Scarborough, Bonny Eagle collect Bangor’s Quaglia wins mile, two-mile; Dumas, Pierpont set records

loading...

GORHAM – When Erica Jesseman toed the line Monday afternoon for the two-mile run, her Scarborough Red Storm held a slim seven-point lead over Southern Maine Activities Association rival Thornton Academy of Saco.

Approximately 11 minutes and 32 seconds later, Jesseman’s second individual win of the day clinched the Red Storm’s second consecutive state championship, 95-76, at the Costello Field House at the University of Southern Maine.

EMITL champion Bangor, led by senior Jolene Belanger, finished third with 36.50 points. Brunswick took fourth with 34 and Deering of Portland’s 28 rounded out the top five.

The Bonny Eagle of Buxton boys racked up 36 points in the meet’s first four events then held off late charges from Scarborough, Lewiston and Westbrook to earn the program’s first state indoor championship. Senior distance runner Evan Embry’s gutsy second-place effort in the two-mile sealed the deal for the Scots, who won with 60 points.

Lewiston and Scarborough tied for second with 48 points, Edward Little of Auburn was fourth with 39, Westbrook fifth with 37, and EM champ Bangor sixth with 32.

In the girls meet, the Red Storm made a statement in the meet’s first event, the 4×800-meter relay. The team of Hilary Curtis, Kaitlynn Saldanha, Jesseman and Allison Chamberlain ran to a state record of 9:45.51, setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

“My 4×8 team is amazing. They all ran amazing. I’m proud of all of them,” said Jesseman, who also won the mile in 5:20.99.

Jesseman’s win in the two-mile was the most important of all, as it gave the Red Storm an insurmountable 13-point edge heading into the 4×200.

“That kind of gave us a cushion,” coach Ron Kelly said, also noting the two-mile was one of the Storm’s many key events.

“From the beginning of the meet, we knew we were gonna have some key events,” he said. “We picked up on the seeds, but so did Thornton. It was a battle, we had a big lead at one point.”

One of the differences proved to be Cara Snyder’s 16-foot, 71/4-inch performance in the long jump, good for second place. Coming into the meet, she was seeded at 15-1.

“Cara Snyder going from 15-1 to 16-7 in the long jump, it was a big one for us,” Kelly said. “It was a total team effort, it’s not just one kid on this team. It’s a whole group that stepped it up today.”

Jesseman, however, wasn’t aware Scarborough’s lead was a meager seven points when she toed the line.

“I knew we were winning, but I didn’t know the score exactly,” she said.

Karen Smith and Jaymie Coulston went 2-3 in the pole vault while Becky Sither and Annie Mills went 2-3 in the 55 hurdles.

Two state records were established, as Cony of Augusta sophomore Bethany Dumas cleared 11-2 in the pole vault and TA’s Jenny Pierpont ran 26.30 seconds in the 200.

Bangor’s Belanger was third in the triple (33-13/4) and long jumps (15-111/2) and second in the 800 (2:23.26). Teammate Becca Bogan earned third in the triple jump with a leap of 32-8.

In the boys meet, Embrey’s 10:07.09 effort in the two-mile was the meet’s turning point, according to Scots’ coach Greg Wilkinson.

“That was a turning point because Evan was seeded sixth going into the race,” Wilkinson said. “He said it was a slow pace early, he got into a groove, and Casey [Quaglia] dragged him away from those Scarborough guys.”

Bangor’s Quaglia and Embrey were in a tight pack for most of the two-mile before they separated with three laps to go. Quaglia, a junior, eventually outsprinted Embrey to win in 10:06.72.

“That last lap, wow, he (Embrey) had quite the kick,” Quaglia said. “I’ve never seen someone so fast like that.”

Quaglia also won the mile in 4:27.62, a race that wasn’t really decided until the fourth lap, when Brewer senior Brendan Carr took a huge risk. Carr and Quaglia were in a tight pack with Scarborough’s Chris Harmon and Josh Wang of Portland, and when Carr set the pace after 800 meters, Quaglia went with his own gut instinct.

“He (Carr) started his kick going into the fourth lap, which surprised the whole field,” Quaglia said. “We had no idea what was going on, I was like, He’s done this to me before, I’ve gotta go with him.”

Quaglia credited Carr (fifth, 4:33.16) for his win in the mile.

“I couldn’t have won that race without Brendan. He helped me out so much. I credit that race to him,” he said. “He made a gutsy move, and it ended up paying off.”

Bangor entered the meet as a possible contender for a state title, but coach Maynard Walton said most of his key athletes, including Quaglia and sprinter Cam Cormier, who was third in both the 60 and the 200, will return next season.

“We had a lot of people who were in 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th places and they were the younger group, so next year they know what they’ve got to do,” he said. “I’m pleased that we looked good, we made the effort and we learned a lot.”

Edward Little’s Colby Brooks notched a pair of state records, 22.65 in the 200 and 6.60 in the 60 dash.