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BAR HARBOR – Ethan Casavant didn’t make it to the finals of the 100-meter dash. He didn’t advance in the long jump, either.
But Casavant, a senior captain on the Waterville track team, left the track and field complex at Mount Desert Island High School with the knowledge that the Panthers may be one event away from the Class B state championship.
All but one event of the state meet was contested Saturday despite steady rain, gusty wind, and temperatures that started warm but decreased by late in the meet.
The pole vault, which will be held at 3:30 p.m. today at Winslow High School, will likely decide the winner of the boys state title.
Waterville is sitting in second place with 58 points, three behind York, which has one pole vaulter. The Panthers will have three in this afternoon’s competition, including top-ranked Will Yankowski.
“We just want them to do their best,” said Casavant, who did run on Waterville’s fifth-place 4-by-100 meter relay team. “Hopefully we can pick up the hardware.”
The York girls, meanwhile, left MDI High with a firm grip on the state crown. The Wildcats, who won the title in 2004, scored 93 points through 18 events. Cape Elizabeth was sitting in second with 73 points.
The Capers have two pole vaulters, but York has the top-seeded vaulter in Sibley Blum.
The decision to postpone the pole vault was made early in the meet as conditions became more and more slippery.
“We met with the committee and we decided to evaluate each event,” said Maine Principals’ Association assistant executive director Larry LaBrie, who spent the day at MDI.
Meanwhile, there were plenty of fine performances despite the dreadful conditions.
In the girls meet, the host Trojans picked up a relay and two individual state championships, and are currently sitting in fourth place with 60 points, one spot behind Greely of Cumberland Center (61) and ahead of Hampden Academy (411/2).
MDI freshman sensation Danielle Hutchins claimed the 100 in a time of 13 seconds, while Mariah Grover took the high jump with a 5-foot jump. The Trojans wound up with a first-place finish in the 4-by-800 relay after Waterville was disqualified.
Hutchins also finished second in the 200 and fourth in the 400 while anchoring MDI’s 4-by-100 relay to a second-place finish.
“I did pretty good,” said Hutchins, who said she was sick Friday. “I’m proud of what I did. I wanted the 100 and I got the 100. [The weather] was really bad. My time was slow.”
Aimee Brooks, Heather Spurling, Brenna Crothers and Sue Falt made up the 4-by-800 relay.
Old Town’s Kendra Gould said the conditions made it tough for her, but she was third in both the long jump and triple jump and eighth in the discus, in which she was seeded 10th.
“It was really hard to throw the discus because it kept slipping out of my hand,” Gould said. “I was hoping to win the triple jump but I didn’t do that. It was really difficult jumping with the wind and the weather.”
Greely’s Becky O’Brien racked up wins in the shot put, discus and javelin, while McAuley of Portland’s Abby Iselborn won the 3,200 and the 1,600.
In the boys meet, Lake Region of Naples and Cape Elizabeth were tied for third with 48 points, followed by Winslow in fifth (46).
Nokomis of Newport was sitting in seventh, but the Warrior boys had their first individual state champ in recent memory.
Warriors junior Troy Murray ran the 100 in 11.77 seconds for the sprint title.
“I’m just so proud to be the first [Nokomis] guy in a long time to win something in a state meet,” said Murray, who also finished fifth in the 200, eighth in the 400 and anchored the Warriors to a third-place finish in the 4-by-100 relay.
Murray was tied with two other runners for the second-fastest seed time, so the field was wide open. He took it, thanks in part to adjusting his start.
“My problem has always been my starts,” Murray said. “I usually just come straight up first, but I stayed low and worked on my technique and kept focused the whole race. Because of the conditions I had to push myself 10 times harder.”
Hampden’s Drew Chase took the shot put with a throw of 48 feet, 7.75 inches. Teammate Sam Michaud won the discus with a heave of 127-4.
Ricky Michaud of Caribou was the 1,600 racewalk champ with a time of 7:13.91. Two other Vikings scored in that event.
Waterville might have been in even better position going into the pole vault if not for Winslow’s Liam Fedus, who came from behind to pass Panther Alex Lefebvre at the finish line of the 4-by-400. The Waterville team thought it won the race, but the rival Black Raiders’ time of 3:38.62 was better than the Panthers’ 3:38.64.
“We have to give credit to the other teams,” Waterville’s Casavant said. “They were pushing us a lot and that helped us push ourselves.”
Although fast times were hard to come by in the rain, Fedus set a facility record in the 400 with a 51.13.
York didn’t win any events, but strong showings in the hurdles, distance, throws and triple jump helped the Wildcats climb to the top of the standings.
Lake Region’s Miles Bartlett won the 1,600 and 3,200.
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