OAKLAND — The Winslow girls track and field team doesn’t have much in the way of quantity.
As for quality? The Black Raiders have that covered.
Carly Warn won all four events in which she competed, and Winslow won seven altogether en route to 143 points and the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference small school championship. The Black Raiders held off Belfast (128) and Waterville (124) to win the prize.
There was less drama in the boys competition, which Belfast won going away with 238 points. Winslow (131) was second while Waterville (60) checked in third.
With the splitting up of the KVAC championships into four groups according to size, all of the schools at Messalonskee High School on Friday afternoon were the conference’s smallest. Still, Winslow is particularly depth-strapped with only 11 athletes on the girls team, and the Black Raiders know the pressure is on them to produce.
“With track in general, there’s just a lot of pressure to hit your marks and hit your times,” Warn said. “But I think a lot of the girls on the team are just very committed. They want to win, so it definitely is a team effort, but I just come to these meets every time thinking I can do it.”
Having Warn on the roster is a good place for any small team to start. The senior raced to easy wins in the 100 (12.53) and 200 (26.32), and leapt to wins in the long jump at 16-11.25 and, as afternoon turned to evening, the triple jump at 36-0.5.
“It was definitely a goal we had this season (to win KVACs),” Warn said. “We weren’t exactly sure how we would do because we did lose quite a few girls, but I think a lot of the girls are motivated. I think that (pushed) us through.”
Winslow’s Denali Norris flies through the 100 meter hurdles during the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship meet Friday in Oakland. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo
Warn led the way, but all of Winslow’s big scorers came through. Olivia Tiner anchored the victorious 4×800 and 4×400 relay teams, and she won the 400 (1:02.31). She was also third in the 3,200 (12:57.11).
“Our mindset for the team was just ‘Go for it,'” Tiner said. “Everybody knew that there’s a lot of responsibility on our shoulders. We’ve always been kind of a small group, even for indoor, winning stuff there. We’ve been a tiny group, and we knew ‘Time to go, we’ve got to work together for it.'”
Denali Norris won the javelin at 87-4, was second in the 300 hurdles behind MCI’s Emma Burr (48.44) by .02 seconds, and took third in the 100 hurdles. Allie Kimball was second in the 400, Allyson Spencer was second in the race walk, and Bodhi Littlefield and Lindsay Moulton were third in the 800 and race walk, respectively.
“Basically, I’m just trying to do my best,” Norris said. “We have definitely been preparing for this. … It’s definitely something to motivate us, to push ourselves. We know what we need to place.”
Waterville was led by wins from Beatrice Beale Tate (1,600, 5:41.24), Mya Wiselewski (shot put, 27-7) and Surya Amundsen (2:38.10), while runner-up finishes went to Beale Tate in the 3,200 and Gabby Maines in the discus. MCI got wins from Burr, Shalomi Goewey (race walk, 9:18.95) and Heather Nelson (discus, 76-8), while Mount View got a win in the 100 hurdles from Gabby Ravin (16.44).
There was no catching Belfast in the boys event, as the Lions were anchored by Cole Martin (wins in the 100 and 200) and Rico Washington (wins in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles). Victories also went to Waterville’s Ezra Haviland (race walk, 9:40.10) and Theo Ruehsen (triple jump, 38-9.5), Winslow’s Antoine Akoa (high jump, 5-6), Levi Olin (400, 53.07) and Stephen Spencer (javelin, 138-2), and MCI’s Malik Keresey, who won a close 1,600 race at 5:03.21.
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