receiving a scholarship from Lafayette, but he has been heavily recruited by the school. “They have a very good thrower who’s graduating next year and he’s up around 220.”

Other boys standouts included Presque Isle’s Chris Blackistone, who won both the mile (1600) and two-mile (3200), and MA’s Cole Averill, who took the shot put and discus.

In the girls meet, the Rams were led by sophomore Suzy Zitaner, who won both the discus and javelin, finished tied for third in high jump, and ran the second leg of Bangor’s winning 4-by-400 relay.

The Rams’ slight sophomore – all 5-feet, 61/2 inches of her – had a great day, but you wouldn’t think so after hearing her talk about it.

“I was having a really hard time with the discus today because I kept on hitting the poles…,” she said with an embarrassed laugh.

Others who didn’t let the wind blow away their efforts were Courtney Hersey from Central of Corinth and Presque Isle’s Nikki James. Hersey won the 200 and 400 while James won the high and long jumps.