September 20, 2024
HIGH SCHOOL TRACK

Broncos sweep past all competition Peverada earns three titles among girls; Kapler powers victory by boys

ORONO – Over the years, many different distance runners have laced up their spikes at Hampden Academy.

They didn’t have to do it alone on this day at the UMaine Field House, however, as they got plenty of help from their young sprinting and jumping corps.

Points were spread all around, and HA went on to win both meets.

The Broncos prevailed 110-87 over John Bapst of Bangor in the girls. Brewer wound up third in the five-team field with 40 points, George Stevens of Blue Hill was next with 13, and Sumner of East Sullivan had nine.

Led by Trainor Kapler and Jeremy Tyler, the Bronco boys rolled past Brewer 135-66. The Eagles notched 66, Bapst had 21, and Sumner scored 5.

In the girls meet, the Broncos’ points came from many different places. Pacing the distance crew were Molly Peverada and Amanda Gervasi, who both ran on the winning 4-by-880 relay team. Peverada also won the mile run in 5 minutes, 34 seconds and was second in the 800 (2:38.45).

“The girls can get lots of points in the middle distance races,” said HA coach Bill Meehan. “We’ve got two or three girls who can run the two-mile well.”

“We don’t really have an overall strength, but the middle distance girls are strong,” he added.

Individual winners for Hampden included Sam Burrill in the high jump (4-foot-6), Lindsay Piete in the pole vault (6-0), and Ashley Gott in the long jump, in which Piete earned second. Rachelle Bourgoin took the 400 in 1:09.75.

John Bapst standout Elaine Colwell won three events: the triple jump, 60 dash, and 60 hurdles, while fellow Crusader Evelyn Sharkey ran an impressive 2:21.82 in the 800 in addition to winning the 200 and anchoring the winning 4-by-220 relay team.

In the boys meet, it was never really close. The Broncs made a statement by winning the meet’s first event: the 4-by-800 relay. Hampden went on to win the next three events on the track to put some distance between themselves and a young, rebuilding Brewer team.

Kapler started the flurry by winning the 60 in 6.92 seconds, Tyler captured the 60 hurdles in 9.25 seconds, and Ben Bouchard took the mile in 5:05.74. Kapler also won the 200 in 24.15 seconds and led off the winning 4-by-220 relay team.

“He’s displaying that he’s one of the league’s top sprinters,” Meehan said. “He’s not really close to peaking, but he will get stronger as the season goes along.”

Tyler was also second in the 60 in 7.03 seconds for HA. Zach Gamble and Andre Cushing went 2-3 in the 400 while Nate Brown and Aaron McCollough went 2-3 in the 800.

“The boys look solid in all areas particularly the sprints and distance,” Meehan said. “The kids made good improvements. We weren’t concerned about points, and we wanted the kids to set PRs (personal records).”

Brewer junior Brendan Carr made a strong statement that he could be one of the runners to beat come championship time. He won both the 800 (2:07.02) and the two-mile (10:40.07) and had to kick down to win both races.

In the two-mile, Hampden’s Chris Peverada led 13 of the 14 laps.

“I was listening to my body and tried to let him dictate the pace and just work off him,” Carr said.

“It’s just never really planned,” he said about the “sit-and-kick” method, a method a runner uses when he’s patient then lets it all out on the last lap.

“It just happens that way,” Carr added. He blasted a 61-second final 400 in the 800 to oust GSA’s Travis Rieley.


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