LEWISTON — The fate of a conference title rested on the shoulders of Heather Nelson.
And she delivered.
Nelson cleared 8 feet in the pole vault, the final event of the day, to give Maine Central Institute the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Small School girls championship on Friday at Lewiston High School.
“There’s a lot of pressure, I hit (7 feet), it took me my third attempt,” Nelson said. “I was tired. We finally got up to (8 feet), and I knew if I didn’t get it, we weren’t going to win. Finally, on my third attempt I got it.”
MCI (169 points) edged Leavitt (166) for the title. Waterville (121.50) finished third.
“I’m so proud (of the team),” Nelson said. “Every single one of them. They knew they had to come in, every single person matters, we won by two or three points. That one person who comes in eighth place here, eighth place there. Every single person matters. I’m so proud of what they did today.”
Leavitt (268.50) ran away with the boys title, with MCI (125) in second and Winslow (117) in third.
Nelson, a junior, finished second in the pole vault, as Maranacook’s Olympia Farrell won the event. But Nelson’s finish claimed the title for the Huskies.
Nelson, who won in the discus (89-8) and the shot put (32-3.50) was named the girls field athlete of the meet.
The track athlete of the meet went to Nelson’s teammate, Emma Burr, who won the 100-meter dash, the 100 hurdles, the 400 and 300 hurdles.
Burr won the 100 in 12.53 seconds, besting Madison Yakimchick (13.01) of Waterville and Addie Watson (13.25) of Maranacook.
Burr set a personal best in her first event of the day, winning the 100 hurdles in 15.36, well in front of Leavitt’s Serae Fish (16.95) and Belfast’s Morgan Tolliver (17.83).
“I PR’d by like, half a second,” Burr said. “(The season) is going OK. I do a lot better at meets when it’s hot and humid. This is pretty good, this is perfect weather for me right now.”
Burr finished the 300 hurdles in 45.83, winning the event by three seconds. The 400 proved to be her closest race. Burr tallied a time of 1:00.32, while Allie Kimball of Winslow (1:01.96) finished second.
Burr said she feels like she’s hitting her stride at the right time.
“I’m peaking at the right time,” Burr said. “Perfect for states.”
Emma Couturier (4-11) won the high jump title for the Hornets.
Abby Williams had a big day for Waterville, winning the 800 (2:29.83), the 1,600 (5:23.39) and the 3,200 (12:03.28).
“It’s hard, when they put you in four events, to try to hit a PR in every single one,” Williams said. “You just kind of pick and choose (your best events) each week. I definitely did that and I’m glad I hit it.”
The Leavitt boys got off to a hot start in part from a win by sophomore Stephen Pierre in the 110 hurdles. Pierre blew away the competition, winning in 15.20 seconds. Teammate Noah Gibbs (17.83) was second and MCI’s Spencer Dyer (18.23) was third.
“I feel pretty good, the KVAC is a big meet, so I’m pretty excited,” Pierre said. “I think it might be a PR, I’d have to check, but it’d be pretty cool if it was.
“I knew my time was pretty good, but I still (don’t count anyone out), you never know what’s going to happen. But I was feeling pretty good today.”
Pierre also won the long jump, with a mark of 21-3.75, the high jump (5-10) and the 300 hurdles (42.36).
Pierre’s teammate, junior Maddox Demers, won the shot put with a throw of 43-3 earlier in the meet. Demers said he just recently changed his approach in the event.
“I just learned the glide (step) not that long ago, as soon as I learned it, it was eye-opening how much I could throw,” Demers said. “Before, I was doing the standing throw, and I was only doing 34 or 35 (feet). Once I started the glide, I started to feel it out, started to get better, and eventually I got to that 43 (foot) mark.”
Mason Henderson won the 100 (11.21) and 200 (22.69) titles for the Hornets.
For the boys, Owen Moore of MCI (133-7) won the discus and was named the boys field athlete of the meet. Winslow had multiple winners, with Joseph Richards (51.11) winning the 400 and 800 (2:04.08) titles. He was named the boys track athlete of the meet.
“We call this ‘Peak Week,’” said Richards, a junior. “I’ve been focusing more on sprinting. Last year, I was with our distance crew, practicing with them. But I think this year, switching over to our sprinting practices helped with the 400, kept my speed up.”
Andre Morin (9:15.29) won the race walk for the Black Raiders.
For the girls, MCI received a win in the race walk from Shalomi Goeway (9:45.96).
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