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The Brewer, Mount Desert Island, and Old Town girls track and field teams earn their points in different fashions, but they will share one common goal at this weekend’s conference championships in Bar Harbor.
The Witches, Trojans, and Coyotes are all out to end Bangor’s two-year reign on top of the Penobscot Valley Conference track world.
“MDI’s a contender, I think Old Town’s a contender, and I think we’re a contender,” said Brewer coach Jamerson Crowley. “But I think Bangor is the favorite.”
The Rams’ girls and boys will be gunning for their third straight PVC crowns at MDI High School Saturday at 11 a.m., while the Class C meet will be held at Brewer on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
MDI and Old Town have two of the league’s top athletes in Danielle Hutchins (sprints, jumps) and Hilary Maxim (distance) and will count on them for big-time points.
Trojans’ sophomore Hutchins has posted league-best times of 13.07 and 27.07 seconds in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, and while seeded sixth in the 400 at 1:05.42, she won that event in last spring’s championships in 58.79, just missing the league record of 58.38, set in 2004 by Lindsay Burlock of Caribou.
Hutchins also boasts the top mark in the long jump at 16 feet, 8 inches.
MDI will also rely on Susan Falt and Heather Spurling in the distance races, Hutchins’ sister Marcelle in the sprints, and Mercedes Frazier in the hurdles.
Old Town junior Maxim owns the PVC’s top times in the 800 (2 minutes, 22.71 seconds), 1,600 (5:17.66), and 3,200 (11:37.21).
Brewer is deep in the sprints, middle distances, jumps, and relay events and is led by sophomore sprinter/jumper Mackenzie DeGraff.
DeGraff’s mark of 32-101/2 in the triple jump is tops in the conference this spring, and she is second to Hutchins in the long jump at 15-7.
“She’s come a long way. She showed signs last year that she could be a really good triple jumper,” Crowley said. “She’s been outstanding, she’s been a real gamer.”
In order for the Witches to be successful, Crowley said, they must score well in their higher-seeded events.
For instance, Brewer holds the top seed in all three relays – the 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800 – which could be pivotal.
“Our strengths are in our relays. That’s the way it was in indoor, that’s the way it is in outdoor,” Crowley said.
His other key athletes will be Kira Giroux and Kaitlin Noyes in the sprints, Caitlyn Wilson in the distance events and javelin, and fellow distance runners Ashley Gesier and Brooke Madden.
Like Brewer, Bangor will need big points from their top athletes.
The Rams will be led by Allie Clukey in the sprints and Jennie Lucy in the mid-distance events.
Lucy’s 1:03.55 effort in the 400 is tops in the league, and that should be one of the races to watch with Lucy, MDI’s Hutchins, Brewer’s Noyes and Giroux, Lauren Keane of Old Town, and Brittney Chapman of Bangor all in contention.
Lucy will also run the 800, where she is seeded second, and the 4×400, while Clukey specializes in the long jump, 100, 200, and 4×100.
The crucial events for the Rams will be the high jump, where they are seeded for 24 points, and the discus, in which they are seeded for 18 more.
The Bangor boys are heavily favored to capture their third straight PVC title.
Seniors Casey Quaglia (distance) and Cam Cormier (sprints) and junior distance man Riley Masters lead the Rams’ charge.
The distance races should be very entertaining. Ellsworth senior Corey DeWitt has a chance to break older brother Steven’s PVC record in the 1,600.
Corey DeWitt has posted a 4:24.21 this spring to earn the top seed while his brother’s record is 4:18.81.
DeWitt will also run the 800, where he is seeded second to Quaglia, who has run 1:59.20 to DeWitt’s 2:01.21. Quaglia will also run the 3,200 and 4×800 relay.
Caribou’s Sam Sheehan holds the top mark in the 3,200 at 9:46.64 and Masters is second at 9:57.97.
In the Class C meet, the Orono boys and John Bapst of Bangor girls are defending champs and look poised to retain their crowns.
The Crusaders will be challenged formidably by Orono, which is deep in the sprinting, middle distance, and hurdle events.
Bapst has one of the league’s top young distance runners in freshman Kim Spencer, who has posted times of 5:40.38 and 12:09.32 in the 1,600 and 3,200, good for top seeds. The Crusaders also feature hurdle specialist Megan Tilton.
The Orono boys are favored to defend their title. Hurdle and pole vault specialist James Berry leads the way for the Red Riots.
Addison Pellarano of Blue Hill-based George Stevens Academy is the top seed in all three distance races.
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