Ponies run to a third-place finish at conference championship

ORONO — A pair of first-place performances and seven point-scorers in five events on the track helped the Foxcroft boys finish in third place at the Penobscot Valley Conference-Eastern Maine Indoor Track League Championship on Feb. 8 at the University of Maine. The Ponies compiled a score of 53 points, to trail only the 108 for Class A Brewer High School and the 82.50 picked up by Hampden Academy.

BDN photo/Micky Bedell

FASTEST SEVEN SECONDS IN TRACK — Foxcroft Academy senior Nathaniel Church, left, runs in the 55-meter finals at the PVC-EMITL Championship on Feb. 8 at the University of Maine, along with, from left,  Thomas Darby of Hampden Academy, Ryan Bender of Mount Desert Island and Troy Crawford and Ian Haddow of Old Town. Church finished fifth in the race with a time of 6.87 seconds, and he also came in third in the long jump and fourth in the 200 to help the Ponies finish in third place in the team standings.

The first Foxcroft relay win came in the 4×800 race. Sophomore Tobias Hogfeldt, seniors Paul Birtwistle and Gabe Piquette and junior Chandler Rockwell combined for a time of 8 minutes, 47.22 seconds to best runner-up Brewer by over 20 seconds.

In the 4×200 competition, the Pony relay team won by nearly two seconds over Hampden to grab first-place honors. This squad was comprised of junior Evan Chadbourne, senior Blaine Robinson, Hogfeldt and junior Jason Eubanks.

Senior Cooper Nelson had the highest individual finish for Foxcroft as he came in second in the mile with a time of 4:43.15. Nelson also was fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:07.72 and placing fifth in the event was Hogfeldt at 2:08.08

Rockwell came in third in the 400 at 54.36 seconds, and senior Nathaniel Church was third in the long jump at a distance of 18 feet, 7 inches. Church added a fourth-place finish in the 200, at 24.30 seconds, and he was fifth in the 55 at 6.87 seconds. Right behind in the event was junior Evan Chadbourne at 7.04 seconds.

The Foxcroft girls did not have any point-scorers, but two members of the team finished in 11th place. Sophomore Jordan Thomas came in 11th in the mile with a time of 6:41.68. Senior Desirae Brawn placed 11th in the shot put with a top throw of 27-09.75.