Windham High School’s boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams exceled during the first track meet of 2026, called the New Year’s Invitational and featuring schools from all over Maine and some parts of New Hampshire held at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham on Saturday, Jan. 3.
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| Windham freshman Madisen Valliere competes in the high jump during the New Year's Invitational Pentathlon indoor track event at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham on Friday, Jan. 2. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA |
GIRLS
“When you have a meet like this, it quasi-replicates the big championship meets,” said Windham girls’ indoor track and field coach Jeff Riddle. “What I saw that went really well was the team mindset of showing up and being here and wanting to be here and trying new things. To see them implement what we are working on back at school is the whole point.”
Senior Addison Shanoltz said she didn’t know what to expect coming into today. She set a new school record in the pole vault when she skyrocketed 9-6 feet and finished second overall.
In the 800, junior Grace Lee finished seventh overall with a time of 2:33.23 minutes. Not far behind, teammate and senior Emma Fox finished 12th overall with a 2:37.18 time.
“It was a good race ... we all grouped together. It was good competition,” said Fox. “My goal was to (get a personal record) and go out and run the fastest time that I ran this year – and I did do that. There are so many teams at this invitational and that preps you for who you’ll be going against at regionals and during the state championship.”
Valliere threw 23-0.77 in the Pentathlon shotput and finished fifth in that event.
"I’ve never done track before, so it’s cool to be a freshman and doing it,” said Valliere. “My goal was to get a personal best on a bunch of these because I haven’t done (a lot of) these events before. I think this will expand my event (experience) and open me up to (participating in other events).”
BOYS
“I think that was our mindset coming in – let’s just pick one or two events we want to focus on and see if we can stay sharp,” said Windham boys’ indoor track and field coach Paula Pock. “Everyone did great on the Pentathlon. It shows participants of the Pentathlon and this invitational that they are capable of far more than they think. It’s an opportunity to face a lot of competition we don’t generally see during the regular season.”
In the 800, junior Mason Bragdon finished with a time of 2:17.95, a personal record for him.
“It’s high adrenaline all the way through and it gives you that bump of getting faster times later in the season,” said Bragdon. “The 5K (yesterday) helped with the mindset. This was only 4 laps; I ran 25 yesterday. My goal for today was to hit a sub 220 benchmark.”
Behind him was senior Caleb Saucier with a time of 2:28.47, who participated in the Pentathlon the day prior.
Saucier said the Pentathlon was good practice for the New Year’s Invitational. During the Pentathlon, he finished sixth in the 1,000-meter run with a 3:05.17 time.
“This invitational is more experience, more experience with the nerves, with the environment of the meets,” said Saucier. “Every meet matters ... every chance to compete ... really helps progress me further. It’s more fun (to have a larger group to compete against). I think our team as a whole has been doing pretty well.” <
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