Track
Wildcats track shines at Maine State Championship
By Kevin Higgins
Chelsey Tewell is seen hearing winning the 100 hurdles for York track.
Courtesy photo
Molly Carl hands off to Lacey Cartier in a recent York track home. The team won first place in the mile relay.
Courtesy photo
Annie Boardman handing off to Lacey Cartier in the 3,200 meter relay during a recent meet at home in York. The team took second place in the event at the state championship on June 2.
Courtesy photo
Tom Ciampa wins the 1,600-meter race-walk for York track.
Courtesy photo
YORK - The York High School outdoor track teams competed at the state championship on Saturday, June 2, and the girls' team placed second with 85 points.
Greely (78.5), the Lady Wildcats' rival at the conference meet, fell to third, while Waterville (99) won the meet.
The boys' team scored 21 points, earning 14th place in the 25-team meet.
The ladies from the 4x800 team drew first blood in the first event of the day, taking second place. Molly Carl, Annie Boardman, Lindsay Weigel and Lacey Cartier all had personal bests. However, Cartier's anchor time of 2:21 is the fastest girls' 800 time in York history.
The boys' team also ran a personal best, far outperforming their seed time. Nick McMahon (2:09), Alex Moser (2:10), Matt Wagner (2:15) and Kevin Higgins (2:03.9) placed fifth.
Next on the track came the preliminaries of the 100 dash and the 100 hurdles. Chelsey Tewell and Katie Rasche both qualified for the finals in the hurdles. A mere 10 minutes later, Danielle Clements and Tewell both qualified for the finals in the dash.
When the finals rolled around, Tewell emerged victorious in both races, smashing her old school record in the hurdles, resetting the mark at 15.13 seconds. Rasche and Clements both placed seventh in their respective races.
On the boys' team, Robert Cook managed to outperform his seed and make the very fast finals in the 100 dash. However, he was just slightly leaned out at the finish line and placed eighth, three hundredths of a second shy of a point and a medal.
Four years of hard work and dedication paid off for two of York's race-walking seniors. Tom Ciampa won the race-walk by a commanding 10 seconds. Nate Hirst, walking in his first state meet ever, kept his form true. Several disqualifications due to form violations helped him move from his eighth-place seed up to sixth place.
Both of York's 4x100 relay teams ran their best times of the season. The girls' team of Jenna Hosmer, Clements, Carl and Tewell actually equaled their best time this season, which also happens to be the school record, earning them third place.
Cook, Andrew Hirst, Mark Vogel and Zack Prugar placed fourth, significantly outperforming their already good time.
Coaches agreed that this is York's best relay team in many years. Impressive accolades indeed for the school that has held the state record in this event since 1981.
Cartier's split in the 4x800 relay was merely a foreshadowing upon the rest of her day. In the 400 she placed fourth, running her best time this year. After a break of a single event, the 300 hurdles, she once again took to the track, competing in the 800 run. In only her second time running this race this year, usually favoring the 200 dash, she showed the field who was boss, winning by almost two seconds. Her time of 2 minutes, 23.15 seconds smashed the school record.
While she was catching her breath, Carl was busy with the hurdles. She placed second, knocking almost three seconds off her time from last year's state meet.
York returned to the track one last time on Saturday for the 4x400 relays. The girls' team of Clements, Morgan Taylor, Carl and Cartier, took the lead from the start. They held that lead the entire race, earning York's sixth win of the day.
The boys' team also had a personal best. Vogel, Higgins, Prugar and McMahon placed seventh, happy that they finally broke the 3 minute, 40 second barrier.
While races were being run on the track, other events were being contested on the field. Sibley Blum, as usual, had no trouble clearing heights in the pole vault that the competition could only dream of. Her vault of 10 feet earned her the top spot on the podium. Regan Cleminson placed third in the high jump. On the horizontal side of things, Andrew Potter and Tewell both took seventh in the triple jump.
For many York track athletes, the season is finally over. However, for a select few, the season continues with the New England Championship meet. Individual event winners from each of the three classes in the state automatically qualify. From there, the next three fastest times in the state also qualify. Some people decline the invitation, so anybody who placed has the chance to be selected.
Sadly, for Tom Ciampa, Maine is one of only two states in America that still contests the race-walk. As such, it is not walked at New England's. However, that leaves five other state champions from York with automatic berths. The other athletes who placed at states can only sit by, crossing their fingers that they will indeed be lucky enough to run.
