Athletes clock yielded impressive results at recent County track meet in Caribou
CARIBOU, Maine — Aroostook County supremacy in track and field was up for grabs Thursday in Caribou.
On the team side, the host Vikings swept the titles as the girls scored 230.5 points, which was 78 more than runner-up Presque Isle. Five other teams competed, with Fort Fairfield taking third, Houlton fourth, LCS/MSSM fifth, Fort Kent sixth and Washburn seventh.
The Caribou boys totaled 179 points and bested second-place PI (122), with Houlton taking third with 81 and Fort Fairfield fourth with 72. They were followed by Washburn, LCS/MSSM, Fort Kent, East Grand and GHCA.
“I was extremely pleased with the outstanding team effort from both groups,” said coach Roy Alden of his Caribou squad. “It was great to see how focused our athletes were and how determined they stayed throughout the meet.”
For individuals, junior Tori Koch of Presque Isle captured the Howard Lello Award as the top female scorer with 32 points. Caribou’s Maria Espinosa was second with 28.5, followed by PI’s Regan Nelson (28), Caribou’s Alexis Rodriguez (26.5) and PI’s Skylar Vogel (25).
The Emery Plourde Award for being the leading boys’ scorer went to Fort Fairfield freshman Jonah Daigle, who tallied 26 points on the day. Next were Houlton athletes Ethan Fletcher (28.5) and Isaiah Brown (28), with Fort Fairfield’s Colin Goshorn in fourth with 25 and PI’s Trace Cyr in fifth with 24.5.
In the girls’ meet, Caribou won on the strength of 10 first-place finishes. Those were provided by Alexis Rodriguez, who won both the 800- and 1,600-meter runs with respective times of 2:33.7 and 5:40.79; Eileen Patton, who took the 100-meter hurdles in 17.06 seconds and the javelin with a mark of 100 feet, 2 inches; and Maria Espinosa, who claimed firsts in the pole vault (6 feet, 6 inches) and the 300 hurdles (52.38 seconds).
Patton, who won four events in a home meet held May 14, was forced to drop out of two events with a strained knee.
Emma Belyea was the champion in the 1,600-meter racewalk in 9:08.35 and all three relay teams prevailed as well. Espinosa was part of the victorious 4×100 team, which also included Sheridan Blackstone, Meagan Dube and JoJo Fields. Their time was 56.1 seconds. Rodriguez was a leg on the 4×400 team which won in 4:36. Others on that team were Madeline Gudde, Dube and Blackstone. The 4×800 team came out on top in 11:39.86. Blackstone, Gudde, Sam Fortin and Ashley Violette made up the four legs.
Koch’s big day for the Wildcats included a victory in the 100-meter dash in 12.91 seconds, first place in the 400-meter dash in 1:03.99 and the top mark of the day in the long jump at 14 feet, 2 inches.
“Tori displayed some exemplary performances,” said PI coach Mike Waugh. “She has been nursling a slight hamstring pull and it started to bother her a little during the meet, but she pulled through for the team and completed all her events. It was very satisfying to see her to take the top girls’ scorer award.”
Teresa Maynard of Fort Fairfield won the high jump at 4 feet, 6 inches and teammate Lillian Ashby took the triple jump with a mark of 30 feet, 2 inches. Nelson swept the shot put (33 feet, 2 inches) and the discus (95 feet, 9 inches).
Houlton’s Amelia Hanning won the 200-meter dash in 29.03 seconds, edging out Dube at the finish line. Rylee Warman of the Shires turned in another strong day in distance running events, winning the 3,200 in 12:59.45 while also taking second in the 1,600 and third in the 800.
Fields’ consistent effort was another key for the Vikings in their win as she was the runner-up in both the 100-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles while taking third in the 200.
LCS/MSSM’s Emma Vannorsdall had her team’s best performances. She was second in both the shot put and the high jump. Jaydyn Fox was Fort Fairfield’s high scorer by taking second in the triple jump, third in the long jump and fourth in both hurdling events.
Vogel sparked the Wildcats by tying for runner-up honors in the discus and claiming third place in the high jump, shot put and the javelin.
The Caribou boys won only four events but used their depth to score an impressive victory.
“We knew we were going to get outscored in the sprinting and hurdling events, but our distance runners and racewalkers came up big and we also had a good day in the pole vault,” Alden said.
A major win for the Vikings was provided by Richard Newland, who was seeded fourth in the 800-meter run but prevailed with a time of 2:07.28.
Also earning wins for Caribou were Evan Michaud in the pole vault (10 feet) and Evan Desmond in the 1,600-meter racewalk (7:23.66), as well as the 4×400 relay team consisting of Newland, Michaud, Cory Jandreau and Caleb Trombley, whose time was 3:53.29.
Desmond also was second in the 1,600-meter run and third in the 3,200 to lead the team in scoring with 24. Newland was also second in the triple jump and fifth in the high jump for his 22.5 individual points.
Other solid performers for the Vikings were Brandon Manter, second in both the discus and the javelin; Chathu Karunasiri, second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600; and Trombley, third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump.
The Tigers’ Daigle came up big in his first County Meet as a varsity athlete. He swept the hurdles, winning the 110-meter event in 16.39 seconds and the 300 in 43.22. Daigle also was second in both the high jump and the long jump.
“He’s one exceptional athlete,” said Hilary Saucy, who coaches the Tiger team along with Kyle St. Peter. “I wasn’t quite sure what to expect since he is a freshman, but he’s always willing to work hard and try new things and as a result, he’s improved steadily throughout the season.”
The Shiretowners’ Fletcher was victorious in both the 100-meter dash (11.7 seconds) and the 200 (24.64) and was the runner-up in the 400 by just .14 seconds to Presque Isle’s Trace Cyr, whose winning time was 54.71 seconds. Brown won both the 1,600 (4:43.22) and the 3,200 (10:36.32) and was second in the 800, just .35 of a second behind Newland.
Connor Murchison of Presque Isle took first in the high jump at 5 feet, 8 inches and the triple jump at 37 feet, 2.25 inches, while Wildcat teammate Chan Villatora won the long jump with a mark of 19 feet, 4 inches and was the 100-meter dash runner-up.
Skyler Bernstein of Fort Kent was dominant in a pair of throwing events. He was first in the shot put with a mark of 38 feet, 11 inches and also won the discus at 107 feet, .5 inches. Washburn’s Jovanni Taveras had the best javelin throw of the day at 131 feet, 8 inches. He was third in both the 100 and the 200 to lead the Beavers.
PI’s 4×100 relay team (Kyler Caron, Cyr, Villatora and Parker Lambert) won in a time of 48.35 seconds and the LCS/MSSM 4×800 foursome of Ahmed Beshir, James Cyr, Paddy Keith-Hardy and Sawyer Lachance prevailed in 9:34.44
Goshorn complemented Daigle’s strong performance for FF by finishing as the runner-up in both hurdles and the pole vault.
“Colin and Jonah pushed each other all season in the hurdles and together they improved,” Saucy said. “Colin deserves recognition just as much as Jonah does for his performance.”
Cyr captured the honors as the high-scoring Wildcat boys as a freshman. In addition to his win in the 400 and being a part of the first-place sprint relay team, he was second in the 200 and fourth in the 100.
Presque Isle next competes in Friday’s Penobscot Valley Conference large school championships in Hampden, while Caribou will take part in the PVC small school meet in Dover-Foxcroft Saturday.
The state championship meets are the following Saturday, June 4. Presque Isle qualifier are in the Class B meet, held at Mount Desert Island, and athletes who qualify from the other County schools will be in the Class C competition at Foxcroft Academy.
