Maine’s finest high school track and field athletes put on a show at Saturday’s New England championship meet at Thornton Academy’s Hill Stadium in Saco.

Pine Tree State athletes combined for eight first-place finishes – Jesse Labreck of Messalonskee in Oakland and Greely of Cumberland Center’s Becky O’Brien posted two each – while Riley Masters of Bangor and Hilary Maxim of Old Town ran to personal bests in their respective events.

Masters finished fifth in the 1,600 meters in 4 minutes, 16.18 seconds in an impressive field where the top nine runners all broke 4:20.

Old Town’s Maxim earned ninth in the girls 1,600, clocking a speedy 5:07.63 in yet another fast field where the winning time was 4:51.61 (Rachel Schneider, St. Thomas, N.H.).

Ironically, Schneider is a Sanford resident who attends the Dover, N.H., institution.

Maxim came back to post a solid 11:29.23 in the 3,200, good for 13th place.

Elsewhere on the girls side, record-breaking Messalonskee senior Labreck captured both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles in 14.74 and 43.94, respectively. She was also second in the triple jump and sixth in the high jump.

O’Brien, who will attend the University of North Carolina in the fall, established meet records in the shot put and discus, one of which belonged to her future coach.

O’Brien’s mark of 51 feet, 61/2 inches in the shot put eclipsed the mark of 49-41/2 set in 2001 by Lauren Gerraughty of Nashua, N.H., now a coach at UNC.

O’Brien bested her nearest competitor by a whopping 8 feet in the shot, and she heaved the discus 161-11.

Anna Niedbala of Erskine Academy in South China captured third in the discus with a toss of 143-30.

Maine’s other individual champ on the girls side was Cony of Augusta pole vaulter Bethany Dumas, who won her second title on this stage, vaulting 11-7.

Eastern Maine was well-represented in the meet. Deanna Wilbur of Bangor took ninth in the 100 hurdles, barely missing earning a qualifying spot in finals, while the Rams’ 4×400 quartet of Jenny Leach, Brittney Chapman, Katie Porter and Jennie Lucy finished 23rd.

Kate Bulteel of Orono was 16th in the 200 meters and 24th in the 400 while Fort Kent’s Jamie Pelletier took 19th in the 100. Camden Hills of Rockport’s Lianne McCluskey finished just ahead of Bulteel in 23rd in the 400. Megan Nealey of Belfast captured 16th in the 800 while John Bapst of Bangor’s Maggie Bryan earned 26th.

Katie DeShane of Old Town finished in a four-way tie for 15th in the high jump while George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill’s Marina Van der Eb was 16th in the javelin and Hampden Academy’s Rylee Rawcliffe was 18th.

John Bapst’s 4×800 of Jennie Wainer, Kim Spencer, Holly Binette and Maggie Bryan took 25th, and the 4×100 consisting of Amber Weaver, Angel Nelligan, Katelyn Gerow and Morgan Chasse came in 28th.

On the boys side, Brunswick pole vaulter David Slovenski continued his season-long assault on the track record books, as the defending meet champion in this event cleared 16-9. Slovenski will compete at Princeton next year.

Anthony Stanton of Noble in North Berwick, who set a Class A state record in the high jump last weekend, soared over 6-7 to win that event.

Brewer’s Ben Sinclair took 12th in the 400 then teamed up with Steven Rice, Tony Nevers and Chris Corey for a 19th-place finish in the 4×400. Rice also was 15th in the 300 hurdles.

Waterville’s Dominik Alexis finished in a tie for fourth in the high jump while Jadrien Cousens of Hampden Academy wound up tied for 12th. Bucksport’s Kone was 20th in the long jump, and Bangor’s Sean Seekins 18th in the triple jump.

Elsewhere, Chris Fogler of John Bapst finished 14th in the 110 hurdles and 22nd in the 200. Nate Warren of Bucksport and Schenck of East Millinocket’s Jared Waite took 20th and 23rd, respectively, in the 100, while Bucksport’s 4×100 team of Jon Goodwin, Vincent Tymoczko, Warren and Dominic Kone ran to 20th.

Don Clark of Winslow and Blake Ford of Calais were 12th and 21st, respectively, in the shot put. Bapst’s Derek Smith was 18th in the javelin, Devin Lehman of Belfast earned 20th in the discus.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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