By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

BRIGHT AMOAKO of Fryeburg Academy tries to clear the high jump bar during recent track and field competition. (Photo courtesy of Brea McDonald)

Kayla Gray and Corinn Bedell find themselves on opposite spectrums.

Kayla knows how to walk really fast.

Corinn knows how to run really fast.

Each athlete posted record times at the Western Maine Conference Track & Field Championships last Saturday at Yarmouth.

At the start of the season, LR athletes looked at events, in which the team had no entrant. Gray decided to pursue racewalking, along with other events.

“Kayla always asks what she should do that day for the racewalk. Even when the day called for an easy run, Kayla still included some walking drills in her workout. She did a lot of core exercises to help in her conditioning,” LR Coach Mark Snow said. “After Kayla broke 10 minutes, we started to write goal 200 meter splits to help with pacing. Like all of our athletes, the workout times and distances were keyed in to the goal race pace.”

While conditioning was a key to success, Kayla’s drive and focus to break the LR school record proved just as important. On Saturday at the WMC championships, Kayla was “way ahead” of projected splits.

“With 600 meters to go, she was 25 seconds under our goal time. At that point, she decided to go for the win,” Coach Snow said. “She went into the lead with 500 meters to go and pulled away from the entire field over the last 500 meters.”

Kayla broke the LR record by 30 seconds — 8:48.59 —  and won the Lakers’ only conference title.

MASON KLUGE-EDWARDS of Lake Region (right) is in a title battle during recent hurdle competition held at Sacopee Wells blitzes LR in final lax period Valley High School in South Hiram. BRIGHT AMOAKO of Fryeburg Academy tries to clear the high jump bar during recent track and field competition. (Photo courtesy of Brea McDonald) Fryeburg snares (Photo courtesy of Brea McDonald)

“Kayla showed us many things this season, especially that racewalking is not a joke; don’t be afraid to try new events; train with a purpose at every practice; and increasing your knowledge and preparation for your event can be very beneficial,” Coach Snow said.

The previous LR record was held by Stephanie Athanosios at 9:18.12 set in June 2005.

“Stephanie displayed the same work ethic and drive to succeed that Kayla has shown,” Coach Snow added.

Coaches Snow and Dana Caron were pleased with the teams’ efforts, especially how the girls rallied around the loss of top scorer freshman Kate Hall, who did not compete due to “precautionary reasons.”

“I cannot put in words how impressed and proud Coach Caron and I are of the team,” Coach Snow said. “The girls exceeded what we were seeded for by so much that had Kate been healthy and held her seed, we would have finished second in the meet. The girls’ team has not done that well since 1985. So yes, we are extremely pleased. It was a great effort and a spectacular day.”

Notable efforts included:

Molly Hook again proved that she excels when the meets get bigger, tossing the javelin eight feet farther for a personal best and a fifth place finish.

“She was seeded not to place,” the coaches pointed out.

Hook had a seasonal best in the discus with a toss of 88-feet 5-inches to claim third place.

Coaches debated which events to place Kelsey Winslow in. She placed in the javelin and 300 meter hurdles, and was a member of the top relay teams. Same dilemma with Sydney Hancock, and the same result as the junior placed in her individual events and ran strong legs in both relays.

Hannah Perkins showed some Ironwoman in her, running and scoring in the 400 and 800 meters.

“This is not an easy task because the events are close to each other,” Coach Snow said. “She responded with a season best in the 400 meters — good for third place — and almost held on for third in the 800 meters. This ‘double’ combined for 10 points, which is equivalent to winning an event. Hannah also ran strong legs on the two relay teams.”

Top performers were:

Elizabeth Schreiber 4x400 split (1:11.2)

Kelsey Winslow 4x400 split (1:02.4); 300m hurdles (49.76)

Sydney Hancock 4x400 split (1:04.5); 300m hurdles (49.05)

Hannah Perkins 4x400 split (1:03.2)

Aime Worcester shot put (25-10.25)

Meghan VanLoan shot out (25-2)

Molly Hook javelin (81-2)

Boontarika Kittiwirayanon shot put (18-6.25)

Maude Meeker 800m (2:43.08); 4x800 split (2:52.1)

Julia Carlson 4x800 split (3:03.5); javelin (72-5)

Courtney Yates javelin (53-11)

Brianna Gallinari 4x800 split (3:15.5)

Michaela Gagnon 100m hurdles (21.65)

Ashton Cutting long jump (10-0)

Mark MacDougall 4x400 split (1:02.8)

Gaelon Kolczynski 200m (27.84)

Gino Cobb discus (67-10)

Bedell ties all-time mark

Meanwhile, Fryeburg Academy senior Corinn Bedell tied the all-time record for the fastest 400 meters ever run by a girl in the State of Maine. She now shares the honor with Cuyler Goodwin of Mt. Ararat with a time of 57.17.

