Riley Masters of Bangor, Hilary Maxim of Old Town and Ben Sinclair of Brewer head up a healthy contingent of Maine track and field stars competing in Saturday’s New England Championships.

The Maine athletes won’t have to go very far this year, as this year’s meet will take place at Thornton Academy’s Hill Stadium in Saco, starting at 11 a.m.

Masters and Maxim, each of whom has received a diploma from their respective high schools, boast the top 1,600-meter times in the state and have strong chances to earn high places.

Masters comes in having run 4 minutes, 17.76 seconds and he’ll compete only in that race. Maxim clocked a 5:10:53 and she’ll also run the 3,200, in which she posted a 11:40.93 at the Class B state championships.

Sinclair, a sophomore sprinter for the Witches, will compete in one individual event and one relay. He is Maine’s top gun in the 400 meters, having run 50.34, and he’ll anchor the 4×400-meter relay.

Classmate Steven Rice earned a qualifying bid in the 300-meter hurdles with a 41.52.

Other local standouts competing on the boys side include Nate Warren of Bucksport and Jared Waite of Schenck in East Millinocket in the 100, John Bapst of Bangor’s Chris Fogler in the 200, 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, Bucksport’s 4×100-meter relay team, Jadrien Cousens of Hampden Academy in the high jump, Kyle Bucklin of Bucksport in the long jump, Bangor’s Sean Seekins in the triple jump, Devin Lehman of Belfast in the discus, Derek Smith of John Bapst in the javelin and Blake Ford of Calais in the shot put.

One of the nation’s top throwers, Becky O’Brien from Greely in Cumberland Center, will be showcasing her talents.

The University of North Carolina-bound O’Brien will compete in the discus and shot put. She has cracked the 50-foot barrier in the shot this spring.

Elsewhere in the girls competition, Fort Kent’s Jamie Pelletier will single in the 100 while Kate Bulteel of Orono will compete in the 200 and 400.

Mount Desert Island’s Danielle Hutchins will run the 200 while Belfast’s Megan Nealey and Maggie Bryan of John Bapst are competing in the 800.

Record-breaking technique specialist Jesse Labreck from Messalonskee in Oakland will compete in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump and triple jump – in which she set state records at last weekend’s Class A state championships – along with the 300 hurdles.

Deanna Wilbur of Bangor will run both hurdle races while John Bapst qualified 4×800 and 4×100 relay teams. Bangor’s state champion 4×400 unit also is entered.

Other competitors include Megan Hogan of Bangor and Katie DeShane of Old Town in the high jump, Angel Nelligan of John Bapst, Alison Keane of Brewer and Alexis Baxter of Mount Desert Island in the pole vault, Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield’s Jenna Lorentsen in the long jump, Anna Niedbala of South China-based Erskine Academy in the discus, and George Stevens of Blue Hill’s Marina Van der Eb in the javelin.

Another record for Cake

Bar Harbor runner Judson Cake broke yet another course record this past weekend, this time at the Cobscook Bay 10K race in Pembroke.

Cake blazed through the point-to-point 6.2-mile course in this pristine Washington County town in 33 minutes, four seconds, besting his nearest competitor by three minutes.

Cake wasn’t the only runner among the 118 finishers in the 10K, 5K and one-mile fun run to set a new record.

Thomas Beckum, a running coach at Caribou High School, wrote himself into the record books by clocking a 16:48 in the 5K while 10-year-old Lucia Aretakis posted a 7:10 in the one-mile race, good for another record.

Maxim’s 5K raises $2,000

More than $2,000 was raised for autism at the Race for Autism in Old Town on June 1.

The race, directed by Old Town runner Maxim as part of her senior project, attracted 115 runners and walkers and included a number of local high school runners and some former area standouts.

The times were fairly fast on a humid afternoon as race winner Justin Richardson was timed in 16:54.

The course was run on woods trails, dirt roads and on the University of Maine’s bike paths.

Heading up the local standouts was individual women’s champ Kim Spencer, who recently helped lead John Bapst to a state Class C girls title.

Former area running standouts included Old Town’s Camden Gould, who finished fourth, former Brewer runner and Pendleton Street Field 3,200-meter record holder Al Geiser, who finished ninth, and former Brewer and UMaine-Farmington runner Kate Goupee.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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