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CLASS C TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS: McClintock wins 1,600 and 3,200 titles

By Bill Stewart bstewart@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

BATH -- The strategy worked in the Mountain Valley Conference championships, and it worked again Saturday.

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WINNING JUMP: Maranacook’s Chris Pelletier starts his leap for a championship-winning 44-feet, 9 3/4-inches in the triple jump at the Class C track and field state championship meet in Bath on Saturday. Pelletier helped the Black Bears capture the Class C team title.

Maine Sunday Telegram photo by Carl D. Walsh

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BIG THROWER: Winthrop’s Travis Hutchins throws the discus 140-feet, 7-inches to win the event in the Class C track and field state championships Saturday in Bath.

Maine Sunday Telegram photo by Carl D. Walsh

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Madison junior Matt McClintock knew what he had to do to win the two distance events at the Class C track and field state championship meet Saturday at McMann Field.

"The plan is to have a big enough lead and to hold on," McClintock said. "I know Chase Brown gains on me, but I hope to have a huge enough lead."

McClintock did and won the 1,600 and 3,200 races over rival Brown of Boothbay.

The Maranacook boys scored 75 points to edge Orono (69) and defending state champ Sacopee (68) to win its sixth Class C state title and first since 1992.

Mountain Valley Conference champ Lisbon was fourth with 41 points while Boothbay (36.5) and Winthrop (36) followed.

Traip Academy won the girls crown with 79 points, denying John Bapst (76) a fourth straight state championship.

"It was an amazing day," Traip coach Larissa Simonds said. "The girls just stepped up."

McClintock won the 3,200 in 9 minutes, 46.84 seconds. He took the 1,600 with a time of 4:28.09.

Brown finished second in both events, duplicating his performance at the MVC meet.

McClintock started fast in the 1,600 and by the time he slowed, the gap was too much for Brown to make up.

"It was a big enough lead," McClintock said. "I knew Chase would gain on me in the last two laps (of the 1,600), but I held on."

Brown finished the 1,600 in 4:32.29.

Maine Central Institute senior Craig Reazor won the pole vault by clearing 11 feet while Madison senior Krysta Moulton was third in the 1,600 race walk. MCI senior Amelia Linde was third in the high jump (4-10) while Mt. Abram sophomore Sadie James was second in the 3,200 (11:57.87) and third in the 1,600 (5:35.42).

Individually, it wasn't the best of days for Maranacook's top point producers.

Together, however, they triumphed.

Junior Taylor Watson won the 300-meter hurdles in 40.71 seconds, but finished fourth in the 110 hurdles after an early mishap in the race. Watson was seeded first in both events.

"The gun went off and my first few steps were OK," Watson said. "But when I got to the second hurdle I couldn't get my leg up and I hit the ground. It was very frustrating."

Maranacook senior Chris Pelletier won the triple jump with a leap of 44-9.75. He also finished second in the long jump (20-3), but he was seeded first in the event.

"We wanted to win this all year," said Pelletier, who didn't compete last season. "It was a blast."

Harry Lanphear was seeded fourth in the shot put, but failed to make the finals. He did pick up points in the javelin, finishing fifth.

"We had our ups and downs," Gifford said. "We went in thinking we had 50 points pretty close in the bag, but it didn't happen. But we also picked up points where we didn't expect to, either."

Maranacook scored key points in the 4x100 relay and pole vault, two events it wasn't expecting to score anything.

Evan Vincent won the 1,600 race walk and finished fifth in the 3,200. He won the race walk in 6:42.16.

"I was hoping to get under 6:35, but I was feeling pretty tired at the end," Vincent said. "I held on for as long as I could."

Maranacook opened the meet by winning the 4x800 relay. Watson, Connor Lacasse, Walker Thompson and Luke Wenzel finished in 8:28.75.

"We wanted to set the tone," Watson said.

Added Gifford: "Winning the 4x800 was huge. We picked up some points there."

Maranacook junior Abby Mace won the 1,600 and 3,200 to lead the girls team, which finished sixth with 42 points.

Mace ran the 1,600 in 5:19.76 and the 3,200 in 11:37.89.

"I was hoping to get my times down, but I am happy," she said. "I pushed myself (Saturday)."

Elsewhere Saturday, Hall-Dale received strong performances from junior Bri Crisci and sophomore Tyler Fitzgerald.

Crisci, after being disqualified in the 100, won the 200 in a personal-best 26.31 seconds.

"I wanted to get a (personal record), but this was crazy," she said. "I knew I was ahead of everybody, but I didn't know by how much."

Fitzgerald won the 100 in 11.42 and finished fourth in the 200.

"It was a big race," Fitzgerald said of the 100. "To win it feels great. It was a fast race and I held my hands up after it but then pulled them back down because I didn't know if I had really won."

Monmouth senior Kevin Desmond turned in an impressive performance in the 800, winning it in a blistering 1:58.11, a little more than a second off the Class C state record.

Desmond said he waited two years for the moment.

"It's just a great feeling," he said. "When I saw I was 59 (seconds) after the first (lap), I knew it was hammer time from that point on. I was hoping for the win and to get a (personal record), and I got the best of both worlds."

Miguel Caballero of Orono was second in 11.46.

Winthrop senior Travis Hutchins won the discus with a throw of 140-7.

"It feels good because you work all year for one goal," he said. "I get really worked up and am hard on myself at times, so this feels really good. In my freshman year I was throwing 70, 80 feet and I thought I'd never get there. But all my hard work paid off."

Bill Stewart -- 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com