PCHS girls finish eighth at Class C track championship

Foxcroft boys tie for 11th place 

AUGUSTA — Athletes from the region’s five high schools joined those from around the state to brave the cold and rain at the 2023 Class C outdoor track and field championship on Saturday, June 3 at Cony High School of Augusta.

The girls from Piscataquis Community High School finished the day with a score of 30 points, good for eighth place among 31 teams picking up points at the state championship. The eighth-place performance is the highest for the Pirates in at least 20 years, as online meet statistics only go back two decades.

PCHS senior Molly Sipple finished as the runner-up in the 100-meter finals. In the final she sprinted a time of 13.02 seconds, trailing only the 12.91 seconds for Bangor Christian School senior Veronica Mercier.

Sipple also anchored two third-place relay teams. The PCHS 4×100 relay, made up of freshman Jazmin Channon, seniors Kendall Kimball and Samantha Goodwin, and Sipple, came in third at exactly 56 seconds.

The same four girls in the same order combined to finish third in the 4×400 relay with their time of 4:33.30.

Sipple had a hand in 26 of her team’s 30 points, as she also was fourth in the discus with her throw measuring 89 feet, 1 inch.

Pirate freshman Ava Goulette had four points by placing fourth in the shot put at a distance of 30-06.75.

Also taking part in the state meet for PCHS was freshman Sadie Kelley, 10th in the racewalk at 9:49.60; Goulette, 10th in the discus at 78-00 with Kimball coming in 16th at 73-01; Kimball, 10th in the javelin at 81-02; and Channon, tied for 15th in the 100-meter prelims at 13.91 seconds and 19th in the 200 at 29.69 seconds.

The girls from Foxcroft Academy scored 13 points to come in 16th in Augusta.

Senior Olivia Hill had fifth-place throws in both the discus and javelin. Her discus throw measured 86-06 and Hill also threw 94-04 in the javelin.

The Pony 4×400 relay came in fifth as senior Abigail Knapp, sophomore Heidi Clawson, and sophomores Ingrid Berling and Alexis Heretakis combined for a time of 4:41.41.

Foxcroft’s 4×100 relay had a point by finishing eighth. Knapp, Heretakis, Howard, and Herricks’ time was 56.76 seconds.

Other Pony competitors at the state meet were Knapp, 11th in the 400 at 70.29 seconds and 25th in the long jump at 10-09.50; Hill, 12th in the shot put at 26-05.50 with junior Allison Smith right behind in 13th place at 26-03.50; Herrick, 18th in the 100-meter prelims at 13.99 seconds with Berling 27th at 14.55; senior Emma Ladd, 19th in the javelin at 74-11; Heretakis, 18th in the 200 at 29.63 seconds and 20th in the long jump at 12-09.75; Clawson, 21st in the long jump at 12-07.50; and Howard, 22nd in the 200 at 30.40 seconds.

Penquis Valley High School senior Abigail Conlogue had the second-best throw of the meet in the javelin. Her top throw measured 111-07, behind only the 114-08 for Seacoast Christian Academy junior Ellie Leech.

Conlogue accounted for all eight of her team’s points as the Patriots were in a 3-way tie for 21st place in the standings with Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln and Mount View High School of Thorndike.

Conlogue also ran the third leg of Penquis’ 4×100 relay team. Senior Sky Guzy, junior Addison Conklin, Conlogue, and senior Jahlysa Cruz were 18th overall in 58.55 seconds.

Conklin had an 11th-place long jump performance at 13-08.25.

Two Dexter Regional High School girls took part in this year’s state championship.

Senior Lauryn Brunner came in 18th in the long jump at 12-11.50. She also was 21st in the triple jump at 26-09, and entered the high jump (having no height).

Tiger senior Brooklyn Blocker came in 31st in the discus at 58-05.

The Orono High School girls won the team title with 121 points, well ahead of the 79 points for North Yarmouth Academy. The Red Riots won the 11th state championship in program history and first since 2019 which was part of seven in eight years including six straight from 2012-17.

Orono junior Ruth White broke her own state record in the 3,200 with her 2023 time of 10.44.75 eclipsing her 10:46.38 from the year before.

In the boys’ meet, Foxcroft Academy tied Monmouth Academy for 11th place — among 33 point-scoring teams — with a score of 23 points.

Pony junior Jackson Smith tied for second place in the high jump. Smith and Kents Hill School sophomore Jonah Jenkins both cleared the bar at 5-10 in the same number of jumps. Mount Abram High School of Salem Township sophomore Reagan Lockaby won the state title on jumps at 5-10.