Other Raider top performances included:

Kyle Barboza cut a minute off his time to qualify for the State Meet in the racewalk.

The girls’ 4x400 repeats as WMC champions. The foursome included Jamie Gulikson, Laura Pulito, Sage Hennessy and Corin Bedell.

Western Maine Conference Championships

Yarmouth High School

May 26

Girls’ Division

Team standings: Greely 152, York 101, Falmouth 83, Fryeburg Academy 79, Poland 74, Lake Region 63, Gray-New Gloucester 32, Cape Elizabeth 3.

100 Meters: 1. Emma Turton, Poland, 12.91; 2. Sage Hennessy, FA, 13.22.

200 Meters: 1. Emma Turton, Poland, 26.09; 2. Corinn Bedell, FA, 27.00; 3. Sage Hennessy, FA, 27.13.

400 Meters: 1. Corinn Bedell, FA, 57.17; 2. Sage Hennessy, FA, 1:01.02; 3. Hannah Perkins, LR, 1:03.40.

800 Meters: 1. Jessica Wilson, Greely, 2:28.01; 4. Hannah Perkins, LR, 2:35.18; 9. Laura Pulito, FA, 2:39.90; 11. Maude Meeker, LR, 2:43.08; 20. Kayla Gray, LR, 2:56.81.

1600 Meters: 1. Kirstin Sandreuter, Greely, 5:11.31; 7. Jacqui Black, LR, 5:46.64.

3200 Meters: 1. Kirstin Sandreuter, Greely, 11:36.98; 7. Jacqui Black, LR, 12:55.51; 15. Briana Gallinari, LR, 14:48.18.

300 Meter Hurdles: 1. Emma Turton, Poland, 47.11; 2. Sydney Hancock, LR, 49.05; 4. Kelsey Winslow, LR, 49.76; 13. Christina DiPietro, FA, 56.09.

4X100 Relay: 1. York 52.36; 2. Lake Region 52.69; 5. Fryeburg Academy 56.57

4X400 Relay: 1. Fryeburg Academy 4:17.17; 2. Lake Region 4:21.31.

4X800 Relay: 1. Greely 10:11.52; 4. Fryeburg Academy 10:46.32; 6. Lake Region 11:53.27.

High Jump: 1. Hope Kohtala, Poland, 5-0; 9. Leah Lueke, FA, 4-6.

Pole Vault: 1. Abby Bonnevie, Greely, 9-6; 3. Jamie Gullikson, FA, 8-6.

Long Jump: 1. Charlotte Cutshall, Falmouth, 16-2; 9. Elizabeth Shreiber, LR, 13-0.25; 14. Kristen Dostie, FA, 12-2.50.

Triple Jump: 1. Emily Saunders, Greely, 35-5.25; 5. Sydney Hancock, LR, 31-2.50.

Shot Put: 1. Jenna Serunian, Falmouth, 39-6.50; 4. Bailey Friedman, FA, 32-3.25; 10. Aime Worcester, LR, 25-10.25; 11. Meghan VanLoan, LR, 25-2; 17. Boontari Kittiwirayanon, LR, 18-6.25.

Discus: 1. Jenna Serunian, Falmouth, 95-3; 3. Molly Hook, LR, 88-5; 5. Bailey Friedman, FA, 75-2; 15. Calli Buzzell, LR, 57-0; 19. Jennifer Perry, FA, 48-1; 21. Alex Sargent, LR, 44-6; 25. Elizabeth Dyer, FA, 41-9.

Javelin: 1. Kierstin Stritch, Gray-NG, 95-8; 2. Elizabeth Grzyb, FA, 93-0; 4. Kelsey Winslow, LR, 81-9; 5. Molly Hook, LR, 81-2; 6. Bailey Friedman, FA, 78-7; 7. Julia Carlson, LR, 72-5; 15. Jamie Gullikson, FA, 63-0; 17. Courtney Yates, LR, 53-11.

