Danielle Hutchins has put quite a stamp on track and field in Maine.
The record-breaking Mount Desert Island senior, who holds the fastest times in the history of the Penobscot Valley Conference (outdoor) and Eastern Maine Indoor Track League in every race from 400 meters down, will be looking to go out with a bang at Saturday’s Class B state championship.
But perhaps what makes the University of Maine-bound Hutchins even happier is that she won’t have to leave the island for this meet as the Class B competition is in Bar Harbor.
“I’m very excited, I don’t have to wake up early,” she said. “Every state meet we’ve had to go somewhere and I’ve had to wake up at 4 in the morning, and I’m not a morning person and I don’t sleep [well] on a bus.”
The Class A teams will compete at Thornton Academy’s Hill Stadium in Saco and the Class C schools at McMann Field in Bath.
All three meets get under way at 10 a.m. with the 4×800 relay and preliminary heats in the dash and hurdles.
Hutchins eclipsed the one PVC running event record she didn’t have at last weekend’s conference championships in Bangor, clocking 58.21 seconds in the 400 and breaking Lindsay Burlock’s record.
But if there’s any race she wants this weekend it’s the 100 dash where she’ll have a rematch with York senior Chelsey Tewell, who nipped Hutchins in the 55 dash at the state indoor championships.
“I’m just going to try my hardest, that’s just what I’m going to say,” Hutchins said. “I kind of want to win the 100 this time.”
Hutchins will also compete in the 400 meters, where she is the top seed, the 4×100 relay, where the Trojans own Class B’s top-ranked time, and she’ll also be in the mix in the 200, where she’s ranked third.
“It’s going to be good because we’ll have more people coming to watch,” Hutchins said.
Her other records include marks of 12.55 in the 100 dash and 25.97 in the 200 outdoors, and 58.26 in the 400, 7.22 in the 55 and 26.15 in the 200 indoors.
Elsewhere in Class B, Caribou’s Hannah Saunders is the top seed in the 1,600 race walk by almost a minute, and she’s also a contender in the distance races.
Waterville, the defending state champion, is favored to win another, which would give it a third consecutive crown.
Many of the athletes on coach Ian Wilson’s club are no strangers to winning.
A number of his top athletes played soccer for him and won a Class A state title last fall in addition to state championships in basketball.
The Panthers are led by University of Maine-bound Shelby Tuttle in the jumps and hurdles, Danielle Fossa in the weights and Taylor Frame in the distance races.
Class A: While the Bangor and Brewer girls will be looking for top-5 finishes, KVAC champ Edward Little of Auburn will be seeking redemption.
The Red Eddies, who won their conference championship meet rather easily, used that as a tune-up for a long awaited rematch with Scarborough, which won last spring by beating out EL in the 4×400.
The teams were tied going into that relay.
But, as Eddies coach Rebecca Hefty put it, the 2009 season started on that hot June day in Windham.
“Since a year ago they’ve been training for this Saturday,” said Hefty, a Wisconsin native. “They are ready, humble and eager and really looking forward to a meet on Saturday.”
While they rolled past their competition at KVAC’s, the Eddies used that meet to qualify more individuals for the states and it worked out.
Hefty has 33 qualifiers, including Emily Dodge, one of the state’s top hurdlers and jumpers, and Abby Dunn and Christie Bernier, seeded 1-2 in the race walk.
“It’s going to be really fun, we’ve done what we can do to prepare them,” Hefty said. “I have never been so excited.”
The Eddies will also look to counter Scarborough’s depth in the running events with their own in the field events, particularly the discus and javelin.
Bangor, with its high seeds in Brittney Chapman, Deanna Wilbur and Katie Porter, have an excellent chance for a top-five slot, or perhaps better.
Chapman is one of three girls in the 400 (Brunswick’s Kristin Slotnick, Biddeford’s Maria Curit) who have eclipsed the 1-minute barrier this spring, and the top spot there is up for grabs.
Chapman is also a threat in the 200 dash, and she’ll also run the 4×400 and possibly the 4×100.
Wilbur and EL’s Chapman should have a couple of great battles in the 100 and 300 hurdles, respectively, while Porter is the top seed in the pole vault at 9 feet, 6 inches.
Brewer is led by Mackenzie DeGraff in the jumps, Kaitlin Noyes in the pole vault, and Kira Giroux in the sprints while the Witches also have a third-seeded 4×800 team at 9:59.52.
The race of the day could be the 1,600 between freshman stars Abbey Leonardi of Kennebunk and Emily Durgin of Bonny Eagle in Buxton.
Leonardi has run 4:58.34 this spring and Durgin 5:03.63. The Class A state record is 4:57.27, set by Mount Ararat of Topsham’s Jen Moreau 10 years ago.
Class C: Defending state champion John Bapst of Bangor is favored to capture an unprecedented seventh title in this decade.
The Crusaders boast three of the state’s top distance runners in Kim Spencer, Mary Carmack and Kim Spencer, who will all run on coach Bruce Pratt’s second-seeded 4×800 team.
Bryan and Spencer are also ranked 1-2 in the 1,600 with Bryan the No. 1 seed in the 800 and Carmack, Spencer and Laura Donovan all threats in the 3,200.
Orono, with its depth in the pole vault and hurdles, has potential to give Bapst a run.
Calvary Chapel’s Lisanne Reiker is seeded eight inches above the Class C state record in the triple jump at 38-3½.
The all-time state best is 38-8, set by Jesse Labreck of Messalonskee in the New England’s last spring.
