Lincoln Academy junior Karen Higgins celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the Class B state championship in the 3200m run on Saturday, June 6 in Freeport. (Mic LeBel photo)
Lincoln Academy junior Karen Higgins set a new school record as she won the girls 3200m run at the Class B state championship meet on Saturday, June 6 at Freeport High School.
Higgins helped boost the LA girls team to a 13th place finish among the 29 schools competing at the meet. The Medomak Valley girls placed 23rd at the meet, which was won by Yarmouth with Freeport in second and Greely in third.
The Medomak Valley boys team ranked 25th and the Lincoln Academy boys placed 28th. York won the boys meet with Greely in second and Yarmouth in third.
Higgins jumped to the head of the pack at the outset of the 3200m, her only individual race of the day.
She set a fast pace and extended her lead in the second lap before holding off the nearest contenders to win with a time of 11:07.45, a little more than 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Zoe Carroll, of York (11:18.88). Carroll had won the 1600m run earlier in the day and placed third in the 800m run.
Since the fall of her sophomore year, Higgins has been second at the cross country regional championship twice, second at the cross country state championship twice, runner-up in the indoor 2-mile twice, and second in the indoor mile once.
Last spring, as a sophomore competing for Boothbay Region High School at the Class C state championship, Higgins was the runner-up in the 3200m, the 1600m, and the 800m.
This year, Higgins and her coaches decided to focus her energy on competing in the 3200m race. After the 3200m was over, in the final track event of the day, she also ran a leg of the LA girls 4×400 relay, which finished 11th with a time of 4:28.04.
“I have a feeling that given how well Karen ran in the 3200m, she would’ve won the 1600m if we had put her in the race, but she deserved the opportunity to focus on the 3200m and win it, and she totally capitalized on that,” said co-coach Taylor Holmes. “We’re looking forward to setting her up for her best effort of the season in the 3200m at the New England championships on Saturday (June 13 in North Berwick), even though the weather is expected to be very hot.”
Higgins set a new personal best while breaking the Lincoln Academy record she set earlier this season by 28 seconds and she topped her 2025 Class C state championship meet time by more than 20 seconds.
On the awards podium, Higgins received her championship medal from 1984 Olympic marathon champion and distance running legend Joan Benoit Samuelson, a Freeport resident for whom the Freeport High School track facility is named.
The girls 4×100 relay team scored points for the LA team by placing fourth in a time of 52.0 with Lucy Wells, Ella Soucy, Maggie Thompson, and Mercy Buchwalder running a leg.
Thompson sprinted to a fifth place finish in the 400m dash (1:02.34), which was a new personal best time. Thompson also competed in the javelin, coming in 15th with a throw of 84-8.
Soucy placed sixth in the 100m hurdles in 17.15.
Also competing at the state meet were Buchwalder, who came in 13th in the 100m dash in 13.59; Wells, 25th in the 100m dash in 13.91 and 2seventh in the 200m dash in 29.40; Chloe Anderson, 16th in the 800m run in 2:35.17; Annabel Garvan-Soto, ninth in the 3200m run in 12:14.66; and Frances DeGeer, 20th in the high jump with a leap of 4-6.
LA boys
Cooper Powell scored the only points for the Lincoln Academy boys by placing eighth in the high jump with a leap of 5-8. He also competed in the long jump, in which he finished 26th (17-0.5).
Owen Card placed just outside of a top eight podium finish in the 3200m, coming in ninth with a time of 10:27.45.
Also competing at the meet were Caleb McArdle, who set a new personal best while finishing 11th in the 400m dash with a time of 54.32; Isaiah Felton, who also established a new personal record in the 400m dash in 56.33, earning a 16th place finish; and Forest Storer, who came in 24th in the long jump with a leap of 17-8.25.
The Lincoln 4×100 relay team placed 13th in 46.95 with McArdle, Bear Grandy, Storer, and Powell each running a leg. The LA quartet of Felton, Storer, Grandy, and McArdle placed 14th in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:46.58. The 4×800 relay placed 13th in 9:25.28 with Alden Fitzgerald Ward, Nathanael Clark, Wilton Scott, and Alva Gandler each running a leg.
Medomak Valley girls
Isabella Burgess was the top point scorer for the Lady Panthers and set new personal records in the 100m and the 200m at the meet.
Burgess placed seventh in the 100m dash in 13.14 and eighth in the 200m dash in 27.26. She also ran a leg of the 4×100 relay that placed seventh and set a new school record in a time of 52.32 with Lyra Puchalski, Rachel Richardson, and Scarlett Flint.
Ava Collamore set a new personal record as she placed seventh in the 3200m run with a time of 11:52.72. She also set a new personal best in the 1600m run, coming in 10th with a time of 5:31.88.
Also competing for the Medomak girls were Flint, who came in 11th in the 100m dash in 13.47; Abby Kopishke, 12th in the high jump with a leap of 4-8; Chaelle Geneste, 12th in the shot put with a throw of 29-0.5; Puchalski, who came in 14th in the 100m hurdles in 18.31; Kaylee Collamore, who came in 1seventh in the 300m hurdles in 54.30; and Elizabeth Robbins, who finished 16th in the 3200m run in 12:44.33. Robbins and Kopishke both established new personal bests in their respective events.
The 4×400 relay team placed 21st in 4:54.83 with Ava Collamore, Robbins, Burgess, and Puchalski each running a leg.
The 4×800 relay team placed 11th in 10:55.51 with both of Collamore twins, Eva Vannoy, and Robbins each running a leg. It was the fastest time ever for the quartet of girls competing together in the 4×800.
Medomak Valley boys
Colby Daigle had the only podium finish for the Medomak boys team. Daigle set a new personal record as he placed fifth in the 3200m run with a time of 10:16.59. He also competed in the 1600m run, finishing 16th in 4:56.28.
Also competing for Medomak were Everett Simmons, who set a new personal record in the javelin while placing 10th with a throw of 126-4; William Trainor, who came in 12th in the javelin with a throw of 125-3; and Logan Vigue, who came in 14th in the javelin with a throw of 123-3.
The 4×100 relay team placed 22nd in 53.25 with Jamieson Frost, Reid Grindle, Mitchell Collins, and Isaiah Feltis each running a leg. The 4×400 relay team placed 25th in 4:07.89 with a quartet of Grindle, Simmons, Grady Emerson, and Daigle.
The 4×800 relay team placed 12th in 9:23.87 with Grindle, Zach Curtis, Emerson, and Daigle each running a leg. It was the fastest time ever for the quartet of boys competing together in the 4×800.
