AUGUSTA — Shayna Frost has had her fair share of high moments in her athletic career at Monmouth Academy, but nothing compares to last season’s Mountain Valley Conference girls outdoor track and field championship.
“It was so surreal,” Frost, a senior middle distance runner, said during the Capital City Classic last Friday at Alumni Field. “It was crazy.”
Frost, who also does cross country and Nordic skiing at Monmouth, played a part in helping the Mustangs end Lisbon’s nine-year run as MVC champs last spring. She ran a leg of Monmouth’s winning 4×400 relay that helped the Mustangs capture the conference title 133-132 1/2 in the final event of the meet.
Frost and her teammates will look to defend their title Thursday at 2 p.m. at the conference championship meet at Lisbon High School.
“We’re definitely excited,” Frost said. “We’re ready.”
If the Mustangs are going to hold onto their title, though, they are going to have to account for some key losses.
Carey Knowles and Ashleigh Hartford — each strong contributors to last season’s title — graduated last spring. Maddie Amero, who figured to put up big points in the triple jump and javelin, is out with a knee injury, while Sammy Grandahl, an equally strong competitor, is out with a foot injury.
Even still, Monmouth coach Tom Menendez is confident his team will be competitive Thursday despite the injuries.
“If we’re not going to go for it we might as well stay home,” Menendez said. “We’re going for it.”
The Mustangs did get an unexpected bonus this spring with the return of Sidney Wilson. A senior, Wilson competed in outdoor track her freshman and sophomore years before switching to softball last spring.
“I’ve just had a really on-and-off relationship with softball,” Wilson said. “I played it my whole childhood so I thought maybe I missed it, but then I realized I liked to stay in shape and run so I came back.”
Wilson figures to help Monmouth in the middle distance events, as well as the javelin. She, Frost, Emily Grandahl, Mahala Hayden and others are hoping to step up and fill in some of the gaps created by graduation and injuries.
“Everyone is just trying to step up and improve their own times and distances and heights and everything,” Wilson said.
Evan Crawley — 621-5640
ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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