Foxcroft boys take home top honors at state track championship

Boyer sets Class C record in 110 hurdles

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — While Foxcroft Academy athletes have had plenty of practice hoisting state championship trophies, including Class C hardware in football and wrestling in the fall and winter, for the first time in school history a Pony track team won a Maine crown as the boys squad captured top honors at the 2013 Class C Outdoor Track and Field Championship on June 1 at Oakes Field. Foxcroft tallied a score of 75 points at the state meet to finish first out of 30 schools from all corners of Maine with athletes placing in the top seven, and 17 points more than runner-up Hall-Dale High School of Farmingdale.

Photo courtesy of Foxcroft Academy

    GRADE A IN CLASS C — The Foxcroft Academy boys are the 2013 outdoor track and field champions as the team finished in first place at the state meet June 1 on the Ponies’ home track. Foxcroft scored 75 points, 17 more than Hall-Dale, to claim the school’s first ever track and field state crown. The championship gives the school its third boys state title in as many seasons, as the football and wrestling teams won Class C championships in the fall and winter.

    Foxcroft senior Donald Boyer accounted for 32, over 42 percent, of the Ponies’ point total as he won both the 110 hurdles and long jump, came in second in the 300 hurdles and placed fourth in the high jump.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    CLEARING THE LAST HURDLE — Pony senior Donald Boyer gets up and over the final hurdle during his Class C record-breaking performance of 15.06 seconds in the 110-meter race, as Washington Academy senior Sante Sanchez, center, and North Yarmouth Academy senior Jake Burns both still had a hurdle to go.

    In the 110 hurdle finals Boyer bested the entire heat of eight by over a second as he won the race in a time of 15.06 seconds (placing second was senior Jared St. Peter of Central High School of Corinth in 16.07 seconds). Boyer’s time of 15.06 seconds broke the previous Class C record of 15.08 seconds, set by Chris Fogler of John Bapst Memorial High School of Bangor nearly half a decade prior.
    Later in the meet Boyer won his second state championship, with this first-place performance coming in the long jump. He achieved a top distance of 21 feet, 10 inches to best Hall-Dale senior Tyler Fitzgerald by 2.25 inches.
    In the 300 hurdles Boyer had the second fastest time of the day with 40.95 seconds, trailing only the time of 40.15 seconds for North Yarmouth Academy senior Jake Burns as the two were the sole hurdlers to break the 42-second mark. Boyer also had a top four finish in his fourth event as he cleared the bar at 5-10 in the high jump to finish fourth.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    FASTEST CLASS C BOYS IN MAINE — Running in the boys 100 final are, from left, Traip Academy junior Steve McCarthy, Foxcroft senior Jacob LaBree, Washington Academy senior Theo-Raje Virgo and Foxcroft junior Ryan Wang. The four would place sixth, eighth, second and third respectively in the event.

    The Ponies took second, third and fourth places in the shot put for 18 total points in the one event. Junior Corey Bjornson heaved the shot 45-07 to finish second by an inch, trailing only the throw of 45-08 for Maranacook Community School of Readfield senior Andrew Lachance. Right behind Bjornson was sophomore Peter Boyer with a distance of 44-08.25 and then Pony senior Cody Levensalor in fourth at 44-04. Bjornson also placed in the discus, coming in fourth with a throw of 120-11.
    Bjornson ran the third leg of the fourth-place 4×100 relay team. Senior Jacob LaBree sophomore Justin Diamond, Bjornson and junior Wang combined to cover the lap around the track in 46.55 seconds.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    PONIES VS. HUSKIES — Foxcroft sophomore Justin Diamond takes off after taking the baton from senior Jacob LaBree during the 4×100 relay as MCI junior Shane Hathaway does likewise with senior Will Cu. Pony juniors Corey Bjornson and Ryan Wang followed for the team as Foxcroft placed fourth at 46.55 seconds.

    In addition to the relay, Wang had top three performances in his trio of sprints as he came in third in the 100, 200 and 400. Wang’s time for the 100 was 11.69 seconds and he tied for third in the 200 with sophomore Jonathan Santiago of Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield as the two sprinters both crossed the finish line in 23.83 seconds. In the 400 Wang ran the quarter-mile in 52.50 seconds to place third.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    THRICE IN THE TOP THREE — Junior Ryan Wang of Foxcroft would place in all three sprints as he ran the 100, 200 and 400 (pictured). Wang also anchored the fourth-place 4×100 relay to score 22 of the Pony points or nearly a third of the 75 total.

