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When the Eastern Maine Indoor Track League season opens Friday night, fans of Brewer and Hampden Academy will not see two of the more familiar faces in the league coaching their respective teams.
Dick Balentine replaces Dave King on the Broncos’ side, and Matt Collins takes over for Dave Jeffrey for the Witches. King had coached for nearly three decades and Jeffrey had been at Brewer since 1979.
There are expectations for the Witches, who were second in the EMITL title meet last year to Hampden, to make lots of noise.
The defending champion Broncos, Old Town and Bangor should battle for the top spot as well. Those four teams took the top four spots in last year’s title meet.
Collins’ Brewer squad is deep, loaded with 18 seniors. The biggest improvement is in the sprints.
“We have lots of new sprinters from the football team,” said Collins. “We should have a fast team.”
Among those fast returnees are senior hurdlers Dan Peterson, Josh Hawkes and Tyler Stewart, along with sprinting brothers Chris and Danny Fox, both newcomers to indoor.
“Sprinters and jumpers are always a strength at Brewer. Dan [Peterson] is in the best shape of his life,” Collins said.
Chris Fox excelled in spring track last year.
The Witches’ distance squad should be dangerous as well in some wide-open races, as they only lost two seniors off their 4-by-880 relay team that qualified for the New Englands that year.
“David [Haluska] and Peter [McGuire] are seniors, and have championship meet experience,” said Collins.
Haluska and McGuire are joined by junior John Snow and sophomore Brendan Carr, two of the league’s top up-and-coming runners. Those four should make up the Witches’ 4-by-800 squad, which seeks a return to New Englands.
McGuire could be one of the league’s top 800 runners while Haluska excels in the mile and 2 mile.
Brewer also boasts one of the league’s top shot putters in junior Ryan Birkel, who was undefeated through spring track last year up through the PVC Championship.
“The throwing team is strong,” Collins said, who was a shot putter on the last Brewer boys squad to win a state championship in 1996.
The Broncos, meanwhile lost a standout distance runner in Brian Herasymchuck, a 30-point scorer in last year’s championship, to UMaine. He was a big part in Hampden taking the championship, and was last year’s top performer.
Hampden’s strength has always been in the field events and sprints, with standout pole vault and hurdle specialist Brad Simms, who took the top spot in the pole vault in Easterns last year at 11 feet, returning. Sprinter Trainor Kapler is also back.
The Broncos also have a couple of newcomers in sprinter Zach Campbell and thrower Ramsey Lafayette. Mid-distance runner Scott Dorrity should score some points in the mile and 800.
“He [Dorrity] just kept getting better last year,” said coach Dick Balentine.Coach Maynard Walton’s Bangor Rams have always had a tough team with some good numbers, and coach Rod White’s Old Town Indians have had some fine jumpers and technicians in the past. Old Town shot putter Tyler Eastman is one of the league’s top throwers, and Camden Gould is one of the league’s top distance runners.
Ellsworth senior Kris Tracy may be the best distance man in the league right now. He was second to Herasymchuck in both the mile and 800 in last year’s championship meet, posting times of 4 minutes, 35 seconds and 2:04, respectively.
Ryan O’Keefe from Sumner in East Sullivan should also be very competitive, particularly in the 2 mile, where he was second in last year’s championship, posting a time of 10:15.
The first meet of the season is scheduled for tonight at the UMaine field house with Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Bucksport, Foxcroft, George Stevens of Blue Hill and Sumner at 4:40.
Ellsworth, Hermon, MDI, John Bapst of Bangor, Mattnanawcook of Lincoln and Old Town will hold a meet Saturday at UMaine, also starting at 4:40.
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