Tia Tardy and Austin Lufkin did the PVC-Eastern Maine Indoor Track League proud on Saturday.
The Mount Desert Island distance runner and the Brewer shot putter enjoyed two of the best performances of their respective seasons at the New England Track and Field championships in Boston.
Tardy qualified for the national championship meet in the mile. The Trojans senior used her outstanding finishing speed to earn a second-place medal in 4 minutes, 57.18 seconds.
Lufkin, a senior for the Witches, was victorious in the boys shot put in convincing fashion. His winning throw was 61 feet, 9½ inches.
Tardy’s effort earned her a spot in next weekend’s New Balance Indoor National Championships in New York City. There, she will run both the mile and the 800 meters.
“I am really happy with how [Saturday’s] race went,” Tardy said Saturday night. “It really sets me up nicely for next weekend.”
Tardy was able to overcome a somewhat shaky start, as she found herself boxed at the start, but managed to work her way back to the front of the pack by the end of the first lap.
Tardy led for much of the race and was in third place at the bell lap, but was able to kick past Connecticut’s Mia Nahom in the final 25 meters.
Nikki Merrill of Rhode Island won the race in 4:56.09.
“I am really happy with it,” Tardy said of her silver-medal effort.
Lufkin was the top seed heading into the shot put, and the Class A state champ showed why.
His winning throw came on his first toss of the competition, and runner-up Manny Teo of Massachusetts was more than eight feet behind Lufkin (53-3¼).
That caps what has been a record-breaking season for Lufkin, who became the first schoolboy in PVC-EMITL history to break 60 feet in the shot put and surpass a Class A state record in the event that had stood since 1977.
Lufkin’s Brewer teammate, Jacob McCluskey, also earned a top-10 finish, throwing 49-6 to finish ninth in the 28-man field at the New Englands.
Elsewhere in the boys meet, Washington Academy of East Machias sprinter Michaiah Robinson earned a podium spot in the 300 meters, running 35.63 to finish sixth. He was also 10th in the 600, clocking a 1:24.34.
Hampden senior Paul Casavant ran 9:31.88 to finish 12th in the 2-mile while Orono’s Jacob Fandel and George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill’s John Hassett were 12th and 20th, respectively, in the 1,000.
Messalonskee of Oakland hurdler Tanner Burton ran 7.76 in the 55 hurdles to finish third while MDI’s Noah Hutchinson took eighth place in the high jump, clearing 6-1.
For the girls, Tardy was the lone Eastern Maine runner to make the medal stand, but Christie Woodside of Hampden and Oliviah Damboise of Old Town were 19th and 22nd, respectively, in the long jump.
Daija Misler of Hampden Academy, who will be teammates with Tardy at Bucknell next year, finished a solid eighth in the shot put, throwing 39-4.
