Morrison repeats as Class C 400 state champion
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Two seasons of high school outdoor track, two individual Class C state championships at 400 meters.
Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom
ANOTHER 400 TITLE — For the second year in a row, Foxcroft sophomore Fern Morrison is the Class C champion in the girls 400. Morrison, running with Orono freshman Lauren Stoops and Traip sophomore Elora McCuddy, won the event in 60.20 seconds. Below, Morrison pulls away from McCuddy, who came in second at 61.18 seconds. Morrison also came in third in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 200 to score all 18 of her team’s points.
Foxcroft Academy sophomore Fern Morrison successfully defended the state title she won last year in the 400 by winning the event again at the 2013 Class C Outdoor Track and Field State Championship, held June 1 at Morrison’s home track. Morrison sprinted the lap around the track in 60.20 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of the 1:01.18 for runner-up sophomore Elora McCuddy of Traip Academy of Kittery. Morrison’s time of 1:00.20 was about a second and half faster than the 1:01.73 she ran at the previous year’s state meet at Cony High School in Augusta.
In addition to winning the 400, Morrison also came in third in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 200 to end up accounting for all 18 of the Foxcroft girls’ total points. The 18 points put the Ponies in a tie with the Kents Hill School for 11th place out of 33 high schools from across the state getting on the scoring sheet at the Class C finals.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
SURE SHOT — Tricia Sherman of Greenville placed 10th in the girls shot put.
Shortly after winning the 400 Morrison ran in the 300 hurdles and in this event she placed third in 50.49 seconds, just behind Orono High School sophomore Abby Weigang and senior Kayla Marquis with times of 49.12 and 49.54 seconds respectively. Morrison came in sixth in the 200 at 28.12 seconds to add two more points to her and her team’s total.
Morrison also reached the 100-meter finals, where she placed eighth in 13.75 seconds. Foxcroft junior Mia Smith also finished just out of the top seven in the pole vault. Smith cleared a height of 7 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault to finish in a five-way tie for eighth place in the event.
Also taking part in the meet for Foxcroft was junior Liza Grigoryeva who came in 14th in the 1,600 at 6:12.36 and senior Angie Chen who was 19th in the 100 with a time of 14.21 seconds.
Among the five teams from the region, Piscataquis Community High School was next as the Pirates scored eight points to tie George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill for 19th place. Senior Briana Worster tallied all eight points by finishing second in the high jump. Worster cleared 4-10, just two inches less than event winner Carsyn Koch of Washburn District High School.
PCHS sophomore Mariah Pettit finished eighth in the 200 at 28.70 seconds. Pettit also tied for 10th in the 100 as she and junior Jessica Preble of Penquis Valley High School, who were running in different heats, both crossed the line in 13.90 seconds. Pettit anchored the Pirate 4×100 relay as she followed freshman Mikayla Dow, Tiia Kand and sophomore Mariah Priest to combine for a time of 57.73 seconds and 12th place.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
WALKING AWAY IN FOURTH PLACE — Richard Ryckmen of Dexter came in fourth in the 1,600 racewalk on June 1. Ryckmen covered the four laps in 8:09.04, over 14 seconds better than the 2012 state meet when he came in seventh.
In the javelin senior Shawna Burgess came in 16th at 79-03. Dow placed 26th in the 100 hurdles with a time of 20.03 seconds, and freshman Lucinda Wingert took part in the high jump but was one of 10 entrants to have no height.
A sixth-place performance for both Dexter Regional High School and Penquis gave the pair of schools two points apiece and tied both Sumner Memorial High School of Sullivan and Washington Academy of East Machias for 29th place. Dexter junior Meredith Roderka scored the two Tiger points by placing sixth in the 1,600, with a time of 5:51.99.
Roderka also came in 16th in the 800 at 2:49.89. Other Tiger athletes taking part in the state meet were Sarah Vigue, 18th in the javelin at 74-04; senior Alison Pease, 19th in the 200 at 29.75 seconds and 27th in the 100 at 14.48 seconds; Katie Batron, 22nd in the 100 at 14.31 seconds; and Shayna Fogg, who ran the 400 but ended up getting disqualified.
Preble would place sixth in the 400 to score the two points for Penquis, as she sprinted around the track in 64.75 seconds. Preble took part in three other events at the meet. She tied Pettit for 10th in the 100 at 13.90 seconds, was 16th in the 200 with a time of 29.28 seconds and also 16th in the long jump with a distance of 13-08.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
FOUR IN THE 400 — Penquis junior Jessica Preble, running in-between George Stevens senior Lucy Jakob and Freeport junior Hayley Steckler with Madison sophomore Madison Curtis trailing, came in sixth in the 400 to score both her team’s points. Preble had a time of 64.75 seconds.
Placing 13th in the long jump was Penquis junior Courtney Bowers, at 14-00.25. Bowers also entered the high jump, but she was one of 10 who did not get over the opening height.
Three girls from Greenville High School took part in the state championship. Sophomore Andrea Gurney came in the 10th in the discus with a throw of 82-11 and senior Tricia Sherman came in the 10th in the shot put at 28-03. The third Laker took part in the third throwing event as freshman Brooke Noyes placed 15th in the javelin at 82-02.
With a score of 105 points, Orono won the team title by finishing ahead of the 91 points accumulated by Traip. Orono repeated as the girls champions and won the seventh track title in program history.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
JAVELIN APPROACH — Senior Shawna Burgess of PCHS gets ready to throw the javelin at the Class C state meet in Dover-Foxcroft. Burgess finished 16th with a distance of 79-03.