The defining moment of Maddy Price’s high school track and field career wasn’t the 100 meter championship she won at the Class A outdoor state meet as a sophomore. It wasn’t the pair of titles, the 55 and triple jump, she won at last month’s Class A indoor championships, either. For Price, the moment came after the 200 meter final at the indoor championships in 2014. The then-Skowhegan Area High School sophomore realized her nerves were going to undermine her goals.

Ten minutes before that 200 race two years ago, Price let the voices in her head get the best of her.

Skowhegan Area High School's Maddy Price is the Morning Sentinel Track and Field Girls Athlete of the Year. Staff photo by David Leaming

2016 Morning Sentinel/Kennebec Journal Girls Indoor Track All Stars

55: Maddy Price, Sr., Skowhegan

200: Alexis Chamberlain, Sr., Lawrence

400: Angela Strain, Jr., Mount View

800: Lauren Brown, Sr., Waterville

1 mile: Lauren Brown, Sr., Waterville

2 mile: Lauren Brown, Sr., Waterville

55 hurdles: Erin Martin, Sr., Nokomis

4×200 relay: Messalonskee (Emma Wentworth, Jenna Nash, Lauren Pickett, Riley Field)

4×800 relay: Lawrence (Harley Dixon, Hannah Walsh, Alexis LaVerdiere, Jaden Gray)

High jump: Alison Linscott, Sr., Waterville

Pole vault: Alison Linscott, Sr., Waterville

Long jump: Paige Smith, Jr., Winslow

Triple jump: Maddy Price, Sr., Skowhegan

Shot put: Emily Steinmeyer, Sr., Messalonskee

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“I was thinking and thinking and thinking about it and all the people who could beat me. I realized I could never do that again,” Price said. “I realized you have to be more confident.”

Now a senior, Price had an impressive indoor track and field season. For her pair of state championships, Maddy Price is the Morning Sentinel Indoor Track and Field Girls Athlete of the Year.

“Maddy handles the pressure well. When she was a freshman and sophomore, she got really nervous. Over the last two years, she’s realized she has to run relaxed,” Skowhegan track and field coach Dave Evans said.

Price’s win over Anna Beaudet of Edward Little in the 55 meter finals couldn’t have been any closer. Price won with a time of 7.40 seconds, with Beaudet just behind at 7.41. The previous week at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships, Beaudet eked out a win over Price.

Price said her lean at the finish and her start were the small differences in the state meet race.

“Anna had been beating me the last half of the year,” Price said. “Coach (Evans) told me I had a good start. At the end, I could hear (Evans) yell ‘Finish!’ I could feel her right there.”

Price won the triple jump state title with a leap of 35 feet, 6.75 inches, approximately a foot and a half better than second place Lydia Farmer of Falmouth (34-0.75). Price had her best jump of the season early, at a Colby College meet in December, when she jumped 37-5.5. Price hit the weight room and worked with assistant coach Matt Friedman to improve the second phase of her jump.

“Getting that second phase, that was the big thing. I would say that’s the hardest part of the triple jump,” Price said. I worked in the weight room doing lunges. I did more warmups to get it all down.”

Evans said Price is now ranked in the top 50 in the nation in the triple jump, and he thinks she can hit 40 feet in the outdoor season. Price said while 40 feet is a goal, it would be a lot of improvement.

“Evans likes to think big. I’d like to hit 38 or 39,” Price said.

Added Evans: “She could be a 40 foot triple jumper. She just started long jump again. Who knows where she can go with that?”

Price hasn’t decided on her college plans yet. She wants to study hospitality management, and hopes track and field will fit into her college experience.

“It’s been kind of neat to watch her grow up. Sometimes, seniors tend to check out,” Evans said. “Maddy, she made the statement that she wants to go out on top.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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