More than 60 boys and girls from Aroostook County traveled to Bangor July 7 to compete in the State Finals of the Hershey Youth Track and Field Program, with several turning in top performances.
Griffin Guerrette of Presque Isle and Trevor Beaton of Houlton were the big winners at the state meet, each taking first place in three events.
Guerrette won the 50-meter dash, the 100-meter dash and the standing long jump in the boys’ 9-10 age division, while Beaton captured victories in the 100-meter dash and the standing long jump while also being a part of the winning 4 X 100-meter relay team in the boys’ 13-14 age category.
The program, sponsored by the Hershey Food Corporation, has been a national event and now a North American event for the past 31 years. Initiated as a playground track and field program in 1975 in Charleston, West Va. by Dr. Donald P. Cohen, Hershey’s Track & Field Games has become the largest youth sport program of its kind in North America.
Participants representing all 50 states as well as all 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada are eligible to qualify for the North American Finals, which will be held July 30-Aug. 2 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Youngsters competing in Maine are part of the Region 6 team which includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island as well as all the Atlantic Provinces. Once all the state and provincial meets are completed, all winners are eligible to qualify for the North American Final.
To ensure fair representation of all 50 states and Canadian provinces and territories, a minimum of five finalists are selected from each state/provincial group to be part of the regional team attending the North American Final.
Northern Regional Representative Kathy Mazzuchelli from the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department praises the program and notes that over the years a good contingent of youngsters from Aroostook County have had the opportunity to attend the National Finals.
She noted that the results from this year’s state meet indicated another contingent of youth from northern Maine will be heading to Hershey.
Aroostook County’s results of last Tuesday’s state finals were as follows:
Girls ages 9-10
50-meter dash: second, Isabelle Morin, Easton, 8.99 seconds; third, Emma Curtis, Presque Isle, 9.05; fifth, Miranda Anthony, Bridgewater, 9.24.
100-meter dash: second, Isabelle Morin, Easton, 17.68 seconds; third, Kolleen Bouchard, Houlton, 18.11; fourth, Madison Bearden, Presque Isle, 18.62.
200-meter dash: second, Robin Albert, Fort Kent, 35.87 seconds; fifth, Ashley Matlock, Caribou, 37.94; sixth, Jennie Carver, Houlton, 39.49.
400-meter dash: second, Robin Albert, Fort Kent, 1 minute, 22.79 seconds; fourth, Emma Willett, Presque Isle, 1:30.67; fifth, Madeline Gudde, Caribou, 1:31.55.
4 X 100-meter relay: first, Houlton (Kolleen Bouchard, Jennie Carver, Amelia Hanning and Rylee Warman), 1 minute 13.12 seconds; second, Fort Fairfield (Sarah Beaulieu, Emma Campbell, Gracie Griffeth and Jaydyn Fox), 1:14.87; third, Caribou (Ashley Matlock, Hope Shea, Riley McNeal and Kyleigh Stiller), 1:15.26.
Standing long jump: third, Molly Shay, Presque Isle, 5 feet, 8 inches; fifth, Amelia Hanning, Houlton, 5-5; sixth, Miranda Anthony, Bridgewater, 5-2.5.
Softball throw: first, Cassidy Pelletier, Ashland, 100 feet, 5 inches; second, Kolleen Bouchard, Houlton, 91-6; third, Emma Campbell, Fort Fairfield, 74-0.
100-meter dash: first, Molly Anthony, Bridgewater, 15.28 seconds; second, Emily Mooers, Houlton, 15.42; fourth, Lily Hanning, Houlton, 15.61.
200-meter dash: second, Molly Anthony, Bridgewater, 31.72 seconds; second, Lily Hanning, Houlton, 32.79; seventh, Jessica Morin, Fort Kent, 35.49.
400-meter dash: second, Jessica Morin, Fort Kent, 1:17.09; third, Kylee Carter, Easton, 1:19.13; fourth, Sadie Desjardins, Fort Kent, 1:21.2.
