Even though on paper the Bangor High girls appear to have the best team in the Eastern Maine Indoor Track League this winter, first-year coach Jaime Cooke knows that anything is possible in this sport.
That was the case in the spring of 2007 when the Bangor boys withstood a strong Edward Little team to capture a Class A state championship.
“We went in there predicted to win [and] it came down to the 2-mile so you just never know,” Cooke said.
The Rams do return arguably the fastest girl in Eastern Maine and one of the quickest in the state in senior Brittney Chapman, but Old Town, Orono and Mount Desert Island each have a blend of talented athletes, so the Rams’ climb back to the top won’t be an easy one. Two-time defending champion Brewer lost numerous scorers to graduation, but they will also battle for points as they remain strong in the distance events,
“There’s so many factors that play into track competitions, it’s hard for me to [make] predictions because you never know what’s going to happen,” Cooke said.
That was the case last year when Brewer, one of the favorites in the Class A state meet, had a few key athletes affected by illness which cost them key points.
Bangor, meanwhile, didn’t take too many hits to graduation, but it did lose Dee Wilbur (hurdles) and Cote Theriault (shot put), both EMITL champions in their respective events last winter, along with top pole vaulter Jen Tsang.
Chapman, one of the fastest girls in Class A who broke the 60-second barrier in the 400 last spring, is Eastern Maine’s top returning sprinter.
The Rams do return one defending individual league champ in high jumper Megan Hogan.
Bangor’s other key returnees include Rachel Huber and Kendall Lunn in the distance events and Laken Thomas and Jade Baumbrind in the sprints.
The two-time defending league champion Witches took some significant graduation hits, losing a number of key points.
But coach Matt Collins’ club will still be tough in the distance’ events, led by senior Lily Sund, sophomore Sara Chavarie and junior Michelle Haluska.
Other key athletes include Bekah Clark in the long sprints and middle distances, Emily Burnham in the pole vault and hurdles and Chelsea Gillies in the sprints.
There will be plenty of other distance runners to watch around the league, including Brianne Dunn of Ellsworth, Meghan Curtis of Orono, Chelsie Oldfield of Foxcroft Academy and Alley Becker of Hampden.
Other top athletes include Kate Gerow of John Bapst and Holli Kenison of Orono in the hurdles and jumps, Logan Clark and Katie DeShane of Old Town in the jumps and Chloe Paul of Orono and Destiny Kanu of MDI in the sprints.
MDI Marathon praised
The Mount Desert Island Marathon, held each October, has been ranked the country’s “Most Scenic” by Runner’s World Magazine and was runnerup for “Best Overall Marathon” behind the Missoula (Montana) Marathon.
The race will be featured in the January 2010 issue of the running publication.
The year-long readers’ choice poll included all 425 marathons run in the United States, and MDI was ranked ahead of both the Boston (fifth) and New York City (23rd) marathons. It was rated highly for its course layout, overall value and exceptional event organization.
The MDI Marathon has been praised in the past by ECO-Marathon (2002) and ESPN (2006) for its scenic point-to-point course, which starts in Bar Harbor and finishes in Southwest Harbor.
The 2010 edition of the race is scheduled for Oct. 17, and race officials expect the field to fill quickly due to the race’s increased exposure from the aforementioned poll results.
Luchini makes debut
Former Ellsworth and Stanford University running star Louie Luchini made his marathoning debut over the weekend, competing in the California International Marathon in Sacramento.
Luchini covered the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 28 seconds, finishing 17th overall.
