The Greely Rangers of Cumberland Center flexed their depth and versatility on Saturday, winning both the boys and girls divisions of the Class B state track championships at MDI High School in Bar Harbor.
Senior Cary Drake and the two-time reigning champion York Wildcats (90 points) racked up eight medals on the girls side, but were just three points shy of Greely (93 points), led by junior Jacqueline Franklin and freshman Victoria Zandan. Freeport finished with 63 points, and Leavitt of Turner finished with 60 points.
On the boys side, junior Owen Partridge and the Anania brothers helped Greely (104 points) pick up where it left off in February, previously dominating the Class B indoor track state championships. Reigning outdoor state champ Leavitt was led by junior Stephen Pierre, coming in at a close second (98 points). Gray-New Gloucester finished with 62 points, and York had 61.
The battle between the Greely girls and York girls was settled on the final event of the day, in which Franklin anchored the Rangers’ first place finish (10 points; 4:13.6) in the 4×400-meter relay, and the Wildcats wound up third (six points; 4:16.0).
Franklin also contributed to Greely’s first-place finish in the 4×100-meter relay, and won the individual 400-meter dash. Teammate Zandan won gold in the long jump (by seven inches) and 300-meter hurdles, in addition to medaling in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles.
York’s trio of distance stars in Drake, senior Molly Kenealy and sophomore Zoe Carroll kicked the meet off with a nine-second victory in the 4×800-meter relay. They went on to net three gold medals and two silver medals in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races.
Fryeburg Academy freshman Avery Bariteau (100-meter, 200-meter dashes) and MDI senior Olivia Pratt (shot put, discus) also starred, taking home two gold medals apiece.
On the boys’ side, Pratt’s teammate senior Miles Burr won silver in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, behind Fryeburg Academy senior Logan Walton. Burr still owns the state’s fastest 200-meter dash (21.67 seconds), which he ran at the New England Championships in Bangor last spring.
Greely’s Partridge proceeded to win the 400-meter dash, and also anchored the Rangers’ silver-medal 4×400-meter relay and gold-medal 4×800-meter relay — John Bapst of Bangor won the 4×400-meter relay by two hundredths of a second (3:31.12) and finished second in the latter.
In the field, Greely junior Samuel Anania won the pole vault, junior Alexander Mendoza was second in the triple jump and senior Charles Anania placed third in the javelin throw (Charles also ran the second leg of Greely’s 4×400-meter relay).
Meanwhile, Leavitt’s Pierre won the long jump by six inches (21 feet, 9.25 inches), tied for first in the high jump, and collected gold in both the 300-meter and 110-meter hurdles.
In the distance events, Gray-New Gloucester senior Carter Libby won the 800-meter race by three seconds (1:57.2), also won gold in the 1,600-meter race and finished third in the 3,200-meter race. Lake Region junior Sam Laverdiere finished second in the mile, and won the two-mile.
