Bangor High School junior Sophia Chase said entering Monday’s State Class A indoor track meet at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, she had “never been so nervous for a meet” in her life.
And after winning the long jump, she felt tired.
“I was kind of out of it,” admitted Chase.
But she had two events left, the 200 and 400 meter dashes, and her team was depending on her.
“I knew what I had in me. And I knew I could pull through and get wins for my team. We all wanted to win. I don’t like losing,” said Chase, who went on to win the 400 and 200 and lead the Rams to their fourth indoor title in five years.
Her three wins produced 30 of Bangor’s 78 points and the 4-by-200 relay team nailed down the victory by winning the meet’s last event.
Bangor coach Al Mosca said Chase is just the second athlete to register a 30-point indoor state meet performance for the Rams in his nine seasons as the coach. Sprinter Anna Connors is the other.
“What Sophia did was unbelievable,” said Mosca. “She had a great day. She is such a hard worker. It seems like every time she steps on the track she gets better.”
Bangor edged defending state champ Scarborough by four points. Portland was third with 54 points and rounding out the top 10 were Marshwood of Eliot (41), Cheverus of Portland (37), Windham (33), Falmouth (31), Gorham (27), Thornton Academy of Saco (26.5) and Hampden Academy (26). Brewer was 11th with 25.5 points.
Chase said she felt good going into the long jump and even though she didn’t register a personal record, she was pleased with her winning jump of 17-08-25.
She surprised herself with her 400, which she won with a time of 1:00.65.
“I don’t know what I had in me. I felt like I was flying. I didn’t get burnt out or anything. I felt so much adrenaline to finish the race,” Chase said.
And then she captured the 200 by the narrowest of margins over Ashley Connolly of Gorham. She posted a time of 26.30 and Connolly clocked a 26.31.
“I had a really good push at the end to cross just before her,” said Chase.
The Rams went into the 4-by-200 relay trailing Scarborough by two points and needed to earn three more points than Scarborough to annex the title.
They did just that.
Madeline Thai, JJ Williams, Gabby Goding and Bayley Fryer won the relay in 1:50.07 to edge Hampden Academy’s relay team of Taylor Scales, Natalia Charles, Breah Curtis and Grace Marquis by .34.
They earned 10 points for the win and Scarborough’s relay team finished fifth, earning four points.
“I felt really confident about the relay,” said Mosca. “They’ve been in that environment in the past. They’ve run in big meets for us. [Thai] is a great leader; JJ had a phenomenal meet; Gabby is an awesome story because she wanted to do something in the winter and this is just her second year running track. She has done an amazing job. And we have one of the top 200-meter sprinters [Fryer] closing it out for us.”
Chase couldn’t run the relay with them because you are only allowed to enter three events.
When she did run with Thai, Williams and Fryer in a meet earlier this season, they set the state record.
“We scored in 10 of 14 events,” pointed out Mosca. “That shows our depth. I’m really proud of the kids and the coaches. Everyone contributed. It was a great team win. It was a great day for us.”
Mosca said his team showed a lot of grit and mental toughness.
“We pride ourselves on mental toughness. They embrace every opportunity to compete,” he added.
Chase and the 4-by-200 relay team were the only Rams to win events but they earned points in six other events.
Alice Thibodeau was second in the pole vault; Thai earned a fourth in the 55-meter dash and a fifth in the 55-meter hurdles; Williams was fifth in the 400 and the long jump; Fryer was fifth in the 200; Alexis Blue was sixth in the 800 and Kaliyah Saunders was eighth and both ran a leg for the fifth-place 4-by-800 relay team along with Alivia Mitchell and Anne St. Peter and Alexandra Collins was eighth in the shot put.
The other winners were Scarborough’s Isabella Harmon (high jump, pole vault) and Laurel Driscoll (1-mile run), Windham’s Tayla Pelletier (triple jump, 55-meter hurdles), Connolly (55-meter dash), Portland’s Samantha Moore (800), Thornton Academy’s Margaret Tripp (2-mile run) and Emma Barnes (shot put) and Falmouth’s 4-by-800 relay team of Maeve Ginevan, Emory Westburg, Sara Tennent and Georgia Moon.
Among other noteworthy performances from Bangor-area schools, Brewer’s Lauren Vanidestine posted thirds in the triple jump and 55-meter dash and a seventh in the 200/ Hampden Academy’s Gretchen Plant was fourth in the 1-mile and 2-mile runs.
Hampden Academy’s Curtis was fifth in the triple jump.
