HAMPDEN – During April track meets in Maine athletes have two foes – their competitors and the weather.

About an hour before a Penobscot Valley Conference regular-season meet at Hampden Academy was to get under way Saturday, light snow was falling.

That was only the beginning.

HA’s Brad Simms and Old Town’s Cassie Hintz weathered rainy and 30-mph winds to post fine performances. Simms set a school record in the pole vault with a leap of 13 feet, 3 inches, breaking the mark of 13-1.75 held by Matt Bran while Hintz won the 1,600 run in 5 minutes, 16.20 seconds.

Team titles were won by the Indians on both sides.

In the girls’ meet, coach Rod White’s squad edged out a tough John Bapst of Bangor team, 163.50-158.50. The host Broncos were third with 126, followed by Penquis of Milo (47), Bucksport (26), Mattanawcook of Lincoln (25) and Calvary Chapel of Orrington (1).

Both teams had outstanding individual performances, such as that of Hintz, who shattered the Brewer track 3,200 run record last week with a 10:51.

“Her goal today was to go under 5:20, so we accomplished that,” said White. “We’re just going to take it one meet at a time and just go one event for now.”

Hintz had plenty of help, as Kristen Paul was second in the shot put and javelin and took the discus. Teammate Hannah Marquis captured the javelin and was second in the 300 hurdles and Sharon Fuller was second in the 800 and was on Old Town’s winning 4×880 team.

The Class C Crusaders showed that they can run with anybody. Bapst went 1-2-4 in the 800, with Evelyn Sharkey taking the top slot in 2:29.40, while Nicole Lavertu was third and Courtney Martin fourth.

John Bapst’s Lily Krichels won the long jump and was on the winning 4 by 400 team. Taylor Greenlaw took second in the long jump, Ali Stevens captured the shot put, and Madeline Glover claimed the 3200 in 12:06.10.

In the boys’ meet, Old Town rebounded from a loss at Brewer last week to outdistance Hampden, 190-123. Bucksport was third with 109, John Bapst fourth with 79, Mattanawcook fifth with 51 and Calvary Chapel sixth with seven.

Camden Gould played a huge role, anchoring Old Town’s victorious 4 by 400 and 4 by 800 teams and edging HA’s Scott Dorrity in the open 800, 2:04.00-2:05.10.

“His goal [Gould’s] is to go under 2 minutes,” White said. “He ran a great 4×400 split too.”

Many of White’s runners were away last week, which is a theme during meets over April vacation.

“We had some of our sprinters back today,” he said.

Throwing standout Tyler Eastman captured all three throws, while the Indians also won the 4 by 100 in addition to the other two relays. Tim Niles was second in the long jump and took the triple jump, while Andrew Rieinzo captured the 400.

Simms’ record-setting win in the pole vault was among three on the day for the senior (110 and 300 hurdles). The weather didn’t bother him one bit.

“The weather plays a big role in the technical events,” he said. “It started [cold] and wet, and the sun came out, and I started to wake up, and the track definitely got faster.”

Simms is setting his goals even higher toward the end of the season.

“I’m looking at the state title and state record [14-8], but I’m taking it one step at a time,” he said.”