The Fort Fairfield Middle High School track teams are not blessed with large numbers of athletes, but what they lack in quantity, they have more than made up for in quality this season.
Coaches Kyle St. Peter and Hilary Saucy have been very pleased with the effort of their team leading into the championships as the season winds down.
“We may not have the largest team and might get overlooked at bigger meets, but at the end of the day if you look at the results, we are consistently placing athletes in the top six in almost every event,” explained Saucy.
She said the coaching staff places a large emphasis on basic fundamentals and technique to draw out the best from the Tiger athletes.
“An athlete will be far more consistent with proper technique and will ultimately go farther,” she added. “As a small team, I think the ability to involve every member of the team is huge because otherwise there is no way we could compete with teams twice our size.”
The Tigers have some of the most talented athletes in Aroostook County and the personal attention that Saucy and St. Peter have been able to give has gone a long way toward improving their skills.
Leading the way has been freshman Johan Daigle. Daigle has a wealth of talent and has qualified for states in the 110 hurdles, the 300 hurdles, the high jump and the long jump. At the recent Aroostook County Championships, Daigle was the high point winner, and in the process set new school records in both of his hurdling events.
Sophomore Colin Goshorn has automatically qualified for the states in the 110 hurdles, the 300 hurdles, and the pole vault, and provisionally in the discus. He has set personal bests in all of his events this year. Junior Landen Kinney has been a solid performer in a variety of events, and has automatically qualified for states in the high jump with a personal best 5 feet, 6 inches. He is close in several other events as well.
Senior Lance McKenney is an automatic state qualifier in the javelin, and provisionally in the 400 meter and 800 meter runs. He is on the edge of setting a school record in the 800. Jacob Bynion-Cullins is also close to qualifying in the javelin, and has been very solid in the 200 meter run and the relays. He has improved every time out.
On the girls’ side, the team’s top performers have been Lillian Ashby, Marissa Brouette, Jaydyn Fox, and Teresa Maynard. Ashby is coming off a County championship in the triple jump while setting a personal best distance. She is also an automatic qualifier in the long jump with a personal best this season. She also runs the 100 and 200 meter dashes, and has been a consistent placer all year. Sophomore Brouette is the school record holder in the pole vault and is an automatic qualifier. She has also competed in the javelin and high jump and has been very consistent, but Brouette suffered a season-ending injury at the County meet.
Fox, also a sophomore, has been in the top three all season in the 100 and 300 hurdles, the long jump and the triple jump. She is an automatic state qualifier in the triple and a provisional qualifier in the 100 hurdles and long jump. Senior Teresa Maynard was the County champ in the high jump and is a state automatic qualifier. She is also solid in shot put and javelin.
Other athletes have contributed throughout the season and shown great improvement each time out. They include freshman Jonas Armstrong, a field event specialist and relay runner; senior Sarah Beaulieu in the 1,600, 800, discus, and javelin; sophomore Emma Campbell in the 100, 200, high jump and relays; freshman Angelina Campos in the 100, 200 and relays; freshman Solomon Daigle in the 200, shot put, discus and relays; freshman Dixie Grady in 100, 200, 400 and long jump; and junior Tyler Emerson in the 3,200, shot put, discus and javelin. Emerson has been a tremendous role model for the rest of the team with his work ethic and leadership.
“I think we’ve seen a lot of personal improvement across the board so far this season,” Saucy said. “I think almost every athlete has had at least one personal best in every single meet this season which is remarkable. I love working with a small team because you can really individualize workouts and get to spend time with each athlete one-on-one, which isn’t possible in a larger environment.
“This group of athletes is super talented and they are really fun to work with. I enjoy each and every day that I get to spend with them.”
