DOVER-FOXCROFT – For the last four years, the boys on the John Bapst track and field team have watched and admired as their female counterparts captured championship after championship in the Penobscot Valley Conference Class C ranks.

This time, it was their turn.

While the Bangor-based Crusader girls continued their dynasty by winning their seventh straight title, the boys fought hard after trailing Bucksport throughout the meet and went on to earn a 109-82 victory Friday evening at Foxcroft Academy’s Oakes Field.

Runner-up Bucksport tallied 82 points, the host Ponies were third with 59.50 points, Orono took fourth with 53 and Central of Corinth’s 50 was good for fifth.

The Crusader girls fought off a valiant Red Riots team to win with 163 points to Orono’s 147. Fort Kent captured third with 50, Central was fourth (46) and Foxcroft was fifth (34).

John Bapst’s Chris Fogler and Jamie Pelletier of Fort Kent took home Outstanding Performer awards.

In the boys meet, Bapst was 34 points behind the Golden Bucks heading into the 300-meter hurdles, but a 1-2-3-4 finish by Fogler, Jeff Sanford, Shane Hass and Derek Smith in that event wound up turning the tide.

“That really gave us the boost that we needed,” said Fogler, a junior who won the 300 hurdles in 40.18 seconds in addition to the 110 hurdles (15.37), 200 (22.86) and high jump (6 feet).

Fogler added that his 200 effort was a personal best.

“I had a great day,” he said.

The Crusaders eventually pulled ahead by virtue of Fogler’s high-jump victory and Smith’s triumph in the javelin (173 feet, 3 inches).

“I knew Bucksport would be good. I figured at the end if we could hold seed in the last three events we would be fine,” said Bapst coach Bruce Pratt.

Smith, a senior, was at loss for words when asked to explain how it felt to finally get to sit on the PVC throne.

“There’s no words to explain how great this experience was,” he said.

Other individual victors were Matt Nadeau of Orono (1600, 3200), Nate Warren of Bucksport (100), Central’s Anthony Cappuccio (1600 racewalk), Vincent Tymoczko of Bucksport (400), George Stevens of Blue Hill’s Keith Fisher (800), Dominic Kone of Bucksport (long jump), Fort Kent’s Jon Potvin (triple jump), Rodney Bubar of Central (discus), Joe Brown of Central (shot put) and Fort Kent’s Lloyd Guerrette (pole vault).

In the girls meet, a young Bapst team loaded with sophomores and freshmen pulled out its toughest championship in its seven-year reign.

The Crusaders had a comfy edge throughout the meet, but Orono went 2-3-4-5-6 in the pole vault and 1-2-4 in the 300 hurdles to fight back.

“The girls are young, but they’re battle-tested,” Pratt said. “I was proud of them, they fought hard.”

The Crusaders got big points out of Kim Spencer and Maggie Bryan in the distance events. They led the 4×800-meter relay team to victory while Spencer won the 1600 and 3200 and Bryan took the 800.

“The younger kids have done really well this year, I’m very impressed with everyone,” said senior Angel Nelligan, who cleared 9 feet to win the pole vault.

Morgan Chasse, a junior who is a newcomer to track this spring, concurred.

“I love to be surrounded by all these hardworking people,” said Chasse.

Bapst went on to win both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays while their other individual winner was Danielle Leclair’s 32-73/4 effort in the shot put.

Meet bragging rights went to Fort Kent’s Pelletier, who racked up 30 points with wins in the 100, 200 and 400.

Pelletier locked horns with Orono sophomore Kate Bulteel in the 200 and edged her in the final yards.

“It was really tiring, so I had to give it all I had,” said the Warriors’ junior, who ran to a personal-best of 26.73.

Pelletier trailed Bulteel at the start in the 200 but made her move with about 75 yards to go and outleaned her at the line.

She was timed in 13.13 in the 100 and 1:02.42 in the 200.

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