Quaglia surges by barefoot DeWitt Bangor teams sweep meets

BANGOR – The 1,600-meter race between Casey Quaglia of Bangor and Corey DeWitt of Ellsworth at a multi-team track meet at Cameron Stadium in Bangor Friday was arguably the most competitive race of the spring season between two of the state’s best distance runners.

Both competitors matched each other stride-for-stride, with fans and coaches alike waiting for one to make that all-important final lap surge.

Bangor senior Quaglia took care of that, running a 63-second last lap to pull away to win in 4 minutes, 22.13 seconds, two seconds below his personal best.

The race was so intense, Eagles’ senior DeWitt’s shoe was accidentally knocked off with just over a lap to go.

“Going into the last lap, [Quaglia] just stepped on the back of my foot and my shoe came off,” said DeWitt, who clocked a 4:29.20.

With just about 500 meters to go, DeWitt shortened his stride, preparing to face a headwind, while Quaglia, drafting behind DeWitt, opened his up, eventually causing him to inadvertently make slight contact with the back of DeWitt’s shoe.

“He [DeWitt] showed some heart when he lost his shoe in the final 400, and ran it barefoot,” Quaglia said. “That’s so much about an athlete right there. I wish Corey could’ve not lost his shoe.”

DeWitt led the race by the slimmest of margins through the first 1,200 meters. Both he and Quaglia went through the first 400 meters in 63 seconds, and the 800 in roughly 2:09.

“I was hitting my splits pretty well,” said DeWitt, who added he was aiming to break the 4:20 barrier.

“It’s kind of hard to break 4:20 with one shoe,” DeWitt said, who will attend Dartmouth in the fall.

“The last lap felt awesome. I just gave it everything I had,” Quaglia said. “I really want to break 4:20 by the end of the year.”

Both the Bangor boys and girls won the team competitions.

The boys piled up 232 points while Ellsworth scored 54 to finish second. John Bapst of Bangor was third with 52, Piscataquis of Guilford fourth with 23 and Penquis of Milo fifth with 19.

The Bangor girls finished with 216 points to Bapst’s 124. PCHS scored 17, Ellsworth 16 and Penquis 5.

In the boys’ meet, Bangor’s Riley Masters broke the 10-minute barrier in the 3,200 meters, clocking a speedy 9:57.97.

Sprinter Cam Cormier tacked on three individual victories for the Rams, posting a 53.22 in the 400, an 11.82 in the 100 and 23.62 in the 400.

Chris Fogler of John Bapst picked up a victory in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.23 seconds. Fogler was second to Bangor’s Tyler Seekins in the 300 hurdles. Seekins won in 43.50 seconds.

Bangor’s Jimmy Clukey won the triple jump with a mark of 41-6.

Danny Duhaime of Ellsworth and Fogler tied for first in the high jump, each clearing 5-8. Joe Leland of Penquis won the long jump with a leap of 17-9.50.

In the girls’ meet, sprinter Allie Clukey and mid-distance specialist Jennie Lucy each picked up multiple victories for Bangor.

Clukey won both the 100 (13.75) and 200-meter dashes (28.25) and the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 2 inches.

Lucy completed a tough 400-800 double, winning both races in 1:04.50 and 2:32.31, respectively.

John Bapst had three individual winners: Kim Spencer’s 5:48.39 finish in the 1,600, Angel Nelligan’s 8-6 effort in the pole vault and Chelsea Andrews’ 31-8.00 leap in the triple jump.

Shauna Lynch of Ellsworth captured the 3,200 in 11:56.69.