    Also taking part at the state championship for Foxcroft was LaBree, who came in eighth in the 100 with a time of 12.17 seconds and he was 18th in the 200 at 24.88 seconds. LaBree ran the second leg of the 10th-place 4×400 relay as Diamond, LaBree, Peter Boyer and Bjornson ran the 1,600-meter distance in 3:47.40.
    In the high jump senior Jeremiah McLeod tied for ninth with senior Cole Miller of Sacopee Valley High School of Hiram as they both cleared 5-06. Freshman Cooper Nelson won the first heat of the boys’ 1,600, placing ninth overall with a time of 4:58.26. He also ran the second leg of the 13th-place 4×800 relay as freshman James Smith, Nelson and sophomores Julian and Sebastian Zepeda combined for a time of 9:27.51.

Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom

    SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH — Three Foxcroft shot putters placed second, third and fourth on June 1. The three were, from left respectively, junior Corey Bjornson, sophomore Peter Boyer and senior Cody Levensalor.

    In the shot put senior Louis LaFache came in ninth at 40-02 and classmate Caleb Atkinson came in 19th with a throw of 37 feet. Peter Boyer cracked the top 10 in the triple jump with a distance of 38-09 and he was 17th in the javelin with a throw of 124-03. Levensalor placed 13th in the discus at 107-09 and in 31st was LaFache at 82-00. Diamond came in 22nd in the 100 with a time of 12.61 seconds.
    Among the five area high schools Dexter had the second highest finish, as the Tigers scored eight points to tie for 22nd place with Winthrop High School. Richard Ryckmen came in fourth in the 1,600 racewalk as he covered the four laps in 8:09.04.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    SPRINTING LAKER — Greenville senior Henry Hersey, center, and Lisbon junior Quin Thompson and senior Kyle Jordan of Sumner race down the straightaway during a 100-meter prelim.

    Two athletes came in sixth for the other four Tiger points. Conrad Tarr cleared the high jump bar at 5-08 and in the javelin senior Michael Poulin was sixth with a top throw of 143-03.
    Also competing for Dexter was Kyle Lockhart, 14th in the shot put at 38-01; Seth Blais, 15th in the 400 at 56.11 seconds; and Zack Caron, who had no height in the high jump.
    The boys from Greenville High School tallied five points to finish 26th in the team standings. The Laker 4×400 relay, comprised of junior Matt DiAngelo and seniors Henry Hersey, Tristan Richards and Cody Watson, placed fourth as the quartet covered the four laps around the track in 3:40.00 — less than three seconds behind the 3:37.30 for first-place Orono. Watson accounted for Greenville’s other point as he came in seventh in the 400 at 54.20 seconds.
    The other Laker entrants were DiAngelo, 11th in the 200 at 24.53 seconds and 25th in the long jump at 17-06.25; Hersey, 15th in the 100 at 12.28 seconds; sophomore Evan Sullivan, 19th in the javelin at 122-01; and senior Corey Henderson, 20th in the 800 at 2:16.84.
    Five boys from Penquis Valley High School took part in the Class C championship. Senior George Cowing had the highest finish as he tied for 11th in the long jump with MCI junior Shane Hathaway at 19-00.75 each. Cowing also came in 24th in the 400 with a time of 57.68 seconds and he anchored the 22nd-place 4×400 relay. Joining Cowing was junior Thomas Diaz, senior Cody Herbest and sophomore Michael Vachon for a time of 3:59.39 — breaking the 4-minute mark.
    Herbest took part in three other events as he was 17th in the discus at 103-02, 18th in the 100 at 12.34 seconds and 24th in the 200 at 25.34 seconds. Junior Cevonte Johnson placed 23rd in the long jump at 17-08.25 and in the 800 Diaz was 26th at 2:20.09.
    Senior Ben Maines of Piscataquis Community High School represented the Pirates in both hurdle events. Maines came in 11th at 110 meters with a time of 17.58 seconds. In the 300 hurdles he placed 12th at 45.23 seconds.
    In addition to Boyer’s performance in the 110 hurdles, one other boys’ record was set. Orono senior David Frederick cleared 13-09 in the pole vault, breaking a near 30-year-old record of 13-08.25 set by Orono’s Hein Brutsaert in 1984.

Photo courtesy of Foxcroft Academy

   COOLING OFF ON A HOT DAY — Foxcroft head coach Rob Weber gets a Gatorade shower after guiding his boys team to the first track state championship in program history.