Red Eddies, Trojans show how the West has won

SACO – The disparity between Eastern and Western Maine has never been so great in Class A high school track, and it very well may never be this great again.

Edward Little High School of Auburn used a surprise 1-3-4 finish in the 800-meter run and a strong showing in the sprinting events to vault past Deering High School of Portland 110-82 in the boys Class A state championship meet at Thornton Academy on Saturday. The Eddies captured their first title since 1999 and last as a member of the Western Maine track and field community. The Edward Little girls fell 1.75 points short of completing the Red Eddies’ sweep as Thornton Academy pulled out an 83-81.25 victory.

“We were disappointed last season,” said EL boys coach Dan Campbell. “At the start of this season, we told the kids to forget about last year and focus on some new goals.”

Next season, Edward Little and cross-river rival Lewiston High School will join the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference and complete the shift from West to East. It’s a shot in the arm the East apparently could use.

“I’ve never seen it this bad,” said Nokomis coach John White. “The population definitely seems to be moving south.”

Nokomis did not place in the boys meet and scored only seven points in the girls meet. Other local schools fared slightly better. The Bangor High boys finished with 20.33 points, thanks in large part to senior Conor Stephens, whose 173-foot, 9-inch throw in the javelin earned him first-place honors.

“I had thrown that far and even further in practice, but it was a bit frustrating during meets this year,” said Stephens. “I mean, I was winning by 20 or 30 feet, but there was no really tough competition.”

“In general, this was a good meet for us,” added Bangor coach Gary Capehart. “We scored about as many points as we expected to. In a lot of ways, this meet is a step up from anything we face during the regular season. We never see teams of this size during the year.”

Brewer High School garnered two points in the boys meet, a fifth-place finish by Chip Haskell in the pole vault.

Following the Edward Little and Deering boys were South Portland, Sanford, and Portland, marking the first time in recent memory that Western schools had swept the top five places.

Hanging on would have been an understatement. After vaulting ahead of Edward Little in the pole vault and hurdle events, the Thornton Academy girls had to play the waiting game, hoping that the Red Eddies wouldn’t catch up. They never did.

The Golden Trojans took first and second in the pole vault and Erin Hatch won both hurdle events and took second place in the long jump to help her team eke out the win, giving Thornton control of both the indoor and outdoor track titles in the same academic year. Last year, Waterville became the first school ever to accomplish that feat.

Heather Clark of Brewer High School, seeded first in both the 800 and 1,600, finished third and second, respectively, to help the Witches to 16 points and a 14th-place finish.

“I’m happy overall with how I did,” said Clark. “I was impressed with how close we all ran at the front of the 800. It was such a good race and it came down to who had the most left in the last leg.”

For Clark, it was the last race in an illustrious high school career.

She will attend Florida State University next fall. Brewer’s two additional points came from Rebecca Breau, who finished fifth in the triple jump. Finishing just ahead of Brewer on Saturday was Bangor at 16.25 points.

Suzanne Zitaner was responsible for 7.25 of those points with a strong showing in the discus, javelin, pole vault, and high jump. Amanda Mooers took fourth in the high jump to contribute four points, while Kaitlin Dirrig took fifth in the 100-meter dash and Casey Dunn took sixth in the 3,200-meter run.

Kristen Gonzalez took third place in the javelin with a throw of 108-8 and Beth Bragdon added a sixth in the 400, giving Nokomis its seven points.

“These meets are a good experience for these athletes who will be back next year,” said Brewer coach Jamie Wilkinson. “We’re not used to seeing so many big schools in one place. Without experiences like these, it would be hard for anyone to take a step up.”

Following Thornton and Edward Little to the line this year were Mount Ararat of Topsham and South Portland with 58 points each. Messalonskee of Oakland rounded out the top five with 41 points.