Carrington Miller rises each morning at 5 a.m. to prepare for what will be at least a nine-hour day at Valley High School.

“It’s hard,” the junior said. “But you get used to it.”

Miller is one of at least four Valley students who compete in two sports in the same season.

Valley allows its students dual participation, and a few take advantage of the rule.

Miller, along with Justin Miller and Jordan Gillespie, competes for the track and field and baseball teams. Jen Hovey is competing for the track and field and softball teams as well.

“You don’t see a lot of it,” Valley track coach Ken Nadeau said of the dual sport eligibility. “We try to make sure there are no scheduling conflicts.”

The track and field team practices from 5:30 a.m. to about 6:30. Carrington Miller said he and team members then head home to get ready for school.

“We get a good workout in and then we go home, shower and then go back to school,” he said. “Then right after school we have baseball practice. It’s a long day. When it’s over, I just want to go home and sleep. But once you get into the routine, it becomes easier.”

Nadeau and baseball coach Paul Belanger said the student-athletes show up ready to go at their respective practices.

“You’d be surprised with how alert they are at 5:30,” Nadeau said. “They get after it a little bit.”

Added Belanger: “They handle it really well. They want to be in good shape, and they do just that.”

* * *

Waterville teams combined to break four meet records at the eighth annual David Whyte Memorial Relays last week.

The boys broke Thornton Academy’s record in the hurdle shuttle with a time of 55.50 seconds.

The Waterville girls broke the 4×100-meter relay, 4×400 and triple jump records as well.

The girls scored 127 points and the boys 129 to win easily.

So, what did Ian Wilson get out of the Relays?

“The Relays are an early season indication of the depth of your team,” he said. “If you have a god showing it means you have depth. We learned we have a lot of depth on both sides.”

* * *

Maine Central Institute coach Jason Allen said he expected senior Natasha Wallace to turn in a strong season.

She’s started off with impressive performances, particularly in the javelin, which she threw 93 feet, 6 inches at the season-opening meet April 12 in Fairfield.

At the David Whyte Memorial Relays last week, she threw it 99-6, a 6-foot improvement that also broke a school record.

“She’s performed really well,” Allen said. “She’s been very consistent, and I also think she has the makings to be outstanding in the shot put.”

Wallace threw the shot 31-5 at the Relays to finish second in the event.

* * *

Winslow will finally return to full strength this week when it travels to Readfield to compete against host Maranacook, Messalonskee and Morse.

Vacations and injuries prevented the Black Raiders from fielding a complete team, something coach Shawn Carey is eager to see.

“We’ll be at full strength for the first time,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how it turns out. All of our relays are up to strength, our jumpers, too.”

Christine Parrilli and Alliyah Veilleux have been coping with various injuries but are slowly progressing for a girls team that should score well at the KVAC B meet.

“Now that we are out past the Relays, the season is really going to move,” Carey said. “We don’t want to peak too early, but we’re really looking forward to this week.”

* * *

Mt. View will return to competition Thursday at Gardiner for the first time since opening the season April 12.

The boys will look to build off an impressive performance at the season opener, which came in Bath against Morse, Lincoln Academy and Oceanside.

They finished second by a point — 83-82 — to Morse.

Curtis Griffin won the 100, 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles for the Mustangs.

“It really made them enthusiastic about what they can do,” Mt. View coach Kevin Petrak said. “It was a good finish for them.”

* * *

Carrabec coach Dan Foss says he finally has a boys 4×100 relay team that can contend at the Class C state meet.

Foss, in his ninth season, put together the unit of Isreal Davis, Elliot Gore, Hunter Williams and John Layman after checking their 100 times during practices.

“We started playing with it,” he said. “They looked really strong so we pieced it together. I think at the end of the season they will be a powerhouse.”

They started off strong.

The foursome won the event at their first meet of the season, April 12 at Mountain Valley.

They finished in 50.01 seconds.

“For the first meet, it was pretty good,” Foss said. “They will only get better from here on out. I’m excited about it.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com

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