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BAR HARBOR – It’s hard to run fast when you don’t have good competition, whether you’re a sprinter or a distance runner.
Just ask Mount Desert Island junior sprinter Danielle Hutchins whether she’d rather be way out in front or in a tightly contested race. It’s a pretty safe bet the Trojans’ speedster would rather race against the likes of Chelsey Tewell of York and Brittany Bell of Poland then be out there all alone.
“It makes me go faster, and knowing that I have competition makes me nervous,” Hutchins said Wednesday.
Hutchins will be eyeing some fast times and top finishes against the aforementioned runners and many more at Saturday’s Class B state track and field championships at Morse High School’s McMann Field in Bath.
The Class A championships will be held at Windham High and the Class C meet at Westbrook, with action getting under way at 10 a.m.
Hutchins will compete in the same individual events she won at last weekend’s Penobscot Valley Conference championships – the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the long jump, and it’s a pretty safe bet she’ll have better weather to run in than last week’s cold and rainy conditions in Presque Isle.
“I’m excited for the weather because I’m really good during good weather,” said Hutchins, who will also run the 4×100-meter relay.
Early forecasts call for a sunny day with temperatures in the mid 70’s, a picture-perfect day for sprinters to clock fast times.
“The distance runners told me its really bad when its hot, [and] I’m like its good for me when its hot,” quipped Hutchins.
Hutchins earned the second-seed in the 100 (12.84 seconds) to York’s Tewell (12.54) while she’s the No. 5 seed in the 200 (27.03) and No. 3 in the long jump (16 feet, 51/2 inches).
“I’m trying to beat my records from last year, I’m really looking forward to running my best,” she said.
While Hutchins is the defending Class B state champ in the 200 – she’s hoping for a repeat performance – she’s hoping for redemption in the 100, where finished third a year ago.
The difference this time could be that Hutchins knows what to expect.
“Last year [when] I got beat in the 100 I was surprised, and this year I know that I have competition heading my way,” she said.
“I know what I’m expecting when I go there, I’m just looking forward to it.”
Hutchins has battled back from a right hamstring injury suffered earlier this spring that forced her to miss one meet, but she noted it wasn’t too serious.
Elsewhere in Class B, Old Town senior Hilary Maxim is the top seed in the 3200 and No. 2 seed in the 1600, with the 1600 shaping to be a wide-open trash between Maxim, Marita Stressenger and Emily Atwood of Cape Elizabeth and Lauren Fecteau of Portland-based Catherine McAuley.
Maxim comes in having run 5 minutes, 12.31 seconds in the 1600 and 11:26.34 in the 3200.
One of the country’s top throwers will be on display in Greely of Cumberland Center’s Becky O’Brien, who has a mark of 50-11 in the shot put this season.
The Greely and Waterville girls and Waterville boys are shaping up to be early favorites.
In Class A, Western Maine teams are favored on both ends, with the Bonny Eagle of Standish and Thornton Academy of Saco early favorites on the boys side and defending champion Scarborough and Edward Little of Auburn in the girls.
Eastern Maine fans will have plenty of individual standouts to watch.
Riley Masters of Bangor headlines a top-notch field of Maine’s best schoolboy distance runners.
Masters, who has a PR of 4:22.00 in the 1600 this spring, is the top seed in that race and is No. 3 in the 3200, where he’s run 9:45.21.
Both races are deep, with Cony of Augusta’s Luke Fontaine, Mohamed Noor and Lewiston and Will Geoghegan of Brunswick among the competition.
Brewer sophomore Ben Sinclair is the No. 1 seed in the 400 and he’s ranked No. 4 in a wide-open 200.
The girls side will feature two of the state’s top athletes in Messalonskee of Oakland hurdler/jumper Jesse Labreck and Cony pole vaulter Bethany Dumas.
Labreck is a heavy favorite in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, long jump and high jump.
Bangor junior Deanna Wilbur is seeded in the top seven in both of those races.
Other Eastern Maine standouts include Jennie Lucy (distance), Brittney Chapman (sprints), Sorrell Cardello, Cote Theriault and Allison Doucette (weights) of Bangor and Kira Giroux (sprints), Mackenzie DeGraff (jumps) and Michelle Haluska (distance) of Brewer.
The Hall-Dale of Farmingdale girls and North Yarmouth Academy boys are both favored in the Class C ranks.
John Bapst of Bangor should challenge on both sides, while Orono has the top athletes on the girls side to contend for a top-five finish.
rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net
990-8193
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