The Waterville track and field teams overwhelmed their competition at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B meet Monday, but underwhelmed when it came to expectations.
Sure, the Purple Panthers swept the team titles for a seventh consecutive year, but neither team scored as many points as they hoped.
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“They knew,” Waterville coach Ian Wilson said. “They pay close attention with how they perform. My teams are pretty honest with themselves. They know when it’s not their best day. A lot of kids were a little flat.”
Next up for Waterville: The Class B state championship meet Saturday at McMann Field in Bath. Both teams will be in the hunt for state titles.
The girls are after their seventh straight Class B state title while the boys hope to win their fourth in seven years.
“We’re positioned really well to be in the hunt at the end of the day,” Wilson said. “There are no guarantees with state titles. If we have a good day, we’ll be there in the end.”
Brewer High School will host the Class A meet, where the Lawrence girls will look for another strong showing after winning the KVAC A meet last weekend.
Erzsie Nagy was dominant at the conference meet, winning the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. She is seeded first in all three events at the state meet.
“Having Erzsie in those events gives us some real possibilities,” said Lawrence coach Tim Alberts, whose girls team won the KVAC A title for the first time in program history.
The Class C competition will take place in Dover Foxcroft.
The Waterville girls, which once again will flood events, feature eight No. 1 seeds.
Bethanie Brown is seeded first in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 and is poised to set Class B state records in all of them. She already owns the Class B mark in the 1,600 and 3,200, but not the 800. Her seed time of 2:16.17 in that event is less than a second off the Class B record, which Melissa Blackstone of Presque Isle set in 2001.
“I don’t think Bethanie goes around chasing records,” Wilson said. “She just wants to score as many points as possible for the team. This is her last go-round in states.”
Kellie Bolduc also comes in with lofty expectations. She is seeded first in the triple jump, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. She is also part of the 4×400 relay team — with Brown, Lydia Roy and Sarah Shoulta — that is seeded first. Georgia Bolduc is seeded first in the pole vault as well.
Elsewhere in Class B, Erskine senior Bridget Humphrey is seeded first in the discus.
On the boys side, Waterville and York will accumulate their respective points in different events, although they’ll go head to head in some of the jumps.
The Wildcats, led by senior Tom Reid, are loaded in the running and hurdling events. The Panthers should do most of their scoring in the throws. Falmouth, which tied York for the title last season, is also in the hunt.
“Falmouth will be there,” Wilson said. “It is a proven big-meet performer. We’re very strong in the field. We’ve definitely got a few events circled where we’d like to pick up some extra points.”
Nick Danner, fresh off a dominant conference meet, is seeded first in the shot put, discus and javelin. His top javelin throw of 183 feet, 6 inches puts him in position to set a new Class B state record.
Devin Burgess is seeded first in the pole vault and second in the long jump.
In the Class A meet, Cony senior Lindsey Folsom will try to set a state record in the pole vault. She cleared 11-7 last weekend at the KVAC A meet. She’ll set the Class A mark if she can duplicate that vault. Former Cony standout Bethany Dumas set the record (11-6) in 2006.
Messalonskee will look for big days from Amanda Knight (400, 200), Kaitlin Eschenbrenner (javelin), Emily Deering (javelin) and Taylor Lenentine (pole vault).
Lawrence senior Jake Doolan is seeded second in the javelin. Mt. Blue senior Justin Tracy is seeded second in the 1,600 and 3,200.
In Class C, the Monmouth boys are seeded first in the 4×800 and 4×400 relays. Marques Houston is seeded first in the 400.
MCI sophomore Jonathan Santiago and Hall-Dale senior Tyler Fitzgerald will go head-to-head in the 100.
Fitzgerald is seeded first and Santiago second in the event. Madison junior Ron Helderman is second in the pole vault.
Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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