Outdoor track and field team soars in early season meet

By Matt Pascarella

Windham High School’s outdoor track and field team headed to Massabesic High School in Waterboro on Wednesday, May 1 for a meet against Gorham, Massabesic and Sanford and both Windham squads did well, with the girls finishing first with a score of 127.5, and the boys finishing third with a score of 66.

Windham sophomore Josephine Sibley clears the high jump
bar on Wednesday, May 1 at Massabesic High School during
an outdoor track and field meet against Gorham, Sanford,
and Massabesic. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

Girls

In the first section of the 100-meter dash, senior Khalysa Hammith finished first with a 13.00-second time. Sophomore Myla Vercoe finished third with a time of 14.02.

In the 200, sophomore Kendra Eubanks finished first with a time of 31.54, freshman Annabelle Harris finished in second place with a 34.31 time. In the second section, freshman Leana Robbins finished first with a 33.70 time.

In the 3200, sophomore Emma Fox finished second with a time of 14:23.22 minutes.

Junior Tayla Pelletier finished first in the 100-hurdles with a 15.28 time and broke a school record set in 1997. She also finished first in the triple jump with a distance of 36-08.25.

“I think the day went great ... it was definitely overwhelming, but I think I made the most of it and the team made the most of it,” said Pelletier. “Everyone on the team was supporting, everyone was helping each other out. Getting my mindset in the right place has helped me ... I need to focus on my technique a lot and trust in my speed.”

In the high jump, sophomore Josephine Sibley finished first with a height of 4-08.00.

Hammith finished first in the long jump with a 16-06.00 distance, junior Ava Gerrity finished second with a distance of 15-02.50; Vercoe was third with a 14-09.00 distance.

Junior Marina Schwartz finished first in the discus with a throw of 82-05 and second in the shot put with a 26-07.50 distance.

“We witnessed massive efforts by all in the meet in all 19 events which offered us this dominant win,” said Windham girls’ outdoor track and field coach Jeff Riddle. “What went well was ... skilling-up the players, asking them to try new things to best determine what events best suit them and support our program plan, and then having them respond to the opportunity in front of them. We have to sustain the dedication to shelf self-doubt. We have to keep introducing players to new events when they are strong enough physically and mentally to take it on; we need to never be complacent in thinking there is not more work to do ...”

Boys

In the first section of the 100-dash, senior Marcus Tillery finished second with an 11.33 time; sophomore Karl Longstreth was third with an 11.39 time, a personal record for him.

“Everyone has had a great meet,” said Longstreth. “A lot of personal records; I’m very confident in what we have as a team. I had a really good block start which I’ve been dawning over for the past year. Everyone as a whole has been really good and locked in the past couple practices. We need more commitment from the guys ... and we need to stay more focused in the classroom and on the track.”

In the second section of the 100, senior Ezra Foster finished first with a 12.09 time. In the third section, sophomore Sam Hutchinson finished first with a time of 12.44. Senior Jinqi Li was second at 12.46. In the fifth section, freshman Gabriel Bois finished first at 13.25.

In the 200, sophomore Ronan Mace finished first in the first section with a 27.22 time. In the third section, junior Dylan Fillinger finished first at 28.10. In the fifth section sophomore Connor Witham was first with a 24.58 time; junior Jacob Gagne was second place at 25.67.

Junior Andrew Young finished fourth in the 1600 with a 5:17.84 time.

In the 110 hurdles, junior Carter Engelman finished second with a 16.69 time. Junior Rory Good was third at 17.63

Engelman was first in the pole vault with a 13-00 height.

Sophomore Mason Arbour finished first in the triple jump with a 40-04.00 distance and third in the high jump with a 5-06.00 height.

In the shot put, senior Teddy Sanborn finished second and threw a 38-03.00 distance.

Witham finished seventh in the javelin with a throw of 116-10. Freshman Emmett Hutchinson threw 105-02.

“We had many athletes building on earlier performances and were able to get season best,” said Windham boys’ outdoor track and field coach Paula Pock. “Our goal is to continue to improve week to week and get athletes qualified for the SMAA Championships and the State Meet.” <