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In reality, the championship dreams and visions of the seniors on the Brewer girls indoor track and field team started four years ago.
When Colleen Carr was a freshman, the Witches finished eighth in the Eastern Maine Indoor Track League championships.
A year later, when Sarah Risser came aboard as a sophomore, Brewer again finished eighth.
They made some solid strides last winter as juniors, finishing third.
Now, Carr and Risser are seniors, and they both feel that the Witches have paid their dues, and its their turn to enjoy the EMITL spotlight.
“For four years we’ve been building skill and along with that we’ve been building confidence,” said Carr after a recent practice. “We work together and we’re all shooting for the same [goals].”
Those goals are to bring the championship trophy back to Brewer for the first time since the 2002-03 season and to start their own legacy in a tradition-laden program that has won 13 EMITL titles, the most among any team in the league, along with seven Class A state championships.
“It’s been a goal right from the start to come in and win this year, Risser said. “I think everyone’s feeling confident, we’ve worked so hard all season. We’re prepared.”
The Witches will be chasing their 14th EMITL crown at Saturday’s 9 a.m. league championship meet at the University of Maine field house.
Risser and Carr, along with classmates and key athletes Carolynn Tuck, Katie Butler and Tara Geaghan, will have only one thing in mind when they step on the track, jumping runway or into the shot put circle: Completing their season-long quest.
“We want to win. It’s our turn, we want to be part of the legacy,” said Carr, who is one of the top seeds in the 400 meters and will also compete in the long jump and 4×220-meter relay.
Carr and Risser will join juniors Kira Giroux and Erika Cote on the Witches’ 4×220 team, which broke its own EMITL record, clocking a 1:51.28 in a Jan. 19 meet.
Risser even offered an early prediction for that race.
“We plan to do it again,” she said with a confident smile.
Along with their 4×2, Brewer’s 4×880 team set a league record this year, with Kaitlin Noyes, Brooke Madden, Bekah Clark and Katie Snow clocking a 10:03.62 on Jan. 26.
With those results, third-year head coach Jamerson Crowley knows that the Witches have earned the right to showcase the confidence that they have.
“They’ve worked hard, they’re confident, they believe in themselves, they believe in each other,” he said.
Brewer has plenty of top seeds to get the job done this weekend. Triple threat MacKenzie DeGraff is a favorite in the 55-meter dash, long and triple jumps, along with Giroux in the 400 and 200, Kaitlin Noyes in the 4×880, pole vault and 400, and a deep corps of distance runners.
The Witches generated some solid momentum last weekend, with many top athletes earning personal bests such as Giroux in the 400 and 200, Carr in the 400, Noyes in the pole vault, Geaghan in the shot put and Michelle Haluska, a freshman, in the 800 and 2-mile.
“The thing that was really impressive was Kira’s performance [in the 400]. She hasn’t made that big of a gain in the 200 after running the 400,” Crowley said.
“Colleen stepped up big time, we put the challenge out in front of her to step up and run 63 [seconds] and she blew that away, running 62,” he added.
In order to finish what it started, Brewer will have to dethrone four-time defending conference champion Bangor, a team the Witches know they can’t take lightly.
Better yet, they can’t take anybody lightly in the always-competitive EMITL.
A good example: Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“We know that every other team is trying to beat us, so we need to step up and continue to improve,” said Risser.
The Rams have perhaps the best chance to knock off the Witches.
Kendra Lenz, a junior, owns the league’s top mark in the long jump at 16 feet, 3/4 inches, just ahead of DeGraff’s mark of 16-0.
Lenz is also a threat in the 55 and triple jump, while fellow jumpers Becca Bogan and Catherine LeClair, along with Robin Treadwell in the high and triple jumps, are capable of posting solid marks.
Jennie Lucy has come back strong after missing half the season with a knee injury, and will run the 4×8 and 800 for the Rams.
Risser acknowledged Brewer will have to pay attention to small details, including getting clean marks in the jumps.
“With our relays we’re focusing on smooth handoffs, if we can get our handoffs down our time will improve,” she said.
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