'We knew we were pretty strong' - York sweeps WMC track championships
NAPLES, Maine – Thoroughly dominating aptly describes York High School’s performance at Saturday’s Western Maine Conference Division I Track and Field Championships.
The Wildcat boys and girls won their respective championships by more than double the points at Lake Region High School. The boys scored 221 points to easily outdistance second-place Yarmouth (92), while the girls totaled 188 to cruise past runner-up Cape Elizabeth (91.5).
Rounding out the top-three in the eight-team boys’ field was Cape Elizabeth (69), while for the girls Greely was third with 87.
“We knew we were pretty strong going into the day,” said veteran York coach Ted Hutch. “Our biggest worry was the weather. We thought the thunderstorms were going to come in, but they held off.”
The boys were led by junior Matt Charpentier, who won both the discus and shot put. He threw the discus 159 feet, 8 inches to break the facility record. His winning shot put distance was 54-11 ½. Charpentier was named the boys field events MVP.
For the girls, sophomore Cary Drake was named the track MVP as she won the 1,600-meter run in 5 minutes, 10.23 seconds and the 3,200 by more than a minute in 11:41.69. She also ran a leg of the winning 4x800 relay (10:00.07) with Lucy Kocev, Molly Kenealy and Lexi Brent.
Both teams now get ready for Saturday's Class B state championship at Mount Desert Island. Both Wildcat teams were second last year. The boys last won the B title in 2019 (after winning in 2018). The girls’ last crown came in 2016.
The deep York teams won 14 individual events and three relays, and placed in nearly every event.
“We have a pretty big team this year,” Hutch said. “So we’re able to spread our points out pretty far and cover all the events.”
The other winning relays were the girls 4x400 (4:21.59) with Elizabeth Buckley, Charlotte Williamson, Brent and Kenealy, and the boys 4x400 (3:40.58) with Seth Hulstrom, Sam Hunter, Antonio Price and Hunter Pruett.
Other individual winners included for the girls: Buckley (400, 1:02.31), Brent (100 hurdles, 15.83), Williamson (300 hurdles, 49.74), Chloe Slovenski (javelin, 97-06), and Greta Yauch (1,600 racewalk, 10:06.72).
For the boys, individual winners included Landon Morrison (1,600, 4:35.07), Charlie Newton (110 hurdles, 17.33), Riley Cronin (triple jump, 39-02), John Nicolo (javelin, 149-10) and Hans Bakke (1,600 racewalk, 9:37.09)..
Both Charpentier and Drake are coming off superb winter seasons. Charpentier broke a 43-year-old record in the shot put in leading the Wildcats to the Class B indoor crown, while Drake won the mile and two-mile at the state meet and was second in the mile at the New England championships by 3/1,000th of a second.
Drake also plays girls lacrosse, but was able to convince Hutch to let her run track as well.
“It’s the first time in 33 years that I’ve allowed that,” Hutch said. “I’ve sent a lot of kids away, but she made a compelling argument. I turned her away three times. She got me on the fourth time.”
Hutch said the compelling argument featured a color-coded Excel file including both seasons and both schedules saying she could do it.
“It was color coded so it worked for my OCD,” laughed Hutch. “She did it herself. Her parents weren’t involved. She told them to stay out of it. She’s been upfront, honest through the whole thing. She works really hard.”
Drake’s presence obviously has strengthened the girls’ team.
“She’s a great distance runner,” Hutch said. “But to us she’s just Cary; one of the girls.”
As for Saturday, Hutch likes how both his teams look. “We don’t worry about too many things,” he said. “We just prepare, just like you do every other meet.”
For complete results from Saturday’s meet go to me.milesplit.com
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York track and field sweeps Western Maine Conference championships
