Pony boys and girls both finish second at PVC championship

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Four first-place performances helped the boys from Foxcroft Academy finish in second place, out of 16 teams, at the PVC Small School Track and Field Championship on June 2 — a meet pushed back three days on account of inclement weather. The Ponies finished the evening with a score of 139 points, over 60 more than third -place George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill and just behind the 145 picked up by PVC champion Orono High School who came in first for the fourth time in the last five years.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    DON’T BLINK OR YOU WILL MISS THEM — A contingent including six area sprinters run in boys 100-meter finals during the 2014 Penobscot Valley Conference Small School Track and Field Championship on June 2 at Foxcroft Academy. From left is Dexter junior Valentin Nekrasov, who was eighth at 12.54 seconds; Foxcroft sophomore Judson Smith, fourth at 12.27 seconds; Foxcroft senior Corey Bjornson, second at 11.96 seconds; Sumner junior Janla Baramee, first in 11.55 seconds; Foxcroft junior Dylan Richards, fifth at 12.32 seconds; Foxcroft junior Sebastian Zepeda, third at 12.10 seconds; and junior Clayton Tarnoczy of Penquis, sixth at 12.36 seconds. The 20 points in the event helped Foxcroft finish second in the team standings.

    Sophomore Judson Smith was a double-winner for Foxcroft. In the high jump he cleared an even 6 feet to become the meet’s sole competitor at a height of over 70 inches. Smith also could jump across land as he won the triple jump at a distance of 39-06.25.
    Smith picked up points in the sprints as well. In the 100 meters he came in fourth with a time of 12.27 seconds, and he was fourth in the 200 at 24.67 seconds.
    Senior Corey Bjornson became the 2014 champion in the shot put as he heaved the implement 48-04.25, over three feet more than his winning throw at the 2013 conference finals. Bjornson also finished as this year’s runner-up in the discus, at a distance of 126-02.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    BATTLE IN THE 400 — Foxcroft junior Fern Morrison would repeat as the conference 400 champion in 2014. Morrison ended up holding off Orono sophomore Lauren Stoops by a slim margin, at 1:01.59 to 1:01.69. The Pony girls ended the meet in second place, trailing only Orono in the point standings.

    Like Smith, Bjornson showed his versatility by also placing in the 100 and 200. Bjornson cracked the 12-second mark in the 100 with a time of 11.96 seconds, good for second place. He came in third in the 200 at 24.60 seconds.
    The other first-place Pony was senior Ryan Wang. Wang won the javelin at a distance of 137-01.
    Foxcroft had three second-place finishes on June 2. Junior Peter Boyer was right behind Bjornson in the shot as he threw a top distance of 45-07.50. Boyer added a fourth-place performance in the discus, at 109-01, and he was sixth in the javelin at 124-01.
    Junior Zhe Chen was the meet runner-up in the 300 hurdles. Chen ran a time of 46.44 seconds in the event. He also was sixth in the 110 hurdles at 20.53 seconds. Chen placed in all four of his events, also ending up fourth in the long jump at 17-03.50 and fifth in the triple jump at 36-02.75.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    PVC CHAMPION — Senior Mackenzie Coiley of Foxcroft is the 2014 PVC Small School champion in the shot put. Coiley had a top throw of 32 feet, 6.5 inches, wining by a half an inch.

    The Pony 4×100 relay team came in second, as juniors Justin Diamond, Dylan Richards, Sebastian Zepeda and Berkehan Taner combined for a time of 46.87 seconds.
    Three of the four members of the squad would also place in individual sprints. Zepeda came in third in the 100 with a time of 12.10 seconds and Richards was fifth at 12.32 seconds — giving Foxcroft spots two through five in the event.
    In the 200 Zepeda was fifth at 24.89 seconds and in sixth place was Diamond at 24.91 seconds. The two joined Bjornson and Smith for places three to six all going to the Ponies.
    Third-place in the 4×100 went to Foxcroft. Wang, Taner, Richards and Diamond combined for a time of 3:51.54.
    Sophomore Cooper Nelson ran to third-place finishes in both the 800 and 1,600. In the 800 Nelson covered the two laps around the track in 2:07.52. He doubled the distance in the 1,600 by running a time of 4:39.94.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    FLYING PIRATE — PCHS senior Tiia Kand takes off in the long jump, on the way to a seventh-place performance in 13-09.50.

    The third top four relay finish for Foxcroft came in the 4×800. Junior Noah Simpson and sophomores Paul Birtwistle, Gabe Piquette and James Smith were fourth in 9:18.40.
    His team’s performance helped fellow head coaches vote Foxcroft’s Rob Weber as the PVC Boys Coach of the Year. Weber earned the same accolade in 2013 when the Ponies finished in first place.
    Dexter Regional High School scored 31 points to place seventh at the PVC finals.  Leading the way for the Tigers was the team’s 4×400 relay. Freshman Brandon Allen, junior Valentin Nekrasov, sophomore Zach Caron and senior Seth Blais combined for a time of 3:49.71. Blais also came in third in the open 400, at 55.82 seconds.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    TEAM EFFORT — Senior Courtney Bowers ran the second leg of the Penquis second-place 4×100 relay, as she maintained a lead over Central freshman Kaylee Townsend, left, and Bangor Christian junior Sierra McDonald. The Patriot relay also included freshman Jordan Durant, sophomore Zoe Berry and senior Jessica Preble.

