Bangor High junior Casey Quaglia is on the fast track to fast times as the Eastern Maine Indoor Track League season winds down.

Quaglia lowered his personal best for the indoor two-mile to 9 minutes, 59.77 seconds while winning the event during a meet at the University of Maine in Orono last Saturday.

But Rams’ coach Maynard Walton thinks it is just one more step in a natural progression for the distance standout.

“I really expect Casey to get another 20 seconds faster,” he said. “One of the things about him is that he’s very competitive and he really understands what he can do.”

Quaglia also has the EMITL’s best time for the mile so far this season at 4:29.24, but he ran a 4:26 last Friday only to be disqualified for stepping on his lane line too frequently, Walton said.

One of Quaglia’s strengths is his versatility. He routinely competes in the 800, mile and two-mile indoors while also dabbling in every race down to 200 meters for training purposes.

He also is the school record-holder at 1,600 meters outdoors, having run a 4:24.63 to place 11th at last year’s New England championships. That came after he finished fourth in the 1,600 (4:27.26) and sixth at 800 meters (1:59.97) at the 2005 Class A state meet.

Quaglia is recovering from a bone bruise in his right foot, but expects to be healthy for the Rams’ remaining meets of the indoor season. The EMITL regular season concludes Saturday, followed by the league championships Feb. 11 at UMaine and the Class A state championships Feb. 20 at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

Quaglia figures to be one of the top seeds at the state meet, given that only Miles Bartlett of Class B Lake Region High in Naples has run a faster two-mile this year, a 9:55.10 at a Western Maine Conference meet on Jan. 20.

BC’s Bradford reaches 1,500

Where Brock Bradford has played high school basketball, success has followed, and his senior season at Bangor Christian is no exception.

The 6-foot-1 guard surpassed 1,500 career points in the Patriots’ 44-41 win against Lee Academy last Thursday, and he followed that up with a season-high 35 points as Bangor Christian edged Schenck of East Millinocket 58-56 last Saturday night to knock the Wolverines from the unbeaten ranks.

“Brock does so many things well on and off the court,” said BC coach Charlie Colson, himself back on the sidelines this season after serving as the school’s athletic director last year. “In practices he teaches, he communicates and he inspires the other kids. He’s going to be a great coach someday.”

Bradford, who has 1,541 career points, is averaging 22.4 points a game this winter in helping 10-4 Bangor Christian reach third place in the Eastern Maine Class D Heal Point ratings, trailing only top-ranked Deer Isle-Stonington and No. 2 Schenck.

The Patriots began the season in a unique rebuilding mode, partly because 6-foot-5 Ryan Weston had transferred to Bangor and 6-3 Eric Sobey left for Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield. They also had to integrate Bradford into the program after he transferred to BC from Calvary Chapel in Orrington.

Bradford, who had played eighth-grade basketball at Bangor Christian, helped Calvary Chapel to three straight tourney appearances – including an undefeated run to the 2004 Class D state title. Last winter, he was a third-team Bangor Daily News All-Maine choice after averaging 31 points per game while leading his team to the Eastern D semifinals.

The Patriots got off to a 1-2 start this season, with losses at Katahdin of Stacyville and Schenck after opening with a 61-54 victory at Class C Central of Corinth. BC then went on a six-game winning streak including victories against Lee and Jonesport-Beals before dropping consecutive games to Jonesport-Beals and Deer Isle-Stonington.

Now the Patriots are on a streak of three straight narrow victories – a 54-52 win against Katahdin followed by their recent wins against Lee and Schenck.

“We’re just literally coming together as a team, there’s a sense of purpose in the locker room,” said Colson. “The Katahdin game I think showed the kids they’re capable of playing with most people in Class D.”

The Patriots feature several players fresh off the school’s 2005 state championship soccer team, including Bradford, senior forward Josh Frost and senior guards Matt Denbow and Justin Phinney.

While Bradford, Denbow and Phinney anchor the backcourt, Frost has teamed with juniors Colby Robinson and Matt Smith to provide an improving frontcourt presence.

Bangor Christian has been at its best in close contests. In eight games decided by seven or fewer points, the Patriots are 6-2.

“One reason we’ve been in a lot of close games is that we’ve had a problem coming out early in games and jumping on people,” said Colson. “People come out and jump on us more than we jump on them.”

The Patriots play three of their final four regular-season games on the road, beginning Thursday at Penobscot Valley of Howland. BC faces Southern Aroostook at Dyer Brook on Saturday before hosting Central of Corinth Feb. 7 and playing Feb. 9 at Deer Isle-Stonington – the only opponent on their schedule the Patriots have yet to defeat.

Lions’ Gilmore eyes school record

With a win in the opening round of competition at Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B wrestling championships, Belfast senior Tony Gilmore will set a school record for career victories.

Gilmore, already a two-time state champion for the Lions, tied 2005 Belfast graduate Kyle Bonin at 144 career wins when he pinned Denis Haiss of Erskine Academy in South China in the 130-pound final of last Saturday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships held at Belfast High.

That win helped the Lions to a second-place finish and improved Gilmore’s record this season to 33-3.

Gilmore won the Class B state championship at 103 pounds as a freshman, placed second at 119 as a sophomore and won the 125-pound crown last February.

“Tony’s one of the finest wrestlers to ever come out of the state,” said Ted Heroux, a Maine Wrestling Hall of Famer who rejoined the Belfast coaching staff this winter, four years after a 30-year stint with the program that produced six state championships and more than 450 victories.

“I don’t think there’s a better 130-pound wrestler in the state.”