AUGUSTA — Abby Mace’s first high school race, at a cross country meet in August 2008, was the first in a long string of dominant victories. Mace wasn’t that runner Saturday. Instead, she prevailed in one of the best races of the day.

After finishing second in the girls 1,600-meter run, Mace overtook Mt. Abram’s Sadie James on the final straight-away in the 3,200, and won the race by 0.75 seconds at the Class C state championship track and field meet at Cony High School.

Despite forecasts of rain throughout the day, there was never more than a drizzle until the end of the meet. Sacopee Valley edged North Yarmouth Academy for the boys title, 64.5-62. Maranacook, led by senior Taylor Watson’s wins in both the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, finished with 37 points. Winthrop’s Kam Souza won the 800, edging out Madison’s Matt McClintock, who set state records in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Orono won the girls team title with 126.75 points, while John Bapst and Traip tied for second with 72 points. Maranacook (34.25) was sixth, and Hall-Dale, behind senior Bri Crisci’s wins in the 100 and 200, was seventh with 28 points.

Washburn’s Carsyn Koch won the girls 1,600, overtaking Mace near the end and winning by 2.11 seconds. About four hours later, Mace was mentally ready for the 3,200, but her body was rebelling.

“Before the race, I got really bad stomach cramps and a side stitch,” Mace said. “I was trying to get rid of them, but I had some troubles with them during the race. I didn’t feel very good. Just kind of like an off day, I guess.”

Mace led most of the way, with James about a stride behind. A little over 9 minutes into the race, James took the lead. On the final turn, and obviously grinding Mace passed James and won by three strides with a time of 11:24.31.

“When Sadie started to pull away from me, I did not want to happen what happened in the 1,600,” Mace said. “So I think that just gave me more determination to sprint at the end.”

Crisci won the 100 in 13.34 and the 200 in 27.21, both times holding off Orono freshman Diana Tyutyunnyk. In between she ran the 400 in 1:01.73, but finished second when Foxcroft freshman Fern Morrison made a late charge and posted a time of 1:01.73.

“The 100, I obviously gave it my all, because it was my first race. I had fresh legs then,” Crisci said. “For the 400, I did pretty well at the beginning, but towards the end, as always, I got tired. (Morrison) just shot right past me, and I didn’t even expect it. She just came out of nowhere. I’d like to actually know her technique.

“The 200 was my event, because I’m the two-time state champion, and I want to defend my title. And I did it.”

Crisci said she’ll be running next season at Belmont Abbey College on a sports scholarship.

In the 800, Souza simply took the lead and never let it go, finishing in 1 minute, 57.37 seconds — just off the state record of 1:56.98.

“I wasn’t sure what Kam was going to do,” McClintock said. “I just figured I’d take the second place. He’s a great runner. I mean, 1:57 — that’s absurd.”

Souza admitted that McClintock’s accomplishments were naturally on his mind.

“Everybody’s obviously scared of him,” Souza said. “I was planning Monday, exactly how I want my race to go. I’m more the guy to be out front and not get passed, than chase.”

Watson’s two winning races didn’t go exactly according to the script he had in his head, but it all worked out. In the 110 hurdles, his time of 15.83 held off Kenny Bouchey of Sacopee Valley, who clocked in at 16.36.

“For some reason, everybody beat me to the first hurdle, which kind of psyched me out,” Watson said. “But I thought, ‘Well, never mind,’ and just kept going. I got over the rest of them, cleared them well, and held on to the lead.”

The 300 hurdles were much closer, as Watson finished in 40.04 and George Stevens senior Benjamin Plohr was right behind at 40.09. Watson was seeded second behind Bouchey, who came in fourth in 41.65.

Watson lined up next to Bouchey, and planned to get a lead and hope Bouchey wore down near the end of the race. Watson thought he was being pushed to the end by Bouchey, and was surprised when he looked up and realized it was Plohr who had been right on his tail.

“The 300 was an ‘interesting’ race,” said Watson, who will attend Dartmouth beginning this fall but will not run track or cross country. “The last hurdle, I approached wrong. All the other hurdles were fine. But I came up to the last hurdle — I knew I wasn’t going to hit it with my right leg — and I leapt straight up over it, in my worst display of hurdling that I’ve ever undergone. But, I still was able to win.”

Hall-Dale’s Sam Shepherd tied for second in the high jump, and teammate Tyler Fitzgerald placed third in both the 100 and 200. Hall-Dale’s Colten Zakrzewski was third in the javelin.

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

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