Karen Higgins sets the pace during the first lap of the mile run during the Class B state championship on Monday, Feb. 16 at Bates College in Lewiston. Higgins was the runner-up in the race and placed second in the 2-mile run. (Mic LeBel photo)
Lincoln Academy junior Karen Higgins placed second in a pair of events at the Class B state indoor track and field championship meet on Monday, Feb. 16 at Bates College in Lewiston. Higgins’s runner-up finishes earned 14 of the 16 points recorded by the Lady Eagles to boost the squad to 12th place out of the 28 teams that recorded a score during the girls meet. Freeport won the girls Class B state championship with 64.25 points, followed by Yarmouth (51), and Greely (45).
The Medomak Valley girls placed 21st at the meet with nine points. The Boothbay-Wiscasset girls team did not have an athlete place in the top eight in any event, and therefore did not tally a point to record a team score.
Zuriel Smith launches the shot put during the Class B state championship on Monday, Feb. 16 at Bates College in Lewiston. (Mic LeBel photo)
Girls results
Higgins set the pace right away in the mile run by surging into the front and then held the lead position until the final lap when Zoe Carroll, of York High School, bolted past to claim the championship. Carroll took first with a time of 5:09.08, with Higgins came in second at 5:17.15, and Ella Oshetski, of Freeport, third in 5:24.25.
Higgins got some revenge in the exciting rematch between the pair of elite runners later in the day when she beat Carroll by 22 seconds in the 2-mile run. However, Maya Boyington, of Orono High School, who did not compete in other individual races at the meet, outpaced Carroll and then surged past Higgins late in the race to earn first place. Boyington finished the 2-mile in 11:08.25, followed by Higgins in 11:30.59, and Carroll in 11:52.82.
Mercy Buchwalder and Ella Soucy each scored one point toward the LA team score. Buchwalder placed eighth in the 200m dash with a time of 27.27 and Soucy came in eighth in the 55m hurdles clocking in at 9.98 in the final, after recording an even faster time of 9.69 in a preliminary heat.
The LA girls 4×200 relay team placed 10th with a time of 1:55.80. Soucy, Lucy Wells, Camila Flores, and Buchwalder each ran a leg for the Eagles.
Ava Collamore had a strong meet for Medomak Valley, accounting for all of the team’s nine points. Collamore earned fourth in the mile run in 5:33.78 and fifth in the 2-mile run with a time of 12:27.76.
Also competing for the Panther girls at the state championship were Kaylee Collamore, who came in 17th in the 800m run (3:05.44) and 18th in the mile run (6:12.41); and Lyra Puchalski, who finished 24th in the 55m hurdles (10:52).
Zuri Smith placed the highest among the Boothbay-Wiscasset competitors, earning 13th in the shot put with a toss of 27-4.5. Rose Campbell also competed for the Seahawks at the state finals, placing 19th in the 200m dash and 19th in the 55m dash.
Medomak’s Colby Daigle rounds a turn during the mile run just ahead of Lincoln Academy’s Alva Gandler at the Class B state championship meet on Monday, Feb. 16 at Bates College in Lewiston. (Mic LeBel photo)
Boys results
The Lincoln Academy boys scored five points to place 26th out of the 32 teams recording a score in the Class B championship meet. Medomak was 31st with two points, and Boothbay-Wiscasset scored one point to rank 32nd. Greely won the championship meet with a score of 65, Freeport placed second with 55 and York was third with 53.33.
The Eagle boys secured all of their five points with a fourth place finish in the 4x800m relay. Alva Gandler, Caleb McArdle, Owen Card, and Cooper Powell each ran a leg for the Eagles as they raced to a time of 8:52.04. Powell was a last minute substitute for Bear Grandy, who was unable to participate.
The top eight placements in each event earned team points at the state championship meet, and the Eagles barely fell short of points and a spot on the podium in three other events. Storer placed ninth in the 200m dash (24.83), Card earned ninth in the 2-mile run (10:50.99), and the 4×800 relay team placed ninth (1:40.15) with McArdle, Braden Bessey, Storer, and Powell each running a leg. Powell again substituted for Grandy, who had qualified to run a leg before being unable to participate at the meet.
McArdle placed 11th in the 400m dash with a time of 55.63. Gandler placed 14th in the mile run (5:19.27), and Powell secured an 11th place finish in the long jump with a leap of 5-6.
Colby Daigle earned all of the Medomak Valley team points with a seventh place finish in the 2-mile run (10:42.49). Daigle barely missed the podium in the mile run, in which he secured ninth with a coveted sub-five minute run (4:57.38).
Sophomore Ben Gapski, who scored seven points for the Wiscasset boys basketball team in a playoff game against Carrabec on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Augusta Civic Center (see related article), further demonstrated his athleticism as he earned eighth place in the 55m hurdles (8.75) to score the only point of the meet for the Boothbay-Wiscasset boys team.
The Boothbay-Wiscasset 4x800m relay team placed 17th at the meet with Aron Geddes, Lysander Lefevre, Gapski, and Isaac Fanslau each running a leg toward their time of 10:47.39.
Here are some more photos from the event:
