HOULTON, Maine — The track and field program at Houlton flourished from its first year of two participants into a group of 23 competitors, including three individuals from Hodgdon. The team members were committed to the program, with several first-year participants blossoming into state competitors.
“I was very proud of the team this year,” said Houlton coach, Chris Rines. “These are all great kids who participate in a lot of other sports and clubs at school. For them to take the time, to put their faith and efforts into this newly returned program and me as a coach was a tremendous risk.
“It was an absolute pleasure to see those efforts pay off, to see their nerves put to ease as they began competing and pushing their limits,” he added. “For the majority, it was their first exposure to the world of track and field, but by the end of the season, we were running like veterans of the sport against some of the toughest competition Maine had to offer.”
One of Rines’ favorite memories was during the 4×400 meter relay race during the first meet in Caribou.
“It was the last event of the day,” he recalled. “Isaiah Brown was coming down to the sprint level (he traditionally competes in long running events) and his brother, Austin, bump up to a distance he hadn’t really worked at and a bit out of his comfort zone, along with Adam Casillas and Nathan Bouchard, who are both new competitors to track and field.
“Austin was the anchor runner and as he received the baton it was in a three-way tie for third,” Rines said. “Austin ran neck-to-neck with a racer from Presque Isle, who was about twice as tall as him. Austin booked it down the last straight away and just barely got the Presque Isle runner at the finish line by four hundredths of a second.”
Other season highlights for Rines included Natalie Hill, a first-time competitor, qualifying for the States in five events. Tim Glatter making it into the Penobscot Valley Conference (PVC) small school championships; Austin Brown qualifying for States in the high jump in the first meet he had ever competed in the event; surprising Hannah Foley by entering her into the shot put in MDI; Taylor Reed’s debut race in the 1,600-meter in Presque Isle; Damon Reynolds throwing further and further every meet; and surprising Josh Upton by running the 4×400 at the County meet.
Finishing the highlight reel was Rylee Warman breaking her personal record in the 1,600; Olivia Winslow “dropping chunks of time off in most every event,” said Rines; Tre Whitney coming in one second behind Isaiah Brown in the 400; Emily Mooers being relieved to find out she didn’t have to do the long jump; and Emma Drew qualifying for the PVCs in the javelin.
Overall, the year was successful for the track and field team, building excitement for another sport offered through Houlton High School athletics.