    Caron came in third in both the high and triple jumps. He cleared the bar at 5-08 in the high jump and covered 36-11 in the triple jump.
    In both events Dexter had two boys place. Junior Conrad Tarr was fourth in the high jump at 5-06, and placing sixth in the triple jump was freshman Brandon Allen.
    Coming in 14th place in the boys’ standings was Penquis Valley High School with four points. Sophomore Joshua Martin led the Patriots by placing fifth in the javelin at 128-10.
    Junior Clayton Tarnoczy came in sixth in the 100 with a time of 12.36 seconds. Tarnoczy also anchored the sixth-place 4×400 relay. He followed junior Joshua Gray, Martin and junior Michael Vachon for a combined time of 4:10.27.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    SETTING THE BAR HIGH — Clearing the bar in the pole vault is Foxcroft senior Mia Smith. Smith would finish third in the event, as she ended up with a top height of 7 feet, 6 inches.

    In the girls’ meet host Foxcroft scored 66 points to finish second out of 15 teams. The Ponies slightly edged the 61.50 points accumulated by John Bapst Memorial High School of Bangor, and trailed only the 184 points for Orono. The Red Riots won the PVC crown for the third consecutive season.
    In the 400 junior Fern Morrison repeated as the conference champion. She edged Orono sophomore Lauren Stoops by a tenth of a second to win the event in 1:01.59.
    Morrison also anchored the winning 4×100 relay. Seniors Kate Sukhanova, Holly Fortier, Chastity Vainio and Morrison won the event in 55.96 seconds. She opened the second-place 4×400 relay, handing off to Vainio, who was then followed by freshman Erika Chadbourne and Sukhanova for a time of 4:32.81.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    GETTING THE POINT — Placing fourth in the javelin was Dexter’s Sarah Vigue, at a distance of 99 feet, 4 inches.

    In the 800, Morrison finished third with at 2:31.47. She ended the day with a hand in 34 Pony points, over half of the team’s total.
    Senior Mackenzie Coiley became the PVC champion in the shot put. Coiley’s throw of 32-06.50 gave her first place by a very slim half inch margin over sophomore Mavis Taungata of Bucksport High School.
    Senior Abigail Mcleod came in second in the high jump. At 4-06 she edged third and fourth place on jumps. Senior Mia Smith placed in another field events as she was third in the pole vault at 7-06.
    Six Pony points came in the 4×800 relay. Juniors Anna Sedlackova and Renee Shorey, freshman Michelle Smith and sophomore Jen Clawson had a time of 12:57.87 in the event.
    Also scoring was Foxcroft was Vainio, who was sixth in the 200 at 29.20 seconds, and senior Liza Grigoryeva, who came in sixth in the 1,600 with a time of 6:04.84.
    The girls from Penquis Valley tied for sixth with Bucksport at the PVC finals with a score of 27 points apiece. The team’s top finish came in the 4×100 relay as freshman Jordan Durant, sophomore Zoe Berry and seniors Courtney Bowers and Jessica Preble were second in 56.31 seconds.
    Durant had a hand in 23 of her team’s points, as she also placed in four individual events. Durant came in third in the triple jump at a distance of 30-00.50. She also was fourth in both the 200 and long jump at 28.91 seconds and 14-05 and came in sixth in the 100 in 13.72 seconds.
    The other four Penquis points came on four sixth-place performances. Preble placed in both the 400 and long jump, at 1:07.38 and 14-01.25. Bowers was sixth in the high jump at 4-04, and sixth in the shot put was Berry with a throw of 26-09.
    Coming in 10th in the standings was Piscataquis Community High School with 20 points. Junior Mariah Pettit helped account for all 20 of the Pirates’ points.
    In the 200 Pettit finished in second place in 28.22 seconds. She also came in third in the 100 at 13.69 seconds.
    Third in the 4×100 relay was PCHS. Seniors Tiia Kand and Michaela Pratt, freshman Kaitlyn Easler and then Pettit had a time of 56.34 seconds.
    Seventeen points scored put Dexter in 12th place among the girls teams. The Tigers’ top finish came in the 4×400 relay, as sophomore Katie Batron, senior Meredith Roderka, freshman Kirsten Swimm and junior Shayna Fogg together ran the race in 4:42.44 to come in third.
    Fogg was fourth in the 400 with a time of 1:06.57, and placing fourth in the javelin was junior Sarah Vigue with a throw of 99-04.
    Dexter had fifth and sixth place in the 1,600 racewalk. Freshmen Grace Belanger and Serena Seekins turned in respective times of 11:28.87 and 12:27.81.

    Boys scores 1) Orono 145 2) Foxcroft 139 3) George Stevens 74 4) Sumner 37 5) Fort Kent 34 6) Central 33 7) Dexter 31 8) Bangor Christian 30 9) Bucksport 16 10) Washington 9 11) Mattanawcook 8 12) John Bapst 7 13) Calais 6 14) Penquis 4 T-15) PCHS and Searsport no score
   
    Girls scores 1) Orono 184 2) Foxcroft 66 3) John Bapst 61.50 4) Mattanawcook 45 5) Fort Kent 30 T-6) Bucksport and Penquis 27 8) Bangor Christian 26 9) George Stevens 24.50 10) PCHS 20 11) Sumner 19 12) Dexter 17 13) Washington 14 14) Central 13 15) Searsport 7