Ponies compete at EMITL championship

Morrison sets two school records

    ORONO — The Foxcroft Academy boys scored 26 points to finish sixth out of 14 teams at the 2015 Eastern Maine Indoor Track League championship Feb. 7 at the New Balance Field House at the University of Maine. The Ponies had three second-place performances and another fifth-place finish.

Photo courtesy of Foxcroft Academy junior Matthew Kim

    IN RECORD TIME — Foxcroft Academy senior Fern Morrison competes in Saturday’s EMITL Championship at the University of Maine as her head coach Graham Pearsall shouts out some word of encouragement. Morrison broke her own school indoor records in the 400 and 800 with new respective times of 1:00.81 seconds and 2:28.12.

    Junior Cooper Nelson was the meet’s runner-up in the mile, as he covered the race in a time of 4 minutes, 43.56 seconds. Senior Peter Boyer had the day’s second best throw in the shot put, at a distance of 43 feet and 1 inch.
    The third Foxcroft runner-up performance came in the 4×200 relay. Seniors Dylan Richards and Sebastian Zepeda, sophomore Jason Eubanks and senior Justin Diamond combined for a time of 1 minute, 40.1 seconds.
    Coming in fifth in the 400 was senior Julian Zepeda, at 56.14 seconds.
    Hampden Academy won the boys’ title with 85 points, followed by MDI with 73 and Old Town in third place with 70 points.
    The Foxcroft girls came in 10th out of 14 squads with a score of 15 points.
    Senior Fern Morrison ended up accounting for 14 of her team’s 15 points, and she set a pair of school records in the process in both the 400 and 800.
    Morrison’s time of 1:00.81 in the 400 shattered a record she set as a sophomore by two full seconds but was not quite good enough to hold off Rebecca Lopez-Anido of Orono, who ran a blistering 59.88 seconds to set a new mark at the field house. Morrison’s 2:28.12 in the 800 also broke her own record and was good for third in a very competitive field, with Mattanawcook’s Tia Tardy racing to victory and Lopez-Anido taking second.
    “Fern entered the season with the goal of running 60 indoors,” said Coach Graham Pearsall. “It was great to see her go out and get it done, solidifying herself as the best female mid-distance runner in school history.”
    Junior Desirae Brawn placed sixth in the shot put with a top throw of 28-09.
    Hampden swept the competition with a girls-best 87.50 points, followed by Orono’s 72 and 50.50 for Old Town.
    The Ponies will compete in the state meet at Bates College in Lewiston on Feb. 16.