A week full of rain somehow ended in a grey yet dry day up at Poland on Friday. GNG, Freeport, St. Doms, Poland, and NYA took to the track for a sizeable meet that ended, once again, with the pole vault. Heading into championship season the NYA athletes took on a slightly lesser load than normal yet were still able to gather up some strong finishes and a solid showing as a team.
In the boys 110m hurdles “The Jakes” took to the track and ran very close to their career bests finishing 2-3. In the boys 100m dash Jonas hit a tenth of a second PR when he finished in 12.6 and Brian Trelegan explored a career in sprinting with his 13.8. In the 200m Elanor West ran her debut 200m finishing in 33.3 while on the boys side Sam Leishman tied his career best running 25.5 and Jonas cut off 2/3 of a second to finish in 26.6h. The 300m hurdles had some old veterans and some eager new blood on Friday. Robert Field and Moira Lachance tried the event for the first time. Robert finished the race clearing every hurdle strongly (and with a resounding grunt) while Moira easily sailed over every hurdle on the way to the finish and earned 4th place. The veterns combined for 3 places with Mo running a season best time of 42.7 for 2nd followed closely by Jake Burns in a season best time of 44.6h for 4th and rounding out the placing was Jake Susla who ran 47.3h for 5th. In the 4x100m the boys team ran the relay with some new members yet their handoff work on Thursday paid off as they finished 3rd with some very strong exchanges.
In the boys 1600m NYA had a train of top finishers going 2-3-4 on the day. Alex Coffin lead the way for NYA with a massive season and career best time of 4:35.7. That time moved him up to 4th on the all time list and landed him solidly in the pack of the best milers in Class C. Cam Regan was next up with 4:44 (less than a second off his career best) and in 4th was Grant McPherson who ran an amazing career best time breaking under 5 minutes for the first time and leaving no doubt with a time of 4:49. All 3 boys hit the automatic qualifying time in the 1600m. In the 800 Hadley Gibson had a breakthrough day. She set a goal of 2:45 to safely run under the state qualifying time and was able to go through the first half of the race in 79 and come back with an 85 to finish in 2:44 – well under the qualifying time and 6 seconds faster than she has run all year. In the 3200m Rudy Guliani ran an intimidating race. He lead from the gun and pushed the pace to run a season best by 1 second – 10:47 – all alone. His first place finish after having to sit around on a damp cold day was an impressive feat.
In the field events Moira Lachance was the sole representitive for the girls in the high jump and was able to, once again, clear 4’8″ (on her first attempt) which was good enough to earn her 2nd place. On the boys side Asad once again cleared 5’4″ which was good for 2nd as well. In the long jump Mo placed 2nd with a leap of 19’2.5″. Next up was Jonas Damion who hit a 9″ season best jumping 16’2.5″ and NYA’s final season best in LJ pit was earned by El Tayeb with his jump of 14’1.75″ In the triple jump Mo and Asad went 2-3 while Sam Leishman jumped 34’5″ which is an 8″ season best and an impressive improvement. In the vault Cam Regan cleared 10′ to win the event and then made 3 attempts at 10’9″.
In the throws the girls discus was a successful event for NYA on Friday with 2 places and 2 PRs. Kayla Rose won the event with a toss of 73′ while Morgan Scully was close behind in 3rd. Emily Harrison had a 3′ career best tossing the disc 57’8″ while Julia Thompson also hit a career best with her toss of 49′. In the Boys Discus AJ Hardy continued his consistentancy streak with a toss of 88’11” to place 5th. In the shotput all 3 girls scored points for NYA with Morgan Scully finishing 1st with a toss of 28’2″ followed by Kayla Rose in 2nd. Julia Thompson rounded out the scoring finishing 5th with a PR toss of 22’8″ good for 5th place. On the boys side AJ Hardy lead the way for NYA with a toss of 35’8.5″ which was good for 4th. Close behind was Robert Field with a toss of 33’2″ which was good for 5th. Grant McPherson made a strong debut in the event with a toss of 25′.
The 4×400 teams both had strong days. The girls team ran just under 5 minutes and finished 5th while the boys team hit its best time of the season finishing 1st in 3:42. The golden shoe was given to Hadley Gibson for her outstanding performance in the 800m and her ability to still cut a few seconds off her 400m split in the relay. The boys shoe was given to Sam Leishman for his outstanding performance in the 4×100, his PR in the triple jump and his strong effort in the 200m.
Poland was our last regular season race. Next up is the Western Maine Conference Championships at Falmouth and then on to the State Championships for those who qualify (plus relays).
