Maine athletes strong in national meets

loading...

The high school indoor track and field season officially came to an end last weekend, as Maine’s finest high school athletes competed in national competitions in Maryland and New York City.

Five Maine high school athletes earned All-American status by placing in the top six at the Nike Indoor Nationals, held last weekend in Landover, Md.

Greely of Cumberland Center shot putter Becky O’Brien led a trio of Maine schoolgirl throwers with a toss of 51 feet, 51/2 inches, good for second place.

O’Brien, who achieved that mark on her first throw of the competition, was unseated by Pennsylvania’s Karen Shump, who uncorked a throw of 52-4.

Waterville’s Bethany Karter-O’Brien, who was seventh in the shot (43-61/2), captured fourth in the weight throw with a heave of 51-31/2.

Erskine Academy of South China’s Anna Niedbala was 19th in the shot put (37-51/4).

Messalonskee of Oakland’s Jesse Labreck finished third in the indoor pentathlon, which consists of the high jump, long jump, shot put, 55-meter hurdles, and 800 meters. She accumulated 3,399 points.

Edward Little of Auburn’s Christie Bernier was fourth in the mile racewalk in 7 minutes, 53.62 seconds.

Brunswick pole vaulter David Slovenski was Maine’s only All-American on the boys side. The Dragons’ senior soared to a personal-best of 16-61/2, good for fifth place.

Bangor senior Riley Masters just missed gaining All-America status in the mile, finishing seventh in 4:24.12.

Meanwhile, 17 Maine athletes competed in the National Scholastic Indoor Invitational, held at New York’s Armory last Thursday through Sunday.

Brunswick’s Slovenski also competed in this meet, finishing fourth with a vault of 15-13/4.

Old Town senior Hilary Maxim ran to a 21st-place finish in the mile, capping her strong indoor season with a 5:13.58 clocking.

Thornton Academy of Saco junior Dan Smith finished sixth in the shot put with a throw of 55-3, Brunswick’s Kristin Slotnick clocked a 25.46 in the 200 to finish 20th while teammate Clare Franco posted a 58.83 in the 400, finishing 21st.

Cony of Augusta pole vaulting sensation Bethany Dumas was 25th with a vault of 10-113/4.

Local runners fare well

The local running scene was well-represented at two of New England’s larger early-season road races, the New Bedford Half-Marathon in New Bedford, Mass., along with the Kerryman Pub 5K in Saco.

Both races took place Sunday.

Ethan Hemphill of Freeport led the Maine contingent in New Bedford, finishing 11th overall in 1:09.45. Evan Graves of Presque Isle, gearing up for the Boston Marathon, finished 20th (1:10:35) while Andy Spaulding, also of Freeport, was 37th in 1:11:53.

Adam Goode of Orono took 55th in 1:13:44 and Bar Harbor native Judson Cake 95th in 1:16:44.

Kristin Barry of Scarborough and Sheri Piers of Falmouth, both of whom are competing in next month’s Olympic Trials in Boston, enjoyed solid efforts on the women’s side.

Barry finished 136th overall and eighth among women in 1:21:16 while Piers was 181st and 16th, respectively, in 1:24:37.

Meanwhile, a record 737 runners braved chilly conditions and snow flurries for the Kerryman Pub 5K, which started at the Kerryman Pub on Route 1 in Saco and finished at nearby Thornton Academy.

Casey Carroll of Dover, N.H., took first-place honors in 15:49 while Chris Harmon of Scarborough was second in 15:54.

Jeff Sprague of Wiscasset, who won the Brewer Turkey Trot last fall, was third in 15:55.

Robbie Gomez, a former Limestone standout now living in Orono, captured fourth on the flat, fast course in 16:05 while former Ellsworth star Joey Luchini of Windham was fifth in 16:15.

Sub 5 Track Club president Ryan King of Stockton Springs was 37th overall and second in the 30-to-39-year-old age group, clocking a 19:08.

Beach to Beacon field filled

If you want to register for the 11th annual Beach to Beacon 10K, set for Aug. 2 in Cape Elizabeth, you’re out of luck.

The popular race, which annually draws the best runners in the world and in Maine, filled to the capacity of 5,500 entries in a record 26 hours.

Registration was limited to online entries only, and more than 5,000 runners signed up within the first 10 hours of open registration. It took 10 days to reach that number last year.

bdnsports@bangordailynews.net