4 X 100-meter relay: first, Easton A (Hannah Ferris, Alex Allen, Kelsey Carter and Kylee Carter), 1 minute, 11.71 seconds; second, Caribou (Krysta Marcoux, Laiken Tarbox, Sarah Wylie and Connor Spencer), 1:15.58; third, Easton B (Elise Allen, Blake Bradley, Sara Gilman and Emman Bonner), 1:22.05.
Standing long jump: first, Emily Mooers, Houlton, 6 feet, 10 inches; second, Hannah Ferris, Easton, 6-5; third, Molly Anthony, Bridgewater, 6-4.5.
Softball throw: second, Taylor Williams, Presque Isle, 108 feet, 6 inches; third, Kylee Carter, Easton, 99-7; fourth, Gentle Prescott, Fort Kent, 86-5.
100-meter dash: second, Marissa Anthony, Bridgewater, 14.15 seconds; fourth, Destiny Russell, Houlton, 15.75.
200-meter dash: second, Marissa Anthony, Bridgewater, 29.82 seconds; third, Destiny Russell, Houlton, 33.82.
800-meter run: second, Meredith Stewart, Presque Isle, 3 minutes, 26.09 seconds; third, Elise Gudde, Caribou, 3:28.08.
4 X 100-meter relay: first, Presque Isle (Amanda Palmer, Brooke Dinatale, Jacqueline Lambert and Meredith Stewart), 1 minute, 8.33 seconds.
Standing long jump: second, Kaleigh Kinney, Presque Isle, 6 feet, 6 inches; third, Marissa Anthony, Bridgewater, 6-0.
Softball throw: first, Alison Prescott, Fort Kent, 148 feet, 4 inches; second, Logan Bubar, Fort Fairfield, 141-0; third, Janae Libby, Fort Fairfield, 123-0.
50-meter dash: first, Griffin Guerrette, Mapleton, 7.9 seconds; second, Bennett Theriault, Fort Kent, 8.45.
100-meter dash: second, Bennett Theriault, Fort Kent, 16.42 seconds; third, Ryan Player, Fort Fairfield, 16.47; third, Elijah Older, Houlton, 17.62.
200-meter dash: first, Griffin Guerrette, Mapleton, 32.73 seconds; second, Niko Naranjo, Fort Kent, 36.53; third, Jonah Daigle, Fort Fairfield, 36.55.
400-meter dash: second, Luke Bailey, Fort Kent, 1 minute, 12.75 seconds; fourth, Jacob O’Berry, Presque Isle, 1:25.81; fifth, Wyatt Kennedy, Presque Isle, 1:29.19.
4 X 100-meter relay: first, Presque Isle (Gavin Kelley, Jacob O’Berry, Jake Kinney and Wyatt Kennedy), 1 minute, 8.16 seconds; second, Fort Fairfield (Malcolm Langner, Jonah Daigle, Ryan Player and Jullian McKenney), 1:08.36; third, Fort Kent (Zachary Nadeau, Niko Naranjo, David Ouellette and Brady Hafford), 1:09.37.
Standing long jump: first, Griffin Guerrette, Mapleton, 6 feet, 4 inches; second, Bennett Theriault, Fort Kent, 5-9.5; fourth, Jonah Daigle, Fort Fairfield, 5-2.5.
Softball throw: second, Isaac Cyr, Fort Fairfield, 106-5; fourth, Malcolm Langner, Fort Fairfield, 86-0.
100-meter dash: first, second, Ryan King, Houlton, 14.9 seconds; third, Brandon Theriault, Fort Kent, 15.12; fourth, Ronald Collin, Fort Kent, 15.34.
200-meter dash: first, Kameran Husain, Fort Kent, 32.04 seconds; second, Caleb Daigle, Fort Fairfield, 33.24; third, Dustin Pryor, Mars Hill, 35.11.
400-meter dash: second, Kyle Bouchard, Houlton, 1 minute, 14.21 seconds; third, Boo Prescott, Fort Kent, 1:15.09; fourth, Tito Naranja, Fort Kent, 1:17.57.
