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| Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg Caribou’s Grant Bennett lets the discus fly during the varsity track and field meet held Friday in Presque Isle. Bennett’s mark of 125 feet, 5 inches was good enough for second place in the event. |
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
CARIBOU — Although several of the team’s top athletes from last year either graduated or opted not to compete this season, the 2013 Viking track and field team has proven to be a legitimate challenger in early competitions and hopes to continue to develop in preparation for the state meet on June 1.
Maintaining strong numbers has not been an issue. Both the girls’ and boys’ squads boast a roster of 40-plus members. Also, coach Roy Alden said that typically the roster size will dwindle from the first day of workouts in late March until the first meet is held, but that has not been the case this spring.
“We try to create an atmosphere of having fun while also creating opportunities for success,” said Alden, who has coached since the 1980s. “But a lot of it is kids selling the sport to other kids and we’ve been able to build a successful program.”
Both the Viking girls and boys are the defending Aroostook League champions, with the girls also placing second in last year’s Penobscot Valley Conference large school championship and the boys claiming fourth place.
The teams were also victorious in the first regular season meet held in The County, which was held Friday in Presque Isle.
Alden said the girls’ team is particularly strong in sprints, jumps and distance running events. Olivia Sleeper, who has won the Howard Lello Award since her freshman campaign as the top point scorer at the County Meet, is back for her senior season and joins sophomore Sarah Doak, who runs distance events, and senior Hannah Hebert, a jumper, as the team’s top competitors.
Last year’s 4×800-meter relay team made it to the New England Championships, but only two members of that quartet (Sleeper and Doak) are back as Katie Plourde graduated and Mackenzie Belyea decided not to come out for the team this year.
In distance events, senior Chelsea Bard and sophomores Nerissa and Robyn Larrabee are Caribou’s standouts. Senior Meredith Sleeper and junior Allisa Irving have been consistent point scorers and state qualifiers in race walking and sophomore sprinter Mackenzie Deveau has a state qualifying time in the 400.
Other team members are seniors Jubilee MacLeod, Alexis McCrossin, Reanna Plourde, Alissa Randolph, Rebekah Walker and Rachel Wasson; juniors Samantha Camy, Sara Hamlin, Taylor Hartley, Chaya Karunasiri, Jessika Kovach, Sophia Maile and Malari Page; sophomores Lauren Chapman, Andromida Grondin, Elise Gudde, Chelsea Haney, Kristin Macek, Rebecca Page, Kaitlyn Ring and Emilee Susi; and freshmen Molly Adams, Sara Boyer, Hailey Caron, Maggie Cyr, Sarah Draper, Kate Finnemore, Maura Freme, Brenan Page, Mallory Patterson, Eileen Patton and Madison Staples.
The Caribou boys have battled some injuries early on and lack an abundance of veterans, but hope to peak for the championship meets.
A big surprise early on has been the emergence of Grant Bennett, a senior who joined the team for the first time and has excelled in throwing events. Senior Ron Lund and junior Lucas Kinney anchor the Vikes in distance running, while seniors Sean Barbosa and Brandon Wood have been limited with injuries, but Barbosa will be a top pole vaulter, 400 runner and relay team member and Wood is the top hurdler.
Sophomore Mitchell St. Peter is one of the top race walkers in the region.
Alden said approximately half of the boys’ roster is made up of freshmen, providing hope for future seasons.
Other seniors on the boys’ roster are Grahm Freme, Darren Newbegin and Aaron Simon. Juniors beside Kinney are Anthony Bahe, Jacob Bither, Andrew Brown, Keith Draper, Alex Losieniecki, Kameron Manter, Alexander Murchison, Daniel Powers and Tyler Strid, while the sophomore class includes Dustin Coty, Dylan Coty, Austin Griffeth and Kristopher Michaud.
The large freshman contingent has Christopher Adams, Ashton Beaver, Matthew Caron, Bradley Doody, Lucas Doucette, Benjamin Ezzy, Axios Gerakaris, Chance Hanning, David Hunter, Caleb Hunter, Chathu Karunasiri, Lukas Lagasse, Nicolas Levesque, William MacLeod, Devin Martin, Riley McDuffie, Richard Newland, Richard Sheldon, Elijah Verhoff and Caleb Willett.
The managers are Kris Michaud, Tiffany Bishop and Karina Patterson. The other track and field coaches are Todd Alley, Evan Graves and PJ Gorneault.
