Saturday provided the Belfast High School track and field teams with an opportunity to compete against some of the top teams in the Penobscot Valley Conference.
Belfast, which is a member of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference, demonstrated that it may be in position to challenge for a Class B outdoor title this spring.
The Lions used a handful of front-line performances and ample depth in cruising to a convincing victory over nine other teams at the Brewer Community School track and field complex. Coach Dale Nealey’s squad scored 208 points to outdistance fellow Class B competitor Old Town (140) and Class A Brewer (102).
Belfast’s effort was spearheaded by Drew Nealey, coach Dale Nealey’s son. The junior won the 110-meter hurdles in 16.11 seconds, claimed the pole vault at 13 feet and took the triple jump (40-1). He also finished second in the 300 hurdles (43.25).
Drew Nealey has claimed the pole vault state title indoors each of the last two seasons and annexed the outdoor crown last spring — all at 13-6.
Nealey’s 13-foot effort on Saturday is the best in the state so far this season, according to the rankings published on the MaineTrackXC website.
The Lions’ other pace setters in Saturday’s multi-team meet included sprinter and jumper Steven Davis. The senior soared 19 feet, 11¾ inches in winning the long jump and took second in the 200 meters and third in the 100.
The other event winners included junior Rory Ambrose in the discus (126-6), senior sprinter Roger Quehl in the 400 (54.23) and junior Kevin Miller in the 1,600 race walk (12:14.27). Ambrose added a fourth in the shot put.
Quehl teamed up with senior Levi Lapham and juniors Alex Morsey and Arius Hipos to capture the 4×400-meter relay in 3:51.96, and he also joined Lapham and Davis on the Lions’ runner-up 4×100 contingent.
Lapham was second in both the high jump and the javelin, while Adam Littlefield logged second in the shot put, third in the javelin and sixth in the discus. Other top-four performers included Ricky Smith (2nd, 800), Cameron Culbertson (2nd, pole vault), Tyler Noyes (third, 800), Jacob Racioppi (third, pole vault), Morsey (fourth, 400) and Hipos (fourth, high jump).
Belfast is chasing the program’s first state outdoor championship since 2004, when the Lions won in Class B. Belfast also claimed state titles in 2002, 1999 and 1998.
Boutin still out front
Old Town High School’s Nick Boutin continues to be the man to beat in the PVC Class B sprints.
The senior sped to two victories on Saturday at Brewer, winning both the 100 (11.59) and the 200 (23.69), in addition to competing on the Coyotes’ first-place 4×100 relay quartet (46.15) that included sophomore Joshua Willey, senior Charles Moody and sophomore Thomas Darby.
Boutin is the defending Class B outdoor champion in both the 100 and the 200.
Darby was a close second to his teammate in the 100 at 11.71 (.12 behind) and wound up third in the 200.
Setting the pace
A handful of Eastern Maine runners and jumpers are out in front of the statewide pack with their early season performances.
Sophomore Kiana Letourneau of Lawrence High in Fairfield owns the fastest 400-meter time in the girls ranks at 1:02.74, and junior Lauren Brown of Waterville has clocked the top 1,600-meter time of 5:33.18.
Emma Gutheinz, a junior at Camden Hills High in Rockport, has posted a 12:57.64 that is tops in the 3,200. Her teammate and classmate Melissa Kessel has run a 49.87 in the 300 hurdles that is the standard in Maine for 2015.
Katie Hughes of Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield is the top javelin thrower at 102-5.
Among the boys, senior Ralph Magnani of Mount Desert Island in Bar Harbor has the leading 400-meter time (51.67), senior Aaron Willingham of Mt. Blue in Farmington features the best 1,600 clocking (4:34.68), and senior Eric Hathaway of Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield boasts a state-best throw of 165-10 in the javelin.