Brewer boys, Bangor girls chase state ‘A’ track titles

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It has all come full circle.

The last time Brewer’s boys indoor track team won a state title, Matt Collins was a good, young shot putter.

That was in 1996.

He’ll be at the center of it all at the Costello field house on the USM campus in Gorham on Monday when he leads Brewer into the Class A state championship as its head coach.

The Class B teams will meet at Bates College in Lewiston.

Collins’ Witches will face some tough competition in defending state champ Deering of Portland and KVAC champ Waterville.

Brewer’s sprinters and jumpers have been their bread and butter all season, and they’ll be in the mix in some good-looking races.

Brewer is led by hurdlers Dan Peterson and Josh Hawkes, pole vaulters Chip Haskell, Matt Quimby and Mike Parker, and sprinters Mike Ford and twins Chris and Dan Fox.

UMaine-bound senior shot putter Rob Sampson, who hasn’t lost in two years, and 400/800 specialist Brian Vail, who is coming off a hamstring injury, lead Deering, according to coach Dick Kress.

This meet could come down to the wire as the Rams, Witches and Portland Bulldogs are separated by about 20 points.

“It’s unpredictable,” said Kress of the meet.

South Portland junior Eric Giddings looks like the best distance runner. He boasts the top times in the mile (4:17) and 2-mile (9:35).

On the girls’ side, Bangor senior Danielle Lainez put it simply in just three words when asked about how well the Rams match up with Thornton Academy of Saco following their victory in the EM championship Monday.

“We’re getting ’em.”

Enough said.

On paper, the Trojans and Rams appear to be very close and, like the boys’ meet, it could come down to the “little” things.

One of those little things is depth, which is the formula Bangor used to dissect its opponents this season, and could become the first team since Brewer in 1999 to bring a state championship trophy to Eastern Maine.

“Anybody can pick up 70 points [in a state meet],” said Rams coach Maynard Walton following his girls’ EMITL victory. “We don’t have experience, but Danielle [Lainez] has been there before.”

Indeed she has. She holds the state record in the pole vault of 10 feet, 6 inches, which she set a year ago.

Lainez should have plenty of help from fellow sprinters Kaitlin Dirrig and Kelly Krapf. Jessie Wilcox of Mount Ararat in Topsham holds the top mark in the mile and 2-mile while twin sister Elizabeth Wilcox is tops in the 400.

In Class B, favorites Gorham and defending champion Greely of Cumberland Center appear primed to duke it out yet again, but watch out for Rod White’s determined Old Town squads.

On the boys’ side, Greely’s 4×880 relay squad has a good shot at shattering the Class B state record it set last year.

Old Town is led by distance ace Camden Gould and sprinters Tim Niles and John Garrity.

“Gorham and Greely have been thrashing it out down there,” White said after his teams finished second in the EMITL championship. “We’ll be in the mix.”

Falmouth’s Brandon Bonsey and Belfast’s Levi Miller should duke it out in an exciting 2-mile, where Miller is seeded first and Bonsey second. Bonsey is the top seed in the mile.

Meanwhile, the girls’ meet could come down to whoever could “nickel and dime” the other by picking up points in several events. If the Indians do just that, they could be on the Rangers’ heels.

Greely is gunning for its third straight state title and seventh since 1996.

Watch out for the always-tough Hampden Academy team in the 4×800, made up of Amanda Gervasi, Molly Balentine, Rachelle Bourgoin and Molly Peverada.

Speaking of records, Old Town sophomore Cassie Hintz will single in the 2-mile, where she shattered the EMITL record last week with a blazing 10:55. The state record is 10:53, which has stood since 1986.

Both meets start at 10 a.m.