Smith opened the fifth-place 4×100 relay as he and seniors Eion Mccloskey, Kyle Jankunas, and Ferando Oliveiva combined for a time of 47.97 seconds. Smith also came in eighth in the long jump at a distance of 18-05.25.

Jankunas scored points in both hurdle races. Jankunas came in fifth in the 110 hurdles with his time of 16.49 seconds. In the 300 hurdles Jankunas’ 44.79 seconds was good for fifth place.

Junior Kemsley Marsters finished sixth in the shot put standings with his throw of 41-04.

Sophomore Runner Jarrett added a seventh-place finish in the 3,200 in 10:34.09.

Other Foxcroft boys taking part in the state championship were freshman Aiden Bryant, 10th in the 300 hurdles at 45.46 seconds; junior Jack Kingsbury, 11th in both the 110 hurdle prelims and high jump at 18.55 seconds and 5-04; the 4×400 relay (Mccloskey, senior Douglas Rowe, junior Zachary Peirce, and Kingsbury), 11th at 3:59.76; Oliveiva, 13th in the 100-meter prelims at 12.24 seconds along with Mccloskey in 19th place at 12.40, and Marsters in 27th place at 12.63 seconds; Kingsbury and freshman Landon Smith in the long jump, 17-06.25 and 17-04.75;

Jackson and Landon Smith in the triple jump, 14th and 15th at 35-02.75 and 35-00; seniors Gunnar Berling-Haugh and David Scheel in the javelin at 110-02 and 106-11; Mccloskey, 16th in the 200 at 25.34 seconds; Scheel, 17th in the shot put at 37-11; and Jarrett, 17th in the 1,600 at 5:13.67.

Dexter freshman Darmiar Miller came in sixth in the triple jump with his top leap of 38-06.75.

Miller’s three points put the Tigers in a tie with Seacoast Christian for 30th place.

Greenville High School had five boys take part in the Class C finale.

Senior Dominik Murray had a 10th place throw in the discus at 107-07. Senior Lance Owens was 51st at 81-01. Murray also came in 10th in the javelin at 118-01.

The Laker 4×100 relay finished 13th as seniors Ethan Pratt and Parker Gallagher, Murray, and sophomore Liam Mason ran the event in 50.86 seconds.

Two Penquis boys competed on Saturday. Senior Jareth Williams came in 15th in the 100 prelims at 12.27 seconds. Senior Andrew Lagasse was 21st in the javelin with his throw measuring 105 feet.

Orono swept the 2023 championships as the Red Riot boys scored 105 points, well ahead of runner-up Lisbon High School’s 69. Orono won its first such title since 2017 — the last of three straight — and 13th at Class C and 19th overall in program history.

Full state championship results are available at http://www.sub5.com/youth-pages/outdoor-track/2023-outdoor-results/.

Class C championship

Girls: 1. Orono 121 2. North Yarmouth Academy 79 3. Bucksport 77 4. Maine Central Institute 59 T-5. Houlton/GHCA, George Stevens Academy 37 7. Kents Hill School 35 8. PCHS 30 T-9. Bangor Christian, Winslow 24 11. Maranacook 23 12. Lisbon 22 13. Seacoast Christian 18 14. Winthrop 16 15. Mountain Valley 15 16. Foxcroft Academy 13 T-17. Central, Sacopee Valley 12 19. Buckfield 11 20. Monmouth Academy 10 T-21. Mattanawcook Academy, Mount View, Penquis Valley 8 T-24. Fort Kent, Mount Abram 7 T-26. Boothbay/Wiscasset, Madison, Sumner, Traip Academy 5 30. Washington Academy 4 31. Hall-Dale 3      Boys: 1. Orono 105 2. Lisbon 69 3. Washington Academy 65 4. Maine Central Institute 50.50 5. Mount Abram 49 6. Boothbay/Wiscasset 47 7. Winslow 39 T-8. George Stevens Academy, Sumner 38 10. Winthrop 31 T-11. Foxcroft Academy, Monmouth Academy 23 13. Bucksport 16 14. Sacopee Valley 14 T-15. Central, Lee Academy, Mountain Valley 13 18. Buckfield 12 19. Kents Hill 11 20. St. Dominic 10 T-21. Bangor Christian, Traip Academy 9 T-23. Limestone/MSSM, Washburn 6 25. Fort Fairfield 5.50 26. Dirigo 5 T-27. Carrabec, Narraguagus, Old Orchard 4 T-30. Dexter, Seacoast Christian 3 32. Islesboro 2 33. Houlton/GHCA 1