Foxcroft boys finish third at state championship

Observer file photo/Stuart Hedstrom STATE CHAMPION — Foxcroft Academy junior Hunter Smith is the 2015 Class C 110 hurdle champion, as he won the event at the state championship meet on June 6 in Yarmouth. Smith also finished in first place in the high jump and was second in the long jump and third in the 300 hurdles to help the Ponies finish in third place.

Staff Report

YARMOUTH — The Foxcroft Academy boys finished in third place at the 2015 Class C Outdoor Track and Field Championship on June 6 at Yarmouth High School. The Ponies finished the competition with a score of 54 points, trailing only the 65 picked up Lisbon High School and 88 for first-place Orono High School.

Leading the way for Foxcroft was junior Hunter Smith, who won two individual events and finished in the top three in two others for 34 of his team’s 54 points.. Smith’s first individual state championship came in the 110-meter hurdles. In the finals he ran the event in 15.62 seconds, edging runner-up sophomore Evan Porter of Traip Academy of Kittery by four hundredths of a second.

In 2014 Smith was the Class C high jump champion and in his junior season he successfully defended this title at the state meet. On Saturday Smith cleared a height of 6 feet, 4 inches to win by four inches.

Smith also had the day’s second-best performance in the long jump, at a distance of 20-07.25. He finished third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.67 seconds.

Foxcroft’s 4×100 relay team finished in second place at the state championship. Sophomore Jason Eubanks and seniors Dylan Richards, Sebastian Zepeda and Julian Zepeda combined for a time of 46.17 seconds.

The Pony 4×400 relay would come in fourth with a time of 3:42.69. This squad was made up of Sebastian and Julian Zepeda, Eubanks and junior Cooper Nelson. Nelson came in fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:39.65.

Senior Peter Boyer picked up four points for Foxcroft in two throwing events. Boyer was fifth in the shot put with a throw of 47-06.75 and he came in seventh in the discus at 117-04.

Other Pony participants in the state meet, in order of events, was the 4×800 relay (junior Kohei Kotani, sophomore Liam Casey and juniors Paul Birtwistle and Gabe Piquette), 10th at 9:11.95.

Sebastian Zepeda, 10th in the 100 at 11.81 seconds; Eubanks, 14th in the 100 at 11.94 seconds; Richards, 19th in the 100 at 12.02 seconds; Julian Zepeda, tied for 20th in the 100 at 12.05 seconds; Boyer, 30th in the 100 at 12.44 seconds; and sophomore Evan Chadbourne, 32nd in the 100 at 12.77 seconds.

Julian Zepeda, 10th in the 400 at 55.10 seconds; and Birtwistle, 20th in the 400 at 57.96 seconds.

Senior Zhe Chen, 18th in the 300 hurdles at 48.80 seconds.

Sebastian Zepeda, ninth in the 200 at 23.97 seconds; Eubanks, 15th in the 200 at 24.18 seconds; senior Justin Diamond, 19th in the 200 at 24.55 seconds; and Chadbourne, 28th in the 200 at 25.92 seconds.

Chen, 17th in the long jump at 18-00, and tied for 11th in the triple jump, 38-09.75.

Boyer, 12th in the javelin at 128-11, and junior Brandon Brock, 15th in the javelin at 126-01. Brock was also eighth in the shot put with a top throw of 41-03.75.

The boys from Dexter Regional High School scored 15 points to place 14th at the Class C state championship.

Senior Valentin Nekrasov had a hand in 11 of the 15 Tiger points. He finished as the Class C runner-up in the 200, sprinting a time of 23.34 seconds. Nekrasov also anchored the fifth-place 4×400 relay. Sophomores Brandon Allen and Zachary White, junior Zachary Caron and Nekrasov combined for a time of 3:44.05 to pick up three points.

Caron had the other four Dexter points in the high jump. Caron cleared the bar at a height of 5-10 to finish in fourth place.

Nekrasov also finished 11th in the 100-meter prelims at 11.86 seconds. Allen, White, Caron and Nekrasov finished 11th in the 4×100 standings with a time of 47.58 seconds. Allen was 13th in both the long and triple jumps, at 18-02.75 and 38.07.50 respectively, and Caron came in 20th in the triple jump at 37-00.50.

Greenville High School and Penquis Valley High School both had a javelin thrower representing their school at the state finals. Greenville High School senior Evan Sullivan finished eighth in the event with a throw of 140-09. Penquis junior Joshua Martin was close behind, placing 10th at 131-08.

In the girls’ state championship, Foxcroft picked up 12 points to tie Dirigo High School of Dixfield for 18th place.

Pony senior Fern Morrison scored all dozen of her team’s points. Morrison finished as the 400-meter runner-up, covering the lap in 1:02.51. She also placed fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:31.97.

Also competing at the meet for Foxcroft was junior Annie Rich, who came in 12th in the javelin, at 83-06, and junior Jennifer Clawson, who was 25th in the 1,600 at 6:06.28.

Penquis had a point to tie the Limestone Community School/Maine School of Math and Science and Narraguagus High School of Harrington for 31st place among teams getting on the state championship scoreboard.

Sophomore Jordan Durant had the Patriots’ point as she came in seventh in the triple jump at a distance of 30-07.50.

Sophomore Kayla Harmon finished 21st in the javelin with a throw of exactly 77 feet, and Durant came in 23rd in the long jump at 14-03.75.

Five Piscataquis Community High School athletes competed on June 6. Senior Paige Northup had the highest finish, as she ended up in a seven-way tie for eighth place in the high jump at 4-06.

Junior Cahrey Harris, seniors Sheridan Clement and Mariah Priest and freshman Lexi Harris combined for a time of 1:00.63 in the 4×100 relay, placing 23rd. Harris also came in 29th in the 800 at 2:51.22.

Dexter freshman Lily Cummings ran in the three sprints at the state championship. Cummings was 25th in the 100 at 14.29 seconds, 22nd in the 200 with a time of 29.44 seconds and she placed 10th in the 400 at 1:06.62.

Senior Sarah Vigue came in eighth in the discus with a top throw of 79-09. She also was 14th in the javelin at 81-09.

Junior Kaitlyn Paquin placed 20th in the discus at a distance of precisely 67 feet.

Observer file photo/Stuart Hedstrom

A DOZEN FOR MORRISON —  Senior Fern Morrison picked up all 12 of the Foxcroft girls’ points at the state meet. Morrison, pictured running in the PVC Small School Championship the week before, came in second in the 400 and she was fourth in the 800.

Observer file photo/Stuart Hedstrom

SOFT LANDING — Dexter sophomore Brandon Allen finished in 13th place in both the long and triple jumps at the Class C state meet. Allen also ran the opening leg of the fifth-place Tiger 4×400 relay team.

Observer file photo/Stuart Hedstrom

THROWING FOR TWO POINTS  — Pony senior Peter Boyer finished in fifth place in the shot put at the state championship, and he also came in seventh in the discus.