SOUTH CHINA — Replacing an athlete like Jade Canak is never easy.

As a senior with the Erskine Academy girls indoor track team, Canak had three top seven finishes at the Class B championships last year, including a second place result in the triple jump.

Jordan Jowett may not be at that level quite yet, but if this winter was any indication the sophomore sprinter certainly seems well on her way to a standout career with the Eagles.

Though it is just her second year at Erskine, she is already the school’s record holder in the 55-meter dash and the 4×200 relay along with teammates Julia White, MacKenzie Gayer and Abby Haskell. At the Class B championships this winter her 7.76-second dash was good enough for fourth place, and she also added a fifth on the Eagles’ 4×200 team.

For her efforts Jordan Jowett has been named the Kennebec Journal Girls Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. Haskell, a sophomore, was also considered for the award.

“She won our MVP award this season and worked very hard in the weight room, which paid off with consistent improvement all season long,” Erskine coach Dave Hickey said. “She is a great teammate and is pushed significantly by her friend, Abby Haskell. They took turns breaking each other’s records — sometimes in back to back heats.”

For Jowett, it has been a combination of hard work and competition that has allowed her to take the next step in her track career. She said working with Canak in practice last year helped, as has having Haskell to go up against throughout the years.

“Me and Abby have always been competition for each other,” Jowett said. “It’s really good because we’re both really good friends.”

That close competition played out throughout the season. At the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships Haskell edged out Jowett by five one-hundredths of a second for second place in the 55 dash, this coming after Jowett posted the faster time in preliminaries.

In the same meet Jowett topped Haskell by less than three-tenths of a second in the 200, while at states Jowett once again had the upper hand as Haskell placed seventh in 7.89 seconds in the 55 dash.

Both were on Erskine’s Class B outdoor champion 4×100 relay team last spring, and with a new season quickly approaching Jowett is hoping to have another successful showing.

“(My goals are) definitely to improve my times from last year,” Jowett said. “That would be really awesome.”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley