John Bapst girls, Foxcroft boys win Orono’s Alford, Bucksport’s Siverly record victories in four events at PVC championship

ORONO – As Katie Andrle gathered herself on the sideline of the Orono High track Saturday, John Bapst coach Bruce Pratt ran from the infield to give her a big hug.

“He was like, you guys are only three-tenths of a second off the state record,” Andrle said moments after she anchored the Crusaders to a win in the 1,600 relay. “That was awesome. He was really psyched. Our previous best was a 4:21, so that was like six seconds off our best time. I’m very excited.”

Andrle and the Crusaders had come close to the Class C state mark. Even better, John Bapst’s win in the final event of the Penobscot Valley Conference Small School championship capped a dominating performance.

The Crusaders of Bangor scored 146 points en route to the PVC girls crown. Narraguagus of Harrington put up 67 points to hold off Orono, which scored 65. Central of Corinth tallied 50 1/3 for fourth and Greenville’s 34 1/3 was good for fifth.

The Foxcroft boys used their prowess in the field events to win the PVC boys title. The Ponies tallied 98 points for the championship, holding off Gunner Siverly and Bucksport (87 points) and John Bapst (84). Sumner of East Sullivan was fourth with 60 points and Mattanawcook of Lincoln took fifth with 56.

The John Bapst girls and Foxcroft boys will be among the teams to beat at next Saturday’s Class C state championship meet at Cony High in Augusta.

In the girls meet, the Crusaders of Bangor took two of three relays, finished second in the other relay, and picked up big points in the long jump, shot put, 3,200 run, racewalk, and the 300 hurdles.

Andrle and Elaine Colwell finished 1-2 in the hurdles. Colwell was seeded third in that event, and earlier she won the 100 hurdles.

“Elaine used to run the 400 and this is only her second time doing the 300 this year,” said Andrle, who was fourth in the 100. “It was a good move, to put her in the hurdles. That was definitely big.”

Lily Krichels took the long jump, with Taylor Greenlaw finishing third and Ali Stevens taking fifth. Stevens was also third in the javelin.

Maddy Glover cruised to a win in the 3,200 with Kari Lynch fourth and Anna Schwarcz fifth. Emily Picard edged Lou Torrey of Narraguagus in the shot put and was third in the discus. Nicole Lavertu scored in the 800 and 1,600 runs. Casey Ryder was second in the racewalk.

Narraguagus used fine performances in the distance and sprint events to take second place.

Shelby Howe of Narraguagus picked up wins in the 800 and 1,600, and the Knights got a charge out of Mahala Stewart’s win in the racewalk. Her time of 7:59.39 broke a record set in 2000 by former Narraguagus star Anne Favolise.

Those were the only individual wins for the Knights, but Carole Perry was third in the 100 and 400 and was fourth in the 200 and long jump. Torrey provided points with a second in the shot put and a fifth in the discus.

Orono’s Olivia Alford was a four-event winner. She took the 100, 200, and 400, and also anchored the Red Riots’ winning 400 relay.

In the boys meet, the Ponies aren’t as deep as some teams, but their across-the-board talent was enough.

Foxcroft picked up a lot of points in the field events. Trey Merrill won the shot put and the discus, with E.J. Imbert taking third in that event.

Brandon Hall won the high jump. Hall and Ben Page went 2-3 in both the long jump and the triple jump.

“In the juniors and seniors [classes], there’s a lot of athletic talent,” said Hall, a junior who was also sixth in the 100. “We’re pretty diversified. We’re not winning every event, but we’re scoring in a lot of events. … This feels pretty good.”

Hall, who high-jumped 6 feet, 7 inches in a recent meet, drew a crowd as he tried for 6-81/4 to break the PVC record, but he couldn’t clear the height.

On the track, Bobby Gilbert and Page went 2-3 in the 200 and Imbert was second in the 400.

Siverly provided the Golden Bucks with 30 points worth of individual wins in the 100, 200, and 400.

He also anchored the winning 1,600 relay team, which proved to be key for Bucksport’s second-place hopes.

“We just ran two seconds more than our fastest time,” Siverly said. “That was a heck of a time right there. I’m happy with the way things came out. We were expecting to place in certain spots and we hit all those spots perfectly.”

Bucksport’s Josh Johnson was fifth in the 100, fourth in the 200, and second in the high jump. Josh Atwood won the racewalk.

Saben Rossi of Narraguagus won the 110 and 300 hurdles.