1600 Meter Racewalk: 1. Kayla Gray, LR, 8:48.59; 5. Ashannah Tripp, FA, 10:28.67.

Boys’ Division

Team Standings: York 184, Falmouth 175, Greely 86, Gray-New Gloucester 58, Fryeburg Academy 39, Cape Elizabeth 38, Poland 9, Lake Region no score.

200 Meters: 1. Jacob Buhelt, Falmouth, 22.84; 6. Forrest Stearns, FA, 24.08; 16. Sullivan Briggs, FA, 26.44; 17. Andrew Emery, FA, 26.62; 22. Gaelon Kolczynski, LR, 27.84.

400 Meters: 1. Josh Brooks, York, 51.14; 3. Forrest Stearns, FA, 53.48; 15. Sullivan Briggs, FA, 1:01.51.

800 Meters: 1. Nestor Taylor, Greely, 2:00.91; 5. Silas Eastman, FA, 2:05.22; 11. Tyler O’Keefe, FA, 2:14.45; 20. Dacota Griffin, FA, 2:25.83.

1600 Meters: 1. Will Shafer, Gray-NG, 4:19.76; 2. Silas Eastman, FA, 4:28.01; 17. Thomas Rose, FA, 5:03.87; 18. Mark MacDougall, LR, 5:05.86; 32. David Fulton, FA, 5:33.56; 39. Kyle DeSouza, LR, 5:45.92.

3200 Meters: 1. Timothy Follo, Falmouth, 10:07.33; 11. Thomas Rose, FA, 11:54.70; 13. David Powers, FA, 14:21.62.

110 Meter Hurdles: 1. Reid Pryzant, Falmouth, 15.69; 8. Mason Kluge-Edwards, LR, 22.13.

300 Meter Hurdles: 1. Tom Reid, York, 40.38; 10. Mason Kluge-Edwards, LR, 54.34.

4X400 Relay: 1. York 3:31.43; 4. Fryeburg Academy 3:52.21; 7. Lake Region 4:21.08.

4X800 Relay: 1. York 8:30.30; 3. Fryeburg Academy 8:45.77.

High Jump: 1. Elijah Locke, Gray-NG, 6-4; 12. Bright Amoako, FA, 5-2; 15. Divine Dockery, FA, 5-0; 17. Milos Todosijevic, FA, 4-8.

Pole Vault: 1. Patrick Thornton, Falmouth, 10-6; 13. Dacota Griffin, FA, 7-6.

Long Jump: 1. Nick Maynard, Greely, 20-7.25; 15. Liuke Yang, FA, 15-9; 20. Ashton Cutting, LR, 10-0.

Triple Jump: 1. Nick Maynard, Greely, 39-7.50; 10. Bright Amoako, FA, 35-3.75; 12. Mason Kluge-Edwards, LR, 34-11; 14. Milos Todosijevic, FA, 33-0.25.

Shot Put: 1. Andrew Lavallee, Cape Elizabeth, 46-9.50; 4. Scott Pelkie, FA, 40-5.50; 6. Edward Price, FA, 40-0; 11. Zachary Frank, FA, 37-4.25; 12. Andrew Lyman, FA, 36-9.50; 25. Liam Fenton, FA, 28-3; 26. Joshua Brecker, FA, 27-10.50.

Discus: 1. Ryan MacDonald, Falmouth, 115-4; 6. Edward Price, FA, 104-9; 8. Walker-James Mallory, FA, 102-10; 14. Scott Pelkie, FA, 88-8; 21. Joseph DeRemer, FA, 72-2; 23. Gino Cobb, LR, 67-10; 26. Reid O’Brien, FA, 64-8; 29. Alrajhi Sappair, LR, 61-4.

Javelin: 1. Matt Kingry, Falmouth, 163-1; 8. Zachary Frank, FA, 125-5; 9. Mark MacDougall, LR, 124-9; 15. Edward Price, FA, 113-0; 21. Kyle DeSouza, LR, 95-8; 23. Hunter Griffin, FA, 86-0; 24. Lionel Rutabayiro, FA, 82-5; 27. Wesley Trembley, FA, 71-1.

1600 Meter Racewalk: 1. Ian Marshall, Gray-NG, 8:46.65; 3. Kyle Barboza, FA, 8:53.59.