DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — Not even a hot-air balloon flyover gone haywire could prevent the Orono Red Riots from dominating Friday’s Penobscot Valley Conference small-school track and field championships at Oakes Field.
The three-time defending Class C state champion Orono girls team featured four-event winner Lauren Stoops and superior depth in nearly every event to amass 208 points, far ahead of runner-up John Bapst of Bangor (78).
The Red Riots’ boys squad was nearly as dominant, outdistancing host Foxcroft Academy 194-133 for its title.
Jake Koffman paced that victory by winning the shot put (50 feet, 8¾ inches) and javelin (150-11) and breaking a 29-year-old record to claim the conference crown in the discus with a best effort of 162 feet, 5 inches.
“I’ve been working toward it all season,” said Koffman, a sophomore whose top throw bested the 161-8 set by Orono’s Palmer Myers in 1986. “My goal at the beginning of the season was to set a school record and a PVC record, and I’m so happy to finally get it.”
The Orono boys also got victories from Fredrik Linden in the 100 (11.62), Tristan Butterfield in the 800 (1:59.56), the 4×800 relay team of Jacob Fandel, Anthony Bottie, Eden Dulin and Tristan Butterfield and the 4×400 relay tandem of Jerome Stevens, Bottie, Stephen Nelson and Butterfield.
The Orono girls produced the other meet record in their final event as Stoops teamed with Kassidy Dill, Diana Tyutyunnyk and anchor Rebecca Lopez-Anido to win the 4×400-meter relay by more than a half-minute in 4:07:41.
That bested the previous mark of 4:08:22 set by Orono in 2004.
“That was the goal today,” said Stoops, a junior who also won the 100 (12.78) and 200 (26.52) dashes and the 300 hurdles with a personal best time of 46.74 seconds. “We were racing ourselves.”
Orono also won six other girls events, with Lopez-Anido the best in the 400 (59.50), Kylie Gray in the 1,600 race walk (9:35.67), Emma Honey in the triple jump (31-7½), Allison Pickering in the pole vault (8-6), the 4×800 relay team of Hannah Steelman, Dill, Lily Koffman and Lopez-Anido and the 4×100 relay of Bella DeSisto, Katherine O’Brien, Tyutyunnyk and Honey.
But perhaps the most memorable point of the day came when two hot-air balloons out for a test run in preparation for a weekend festival in town got caught in a draft along the nearby Piscataquis River and were sent toward the meet site when they landed, one in the area where the girls discus competition was underway and the other just beyond the boys javelin site.
“I just kept noticing it coming closer and closer, and just before some of us were going to do our third throws it started descending,” said Central of Corinth’s Tuuli Overturf, who went on to win the girls discus with a best throw of 97-3 once the competition resumed.
“It was kind of terrifying but it was funny at the same time. I was afraid we might hit them but they all landed safely.”
One of the balloons was able to relaunch quickly, but the balloon near the discus site had to be packed up and taken away by trailer.
“It landed past us but it flew right over us,” said Koffman. “It was kind of unfortunate because it was pretty distracting.”
Hunter Smith of Foxcroft Academy and Tia Tardy of Mattanawcook Academy were named the meet’s outstanding performers after winning four individual events apiece.
Smith, a junior, won the long jump (20-7½) and high jump (6-0) and added victories in both the 110 hurdles (16.29) and 300 hurdles (40.88) despite taking up those events for the first time barely two weeks ago.
“Meet to meet I’m figuring things out,” said Smith, who was due to leave immediately after the meet to attend a football scouting combine in Virginia over the weekend. “After I ran the 110 my coach came up and said I had a way better start, and every time I run it I keep improving. And my 300 hurdles was just the second time I’ve done it, so it’s just crazy.”
Tardy won all three girls distance events as well as the long jump. The sophomore won the 800 in 2:31.67, the 1,600 in 5:35.39 and the 3,200 in 11:41:33, and found time between those events to post a best of 16-10¾ in the long jump.
“The 2-mile was my main focus today because that’s where I knew I’d have the most competition, said Tardy, who pulled away from Orono’s Steelman over the final 100 meters to win by 2.92 seconds. “I was trying to run tactical races today because I was running four events, so I just tried running smart races.”
Other event winners in the girls meet were Katie Cotton of John Bapst in the 100 hurdles (16.55), Kelsey Kneeland of Mattanawcook in the high jump (4-10), Morgan Dauk of George Stevens of Blue Hill in the javelin (106-5) and Mavis Taungatu’a of Bucksport in the shot put (35-7).
Matt Toussaint of Fort Kent won both the 1,600 (4:31.89) and 3,200 (10:14.51), while other boys winners were Cameron Gordon of George Stevens in the 400 (54.32), Valentin Nekrasov of Dexter in the 200 (23.46), Kyle Ham of Central in the triple jump (39-6¼), Alex Taylor-Lash of George Stevens in the pole vault (9-6), Erik Taylor-Lash of GSA in the 1,600 race walk (7:51.71) and Foxcroft’s 4×100 relay team of Jason Eubanks, Julian Zepeda, Sebastian Zepeda and Dylan Richards.
