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Maine Central Institute’s Daphne Hands, left, chases teammate Angelina Boisvert in a 100-meter hurdles preliminary heat during the KVAC Small School outdoor track championships May 30 in Bath. The Huskies are overwhelming favorites to win the KVAC B indoor title this winter. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)

1. Maine Central Institute: No indoor track team in central Maine, boys or girls, is as loaded as these Huskies. Gabrielle Finelli is the favorite to win the Class B 55-meter hurdle and triple jump state titles and also will contend in the long jump. Fellow senior Angelina Boisvert is the KVAC Class B favorite in the shot put and is right behind Finelli in the 55 hurdles and jumps. Seniors Norah Jamison (pole vault) and Daphne Hands (high jump) and sophomore Issabella Spell (jumps) are also title threats. The Huskies are clear KVAC B favorites.

2. Messalonskee: Speaking of teams with top-tier jumpers, an Eagles squad led by Kelsie Murray is an excellent bet to rack up points. Murray, a senior, is the defending KVAC A champion in the long and triple jumps and is the top returner in the high jump. Junior Alexandria McDonough is the No. 3 returner in the high jump and will compete for the podium in the 400. Faith Holmes is also a podium threat in the 400, as well as the 55 hurdles, and fellow senior Annabelle Hanscom could place high in the distance events.

3. Skowhegan: River Hawks senior Grace Mayo has established herself as a top jumper in central Maine after finishing third in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump in KVAC A. Skowhegan also features sophomore Allie Goodrich, who competed in the 200 and 400 at outdoor states last year; junior McKaela McLaughlin, who placed fourth in the triple jump in the KVAC Large School outdoor meet; and potent freshman Grace Jewell, a league middle school outdoor champion in the long jump, triple jump and hurdles.

4. Gardiner/Maranacook/Lisbon: A three-school co-op gives the Tigers a chance to rack up some serious points, even as they move up to Class A. Gardiner senior Davyn Swindells holds the program record in the 200 (27.76 seconds) and is also a threat in the 55, 400 and triple jump. Junior Zarah Kristan looks to score in the shot put, while Maranacook juniors Evelyn Stevenson (Class C outdoor high jump champ) and Ella Giles (hurdles, high jump), and sophomore Caroline Harper (distance) add to the array of options.

Also keep an eye on: Winslow, Erskine Academy.

Mike Mandell came to the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel in April 2022 after spending five and a half years with The Ellsworth American in Hancock County, Maine. He came to Maine out of college after...

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