Belfast collects crown Team depth pivotal for Lions

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WINDHAM – Sophomore Huey Morse has a family history of excellence in the javelin, but until Saturday he was known as the younger brother of two standout throwers.

Caleb Barnaby has competed in track four years, but until this spring had never tried the long jump.

Each won those events Saturday, helping Belfast High School claim the Class B boys track and field state championship at Windham High School.

Coach Dale Nealey’s Belfast squad beat Gorham 130-98, placing 13 athletes in the scoring column. Ellsworth took third (53), followed by Old Town (48) and Lake Region of Naples (44).

Junior Garren Horne led the charge with wins in the 100 (11.20 seconds) and 200 (22.99) and anchored the Lions’ first-place 4×400 team (3:32.19) and second-place 4×100 entry.

“I’m very happy with the way things went today,” Nealey said. “You never know when you go to the state meet. It’s one of those days, are the kids going to be on or are they going to be off? Today they were on.”

York captured the Class B girls title by edging Gorham 86-81.5. Coach Matt Convery’s balanced Wildcats had 12 team members score points.

Caribou took third (74 points) behind repeat winners Monica Selander and Lindsay Burlock. Greely of Cumberland Center was fourth (51) and Hampden Academy wound up fifth (49).

The girls meet was highlighted by two state records. Old Town sophomore distance phenom Cassie Hintz shattered the all-classes record in the 3200, blowing away the field in 10 minutes, 36.54 seconds.

The effort bettered the Class B mark of 10:42.80 set by Laura Duffy of Kennebunk in 1986.

“I wanted to get the record,” Hintz said. “I just try to go a pretty even pace. I went a little fast [early] today, but that was good.”

Old Town coach Rod White marveled at the effort, even though Hintz had run a 10:36 in an elite meet last month.

“At New York she had three or four girls who were just as fast as she was,” White said. “She doesn’t have that luxury in Maine. This was all her today.”

Bryna Harrington of Belfast sprang to new heights in the pole vault. The junior cleared the bar at 10 feet, 11/4 inches, eclipsing the record of 10-1 set by Jen Curato of Greely in 2001.

“I hadn’t cleared 10 before this meet, so it was a good feeling to get it done,” Harrington said. “I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that I made it until I landed on the mat, because I felt my back touch the bar.”

In the boys meet, Belfast’s Morse continued a family trend of upstaging an older brother. He joined the team at the suggestion of brother Ron, an accomplished senior thrower.

Huey Morse, seeded seventh in the javelin, launched it 172 feet, 10 inches for his first career win. The throw was 22 feet farther than his previous best, edging brother Ron by one inch.

“I’ve never been able to beat my brother. It was cool,” Huey Morse said.

Last season, Ron Morse also encouraged brother Jackie to try the javelin and watched his older sibling win the state title. Ron still went home a champion Saturday, claiming the shot put with a heave of 52-31/4.

Barnaby won the long jump despite his relative inexperience. He turned in his winning leap of 20-93/4, a personal best, on the first jump of finals.

“My coach told me to try it,” said Barnaby, who admitted he resisted the idea at first. “He thought I’d be good at it and then he kept me in it once he saw me jump.”

Barnaby teamed with John Boynton, Matt Cole and Horne to win the 4×400 and was on the Lions’ runner-up 4×100 squad.

Brett Andrews won the pole vault (13 feet, 6 inches), outdueling Hampden Academy’s Brad Simms. He was fifth in the 300 hurdles and ran the 4×400. Boynton took the triple jump (41-1) and ran the 4×400.

Belfast received gritty performances from Levi Miller, who finished second behind Greely’s Ben True in the 1600 and 3200 by a combined 3.73 seconds and ran on the fourth-place 4×800 team. True won in 4:17.48 and 9:31.17, respectively.

Collin Cunning, Nate Wakeman, Corey Schallek, Alden Gregory and Jason Varney also scored for Belfast.

Dave Baker of Gorham won the 110 hurdles (14.87) and the 300 hurdles (40.46) while running on the first-place 4×100 relay. Brian O’Connell of Mount Desert Island earned the discus title (136-11).

In the girls meet, York displayed balance and depth to hold off Gorham and Caribou. The Wildcats’ only winner was Lauren Blackburn in the 300 hurdles (47.95), but Hannah Commeau was third in the 400 and sixth in the 200, while Chelsea Jordan was second in the 1600 and fourth in the 3200.

“We scored a lot of points that we didn’t expect,” Convery said. “They shocked me today. I was dumbfounded.”

Selander and Burlock carried Caribou. Selander won the high jump (5-2) and claimed the javelin (111-7) and discus (110-7).

The versatile Burlock opened with a third in the 100, then won the 400 (59.12) and the 800 (2:24.28) before posting a runner-up finish in the triple jump.

Hampden’s Molly Balentine was victorious in the 1600 in a personal-best 5:14.50 and also was third in the 3200.

“I guess it’s ideal to get it my last state meet of my high school career,” Balentine said. “It’s perfect running conditions, so I wanted to have a really good race.”