When the Messalonskee High School indoor track and field team competes in a meet at Bowdoin College next Saturday, it will end a 21-day hiatus since its last competition.
“It worked out well, because this week was finals week, giving the kids some down time,” Messalonskee coach Scott Wilson said.
The question coming into the season for the Messalonskee girls was, how would the team replace the points scored by Amanda Knight, who graduated after winning Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference titles last season in the 55, 400, and 200 meters. The points have come from Taylor Lenentine, who has excelled in the pole vault and hurdles, and Avery Brennan, who has looked good in the mile and 800. Lucy Guarnieri, a senior newcomer, has done well in the jumps, and went 34 feet, 9 inches in the triple jump to win a meet at Bowdoin on Jan. 9, Wilson said.
“Early in the season, some people asked me, how do you replace an Amanda Knight?” Wilson said. “All of a sudden, you get a surprise like this. It’s been pretty good.”
On the boys side, Wilson has been impressed by a strong sophomore class, led by Owen Concaugh in the distance events, Zach Hoyle in the 800 and Tanner Burton in the hurdles.
“Owen Concaugh has done fantastic. He’s blown us away with some of his mile times, for only a sophomore. That sophomore class is quite powerful right now,” Wilson said. “We have a pretty good core of young athletes.”
• • •
The Skowhegan girls had a good showing at Saturday’s KVAC meet at Colby College.
Maddy Price won the 55 meters in 7.82, while teammate Jaycee Cushman placed third (7.98). In the shot put, Skowhegan teammates Macy Lee (34-5.75) and Ariana Bacon (31-1.25) finished one-two, respectively.
Skowhegan’s 4×800 relay team of Emily Lam, Lisa Mitskevich, Rachel Nelson and Emily Sincyr won with a time of 11:21.40. As a team, the Indians placed third with 71 points, behind Edward Little (92) and Belfast (76).
The Skowhegan boys were led by Eli Holland, who took second place in the 55 (6.98) and second place in the 400 (54.15).
Other central Maine winners were Mt. View’s Angela Strain, who won the girls 400 with a time of 1:02.78, and Cony’s Madeline Reny in the girls 55 hurdles (9.44).
• • •
The regular season is coming to a close at the end of the month, so it’s not too early to note that a couple area athletes sit atop the season’s performance lists.
According to the performance list found at me.milesplit.com, Messalonskee’s Lenentine has the top girls pole vault in Class A so far this season, 10 feet in a Jan. 3 meet.
In Class B, Waterville’s Lauren Brown has the top 2 mile this season. Brown ran 11:44.88 on Jan. 9 at the Dartmouth Relays. Waterville’s Sarah Shoulta has the top 55 hurdle time, 8.91, also at the Dartmouth Relays. Kellie Bolduc, also of Waterville, has the top triple jump, 35 feet, 7 inches. Waterville’s 4×200 and 4×800 relay teams also have the top times in the state.
In boys Class B, Trevor Gray of Waterville has the top shot put, 50 feet, 3.5 inches.
The KVAC championship meet is Feb. 7 at Bowdoin College. The state meets will be on Feb. 16, with Class A at the University of Southern Maine and Class B at Bates College.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.