Foxcroft boys place seventh at Class C track championship

Smith is first in the high jump

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Forty seven points were good for seventh place for the boys from Foxcroft Academy at the team’s home track on June 7 during the 2014 Class C State Outdoor Track and Field Championship. The Ponies finished the day with a higher total than over 20 other schools that scored points during the competition.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    TWENTY FIVE POINT-DAY — Senior Corey Bjornson led Foxcroft Academy by scoring 25 points at the Class C state championship on June 7 at Oakes Field. Bjornson anchored the second-place 4×100 relay team, came in second in the shot put, third in the discus and was fifth in the 100. Bjornson is pictured near the finish line during the 100-meter finals, running with sophomore Jordan Lambe of Washington Academy of East Machias, left, and senior Isaac Moore of Sacopee Valley High School of Hiram.

    Sophomore Hunter Smith had Foxcroft’s highest individual performance as he earned first-place honors in the high jump. Smith clinched the individual title by clearing 6 feet, 2 inches and having Maranacook Community School of Readfield senior Kelby Mace fail to do likewise. Smith then cleared a height of 6-foot-4 to finish the event.
    Smith was also third in the triple jump, as he jumped a distance of 42-00.50.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    SHOW OF SPORTMANSHIP — After Maranacook senior Kelby Mace failed to clear 6-02 in the high jump, the state championship belonged to Foxcroft sophomore Hunter Smith. Following the congratulatory handshake, Smith went on to win at a height of 6 feet, 4 inches.

    Foxcroft senior Corey Bjornson led the Ponies with 25 points scored. Bjornson came in second in the shot put at 49-04, an inch behind Class C champion Yarmouth High School junior Darren Shi’s throw of 49-05 and nearly four feet more than his third-place throw at the 2013 state finals.
    Bjornson anchored the second-place 4×100 relay team. Juniors Justin Diamond, Dylan Richards and Sebastian Zepeda preceded Bjornson, and together the four ran a time of 45.83 seconds. The Ponies ended up trailing only the North Yarmouth Academy 4×100 relay squad’s time of 44.92 seconds.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    DIANGELO ON THE GO — Senior Matthew DiAngelo of Greenville came in seventh in the 200 with a time of 24.47 seconds, to score his team’s point at the state meet.

    With a throw of 129-04, Bjornson finished third in the discus, an over 8-foot improvement from last year when he came in fourth. The other three points for Bjornson came in the 100, as he scored in all four of his competitions at the state meet. In the event finals he was fifth at a time of 11.97 seconds.
    Junior Peter Boyer joined Bjornson by placing in the shot put. Boyer finished fourth with a top throw of 44-11.
    Foxcroft’s 4×800 relay team finished in sixth place. Junior Noah Simpson and sophomores Paul Birtwistle, Gabe Piquette and James Smith together covered the approximate two miles in 9 minutes, 7.28 seconds.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    DOUBLE DISTANCE — Running in both the 800 and 1,600 was Foxcroft sophomore Cooper Nelson.

    Also taking part in the state championship for Foxcroft, in order of meet events was, senior Ryan Wang, tied for ninth in the 100-meter prelims at 12 seconds and followed by Zepeda who was 16th at 12.23 seconds and Diamond who came in 21st at 12.37 seconds; sophomore Cooper Nelson, 10th in the 1,600 at 4:48.08; junior Zhe Chen, 16th in the 300 hurdles at 47.80 seconds; Nelson, eighth in the 800 at 2:07.39 and James Smith who came in 19th at 2:20.17; the 200-meter runners: Hunter Smith, 14th at 24.93 seconds, Zepeda who was 17th in 25.13 seconds and Diamond who came in 19th at 25.18 seconds; the 4×400 relay (Diamond, junior Berkehan Taner, Nelson and Judson Smith), eighth at 3:44.96; Chen, 23rd in the triple jump at 35-02.25; Wang, 19th in the javelin at 103-06;  and Boyer, 17th in the discus with a throw of 107-01.
    Greenville High School finished in a five-way tie for 26th place with one point. The Laker point was scored by senior Matthew DiAngelo, who came in seventh in the 200 with a time of 24.47 seconds.
    Junior Evan Sullivan finished 12th in the javelin at 131-06, and senior Howie Stone took part in the high jump — having no height.
    The highest finish for Dexter Regional High School came in the 4×400 relay. Freshman Brandon Allen, junior Valentin Nekrasov, sophomore Zach Caron and senior Seth Blais were less than a second behind placing, ending up ninth with a time of 3:45.31.
    Caron finished in an eight-way tie for 11th in the high jump at 5-04 — junior Conrad Tarr had no height in the event. Caron also placed 18th in the triple jump at 36-11.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    BLAIS-ING SPEED — Dexter senior Seth Blais, running with Lisbon High School sophomore Austin Bedford, finished 15th in the 400 with a time of 55.39 seconds. Blais also anchored the ninth-place Tiger 4×400 relay team.

    Blais came in 15th in the 400 in a time of 55.39 seconds. In the 200 Nekrasov and Blais were 21st and 26th, with respective times of 25.44 and 25.75 seconds. Senior Kyle Lockart was 24th in the shot put at 36-07.
    Penquis Valley High School had two individual competitors and a pair of relay teams. Senior Cevonte Johnson came in 10th in the long jump with a distance of 18-11, and 14th in the javelin was sophomore Joshua Martin at 128-03.
    Johnson, Martin and juniors Michael Vachon and Clayton Tarnoczy combined for a time of 48.58 seconds in the 4×100 relay, placing the Patriot squad 13th. Penquis’ 4×400 relay (Martin, Johnson, Vachon and Tarnoczy) was 20th at 4:03.08.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    PEN RELAY — As a brief shower passed over the state track meet on the afternoon of June 7, Penquis Valley sophomore Joshua Martin hands off the baton to junior Michael Vachon in the 4×100 relay. The two, senior Cevonte Johnson and junior Clayton Tarnoczy had a time of 48.58 seconds.

    Lisbon High School won the first boys’ outdoor track championship in school history. The Greyhounds scored 67 points, six more than runner-up Orono High School.
    One Class C record was set on Saturday. North Yarmouth senior Michael McIntosh won the 100 in 11.39 seconds, surpassing the time of 11.43 seconds run by Tyler Fitzgerald of Hall-Dale High School of Farmingdale at the 2013 state meet.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    EYE ON THE JAVELIN — Foxcroft senior Ryan Wang took part in the javelin competition at the state track meet.