800-meter run: first, Andrew Bailey, Fort Kent, 2 minutes, 38.91 seconds; second, Michael Mahon, Presque Isle, 3:03.04; fourth, Tre Caudill, Caribou, 3:15.95.
4 X 100-meter relay: first, Fort Kent (Brandon Theriault, Ronald Collin, Cody Johnson and Kameran Husain), 1 minute, 2.37 seconds; second, Fort Fairfield (Caleb Daigle, Jacob Binyon-Cullins, Lance McKenney and Justy McKenney), 1:03.88; third, Houlton (Cameron E. Clark, Kyle Bouchard, Cameron J. Clark and Isaiha Littleton), 1:06.43.
Standing long jump: first, Lance McKenney, Fort Fairfield, 6 feet, 10 inches; second, Caleb Daigle, Fort Fairfield, 6-6.5; third, Cameron E. Clark, Houlton, 6-0.5.
Softball thow: first, Ryan King, Houlton, 156 feet, 7 inches; second, Kyle Bouchard, Houlton, 156-5; third, Brandon Theriault, Fort Kent, 138-6.
100-meter dash: first, Trevor Beaton, Houlton, 12.93 seconds; third, Elyjah Crockett, Houlton, 13.6; fifth, Colby Endy, Bridgewater, 14.32.
200-meter dash: second, Colby Endy, Bridgewater, 30 seconds; third, Isaac Cone, Houlton, 30.18; fourth, Ian Sotomayor, Easton, 30.26.
800-meter run: third, Ian Sotomayor, Easton, 2 minutes, 55.85 seconds.
1,600-meter run: third, Trevor Levesque, Presque Isle, 6 minutes, 7.51 seconds.
4 X 100-meter relay: first, Houlton (Elyjah Crockett, Phoenix Crockett, Trevor Beaton and Isaa Cone), 56.51 seconds; second, Presque Isle (James D’Arcangelo, Michael Donovan, Matthew Tilley and Trevor Levesque), 1:03.81.
Standing long jump: first, Trevor Beaton, Houlton, 7 feet, 8 inches; second, Isaac Cone, Houlton, 7-4; fourth, Phoenix Crockett, Houlton, 6-10.
Softball throw: first, Elyjah Crockett, Houlton, 203 feet, 5 inches; third, Jason Soares, Caribou, 180-0.
PIMS BOYS TRACK — The Presque Isle Middle School boys track and field team recently captured the Aroostook League championship, with Thomas Freeman winning individual honors. Members of the team are, in front from left, Jeremiah Therrian, Matt Tilley, Michael Donovan, James d’Archangelo, Christian Nunez, Jonathan Freeman and William Popov. Second row, Josh Jones, Trevor Levesque, Joseph Patenaude, Lewis Amero, David Cyr, Gabe Player, James Churchill, Logan Banks and Devin Cray. Third row, Chance Doak, Isaac Estey, Cyle McCleary, Joel Shay, Dakota Fox, Jonathan Rochester, Cody Dunton and coach Chris Smith. Back row, Ben Nickerson, Thomas Freeman, Ryan Basu, Mitchell Ayotte, Isaac Michaud, Brendon Goulet, Brandon LeBlanc and Matt Burtt.
PIMS GIRLS TRACK — The Presque Isle Middle School girls track and field team placed second at the Aroostook League meet. Team members are, in front from left, Samantha Simonds, Angela Hallowell, Amelia Sharp, Shelby Condon and manager Jaylee Farley. Second row, Joan Overman, Shannon Sweeney, Jackie Lambert, Bonnie Corey, Maddie Caron, Amanda Palmer and Brooke Dinatale. Third row, Cameo Michaud, Olivia Goulet, Clarissa Buck, Meredith Stewart, Amanda Bagley, Mary Mitchell, Kaleigh Kinney and coach Kimberley Wright. Back row, Madison Shaw, Rachel Hobbs, Alex Lambert, Emma Bartlett, Haley Bouchard, Kelsey Corriveau and Gabby McCrum.
