Two record-setting jumpers, Cayden Spencer-Thompson of Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln and Nyagoa Bayak of Westbrook High School, have been named the Gatorade Maine Track & Field Athletes of the Year.
Both are the first track and field athletes from their respective schools to receive the honor, which recognizes athletic excellence, academic achievement and character on and off the track.
Spencer-Thompson, a 6-foot-3 junior, set two state records at the recent New England championships with bests of 24 feet, 1 3/4 inches in the long jump and 48-3 3/4 in the triple jump in winning both events.
Spencer-Thompson also won the long jump at the Class C state championships with a meet-record leap of 23-1 3/4 and captured the triple jump with a best of 46-5.
“It’s rather special what Cayden has accomplished,” Mattanawcook Academy coach Bernice Stockley said in a news release. “We’ve got limited facilities for him — a makeshift runway, a dirt track — but he’s self-motivated and naturally gifted. He set big goals of breaking state records, winning state championships and doing very well at the New England championships and he accomplished all of them.”
Spencer-Thompson joins Jake Koffman (2017, Orono), Sam Rusak (2016, Scarborough), Isaiah Harris (2015, Lewiston), Dan Curts (2014, Ellsworth), Jared Bell (2013, Deering of Portland) and Matt McClintock (2012, Madison) as the most recent Gatorade Maine Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year.
Bayak, a 6-1 junior, won the high jump at the Class A state meet this spring with a record leap of 5 feet, 11 inches, and she also placed second in the triple jump with a best of 37-4 to take second in the triple jump.
Bayak went on to win the high jump at the New England championships at 5-11 and finished second in that event at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals with a best of 5-10 1/2.
Her state-record high jump ranked as the seventh-best performance nationally among prep competitors this year at the time of her selection.
“Nyagoa is a hardworking, ambitious and super-competitive athlete,” Westbrook coach Angie Lally said. “She sets goals for herself and then does the work to reach those goals.”
Bayak joins Emma Gallant (2017, Cheverus of Portland), Adelaide Cooke (2016, Falmouth), Kate Hall (2014 and 2015, Lake Region of Naples) and Bethanie Brown (2012, Waterville) as the most recent Gatorade Maine Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year.
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