SKOWHEGAN — For the first time in its 11-year history, the Community Cup will have a home outside Waterville.

Behind big days from Jesse Donisvitch, Zach Hoyle and Tanner Burton, as well as some considerable depth, the Messalonskee High School boys track and field team rolled to its first ever Community Cup with 143 1/2 points Thursday at Skowhegan Area High School.

“It feels really good,” Donisvitch said. “Our coach (Scott Wilson) really wanted us to win and we came out strong and proved that we’ve got what it takes. It feels great.”

Waterville, which had won the previous 10 Community Cups, settled for second with 93 points. Lawrence was third with 90 1/2, Skowhegan fourth with 57 and Winslow fifth with 11.

“It’s unfortunate but our sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers are very young,” Waterville’s Chris Cote, who won both the 1,600 and 3,200 in meet-record times, said. “Most of them are freshmen, sophomores and a few juniors. We lost most of our leaders in the sprint group last year (Troy Gurski, Jordhan Levine, Colby Vince) so they don’t really have anyone to look up to at the moment.

“We’re trying to battle that out and we’re hoping that it will grow in the future.”

While the Waterville boys could not maintain their mantle, the Purple Panthers’ girls proved they still had what it took to stay on top. In what was one of the most competitive Community Cups, Waterville totaled 110 1/3 points and was followed by Messalonskee with 98 1/2. Lawrence (87), Skowhegan (71 1/6) and Winslow (23) followed.

“I felt that (the competition) has been a lot closer and it’s kind of stressful just because we’ve kind of dominated in so many years past,” Waterville senior Sarah Shoulta said. “We seem to be pulling through this year and I’ll be excited to see what happens next year once I’m gone.

“We’ve just made sure to stress that we have to get better week to week. We can’t just sit there and stay the same because while we’re staying the same the opponents are getting better. We have to really keep working and keep our eyes on the prize.”

The Messalonskee boys got wins from Donisvitch (200 meters), Hoyle (400, 800), Burton (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles), Josh Boucher (javelin) and the 4×800 relay team of Owen Concaugh, Owen Bessey, Anthony Amalfitano and Hoyle, yet it was the Eagles depth that allowed them to open up their sizeable advantage.

Messalonskee cleaned up in the 800 with Hoyle, Amalfitano and Daniel Turner taking the top three spots, while Concaugh, Natale Cardillo, Turner and Amalfitano finished second through fifth, respectively, in the 1,600.

“It’s been 10 years of watching Waterville win and we’ve been building our program all along,” Wilson said. “It’s nice to show that the hard work is paying off.”

Waterville still got a number of strong individual performances. Cote was not the only Purple Panther to break a pair of meet records, as teammate Trever Gray set new marks in the shot put (52 feet, 6 inches) and discus (153-10 1/2).

“It was OK,” said Gray, whose personal bests this season are both beyond those marks. “I felt good coming into it but the results weren’t the best I guess.”

Billy Chambers won the race walk for Waterville.

Lawrence’s Dustin Simpson-Bragg also had a strong day, winning the high jump, long jump and running a leg on both of the Bulldogs’ victorious 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. Ben Blaisdell joined Simpson-Bragg on both of those relays, won the triple jump and placed second in the long jump.

As for the Waterville girls, Lauren Brown (3,200), Alison Linscott (high jump) and Kellie Bolduc (triple jump) were the only individual winners, yet the Purple Panthers managed to hold off the Eagles behind their superior depth.

Shoulta was second in both the 110 and 300 hurdles, added a third in the pole vault and also teamed with Rebecca Beringer, Brooke Ettinger and Lydia Roy to place second in the 4×400 relay.

Lawrence’s Abby Weigang was responsible for two of Shoulta’s runner-up results, as the Bulldogs senior won the 110 hurdles with a new personal best time of 15.79 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 49.19.

Weigang also teamed with Kiana Letourneau, Alexis Chamberlain and Hannah Walsh to win the 4×400. Chamberlain and Letourneau added individual wins in the 200 and 400, respectively, as well.

Messalonskee’s Avery Brenna took home wins in the 800 and 1,600, while teammates Taylor Lenentine (pole vault), Lucy Guarnieri (long jump), Emily Steinmeyer (javelin) and Elizabeth Larsen (race walk) added first-place results as well.

Skowhegan’s Maddy Price edged teammate Jaycee Cushman in the 100 with a time of 12.77 seconds. The mark ties the meet record set by Winslow’s Alliyah Veilleux in 2013.

“I felt good about running (Thursday),” Price said. “I haven’t been able to get under 13 (seconds) all year, so I really wanted to push it and do it on my home track.”

Ariana Bacon and Andrea Gurney also joined Price with individual wins for Skowhegan in the shot put and discus, respectively.

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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