CARIBOU, Maine – Warm weather and sunshine made for some great racing conditions on Friday, May 19 as the Houlton/GHCA track and field team rounded out the Aroostook County schedule with the league championships hosted by Caribou High School. Several athletes were able to hit new career best marks and we even had two young ladies claim a couple individual County championships as well.
“We saw a lot of strong performances today and the athletes were happy we finally had some decent weather to compete in. The great marks and good conditions made for a really competitive atmosphere to perform in and one student’s success carried over to another and so on. That kind of success and positivity can really make or break a meet for a team,” said Houlton/GHCA assistant William Cliff.
Top female athlete of the meet Teanne Ewings scored 38 points, setting two new meet records in the 1,600 and 3,200. (Contributed photo)
Ariana Ardell claimed the individual title in the girls 200 race running a time of 27.89 seconds, just .05 seconds shy of a new school and program record. She also ran a runner-up performance in the girls 100. Teanne Ewings would defend her individual titles from a year ago in the 1,600, 800, and 3,200 races while also scoring a runner-up position in the 400. Her times in the 1,600 (5:17.07) and 3,200 (11:25.26) also established the new championship meet records for those events. Teanne would score 38 total points on the day and she received her second consecutive Howard Lello Trophy which recognizes the top female performer of the meet.
Natalie Johnson collected three runner-up placements on the day in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200. (Contributed photo)
Natalie Johnson claimed a trifecta of runner-up positions in the girls 800, 1,600, 3,200 — all of which she would set new personal best times in. Rounding out scoring positions for the girls team were Ardell long jump (4th); Leanne Ross 1,600 (3rd), 800 (5th), 3,200 (4th); Victoria Ervin 100 hurdles (3rd), 300 hurdles (4th); and Andrea Ross 3,200 (3rd), high jump (4th), 1,600 (4th), and 800 (6th). Finishing in a non-scoring top 10 position was Amelia Drake discus (7th), 200 (8th), and shot put (10th).
In the team standings the ladies finished 2nd overall amassing 121 total points. Presque Isle would win the girls team title with 227. Rounding out the team standings were 3 Fort Kent 67, 4 Caribou 66, 5 Fort Fairfield 32, 6 MSSM 21, and 7 Washburn 10.
Doubleheader, a phrase not usually heard in the world of track & field. Ethan Casale completed the unusual feat Friday competing in the Aroostook Special Olympics during the morning before moving onto the Aroostook County League championship in the afternoon.
(Contributed photo)
In the boys championship we had our team combine for 22 total points. The team would place 5th overall in the team standings. Host Caribou would win the meet with 253 total points. The end results were 2 MSSM 123, 3 Presque Isle 104, 4 Washburn 30, T5 Houlton/GHCA 22, T5 Fort Fairfield, 7 Fort Kent 12.
Scoring came from Gavin Wright, who came closest to an individual title for the boys with his performance in the shot put finishing in the runner-up spot, James Brady with a 3rd place finish in the 3,200 and 4th in the 1,600, and Landon Laferriere finishing 5th in the 800, 6th in the 400, and 6th in the 3,200. Brady would also finish in non-scoring top ten positions in the javelin (7th) and 800 (9th).
New personal bests and accolades from the meet –
Ariana Ardell – 100m, 200m | 200m county champion, 100 County runner-up
Ethan Casale – javelin
Amelia Drake – 100m, 200m, discus
Victoria Ervin – 100mH, 300mH
Natalie Johnson – 800m, 1,600m, 3,200m | 800m, 1,600m, 3,200m county runner-up
Landon Laferriere – 400m, 800m
Andrea Ross – 1600m, 800m
Gavin Wright – 100m, 200m, discus | shot put county runner-up
Teanne Ewings – 1600m, 800m, 3,200m county champion, 400m county runner-up | new Aroostook County Championship meet records in the 1,600m and 3,200m
Full results, including names, times, and places from the meet can be found here: https://me.milesplit.com/meets/540858-aroostook-league-high-school-tandf-championships-2023/results.
Qualifiers for the Small School Penobscot Valley Conference championships will head to Brewer Community School on Saturday, May 27.
The Class C championship will be held at Cony of Augusta on Saturday, June 3.
Check out the latest results and photos from our middle school team with their first two meets of the season:
Results Caribou 1 (5/11), Presque Isle 1 (5/18)
Albums Caribou 1 (5/11), Presque Isle 1 (5/18)
For more information, please check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/houltontrack.
