BATH — Falmouth senior Connor Piers said he knew going into the 3,200-meter run Saturday that his team had a real shot at their first Class A state track and field state title. Piers said he just had a feeling, and he listened to his mom in the race in which he placed fourth.

“She tells me before every meet, ‘Buddy, go to the pain cave. You’ve got to want to hurt,'” Piers said. “The heat today was brutal and the wind was bad. But I just felt different. I tied my season best, and it’s because of my coaches and my team. I’m not running in college so this was my last day on the track. To have all these people counting on you and to have the opportunity to come through for all of them on one day, it’s just an incredible feeling. Probably one I’ll never have again.”

Skowhegan's Kyle Jacques jumps in the long jump competition at the Class A track and field state championships Saturday in Bath. Portland Press Herald photo by John Ewing

Falmouth just caught the Thornton boys — who captured five of 16 individual events — to tie the Golden Trojans with 67 points, ahead of Cheverus, which collected 64 points at McMann Field in Bath.

In the girls meet the Cheverus girls also won five individual events and the 1,600-meter relay to capture their second-straight Class A title a year after winning their first. They finished with a convincing 84 points ahead of Thornton, which collected 64, and Gorham, which scored 49.

In the boys meet, Falmouth coach Danny Paul said he told his team all season and all day Saturday if they don’t give up, the win was possible. They tied Thornton winning only the 400-meter relay with an all-underclassmen squad of junior Ethan Ali, freshman Alvaro Fuentes, sophomore Adrian Friedman and junior Kyle Bouchard in 44.16 seconds.

But Falmouth scored where it could as junior Douglas Cooke took second in the 400 (52.13) and Fuentes took second in the 200 (22.76), and it took second place in both the 3,200-meter relay (8:28.79) and 1,600 relay (3:30.69).

“We’ve been talking about it all day,” Paul said.

Meanwhile Thornton finished atop the scoring board to share the Class A title by amassing it points largely on the backs of junior standouts Travis Synder, who won three events, and Jason Montano, who won two.

Synder won the 110 hurdles (14.96), the 300 hurdles (41.53) and his signature event — the pole vault (14-9). Synder, who has cleared 16-1 indoors, said the gusting wind made the pole vault difficult. But he was most disappointed with the long jump, in which he took sixth (20-10) to finish the day with 32 points.

“I tied my (best mark) in the long jump, but I would have liked to have finished better than sixth,” Synder said. “The meet will be really close. We saw this chance coming. Everyone on the team has been so supportive all season — we’ve pushed each other.”

Montano won the shot put (55-2.75) and the discus (145-07) with ease, looking like a ballroom dancer practicing his rotation in the discus before the event — but then heaving it out into the field with a roar.

He said all season he thought of nothing but the team title and was pleased they won a piece of it, but hinted he wanted the whole title next year.

“This is my first team title and I’m really proud of this team, they really pushed it. But I’m pretty sure we’ll do some great things next year,” Montano said.

Cheverus sophomore Sean Tompkins also won two events, capturing the 100 (11.06) and the 200 (22.64). And Mt. Ararat sophomore Lisandro Berry-Gaviria also was a double winner taking the 1,600 title (4:26.66) and the 3,200 (9:56.43), as was Windham senior Alex Wilkins, who won the triple jump (44.01.25) and the long jump (21-9.5).

In the girls meet, Cheverus proved a freshman factory yet again — as Victoria Bossong in her first outdoor season won the 100 (12.18) and the 400 in a personal-best time of 56.95. Bossong’s previous best in the event was 58.85.

Cheverus junior Emma White also powered Cheverus winning two events and taking third in the 100 hurdles (15.52). After years of placing second in the jumps at the state meet, White took control at the sand pits winning the long jump (17-5) and the triple jump (37-04) in an upset of top-seeded Westbrook junior Nyagoa Bayak who also jumped 37-4 to finish second.

Bayak did capture the high jump with a state-record jump of 5-11, which surpassed the 10-year-old mark of 5-9 set by Jesse Labreck of Messalonkskee.

“We didn’t talk much about the (title),” White said. “And I think that helped. I went into the jumps without any pressure. We knew it was a possibility, but I just went into the jumps with the mindset, we’d see what happens. I think that’s why I did well. I (got a personal best mark) in the triple jump.”

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