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Houlton/GHCA Track & Field athletes rise among Class A power houses

The Houlton/GHCA Track & Field team returned to Cameron Stadium this week for the second meet of the regular season.  The meet, again hosted by Bangor High School, brought together several top programs in the Penobscot Valley Conference.  Schools attending were Bangor, Houlton/GHCA, Bangor Christian Academy, Brewer, Old Town, Fort Kent and Washburn.

Houlton/GHCA was missing just one team member on the day, but each athlete still ran a full four-event schedule and managed to grab several top spots and new Personal Records (PRs) in each of those events. 

“Meets are our best practice of the week,” said head coach Chris Rines, “without a track and field facility in Houlton or even one close by to regularly travel to for practice, that statement is especially true when we go to meets throughout the season.  We try to fill up on events in the early regular season and make every opportunity to compete on a track count.”

In the girl’s meet, event wins went to the girl’s 4x800m team composed of Teanne Ewings, Natalie Johnson, and sisters Andrea and Leanne Ross. The quartet managed to set a new program and GHCA school record in the event running a 10:40.82 – which is the fastest 4×800 team in the state so far this season, regardless of class.

Ewings would pick up two more wins on the day in the 1600m and 3200m and a second place in the 800m with Johnson picking

THE WIND-UP – Ariana Ardell with the big wind-up in her first appearance in the javelin.

up second place in the 1600 and 3200, as well,l and narrowly being edged out of third by a Bangor runner for a fourth-place finish in the 800. 

Leanne Ross chipped in some scoring efforts in her 1600 and 3200m performances on the day grabbing sixth and third place in each respectively. In the 100m, junior sprint star Ariana Ardell broke through the 14-second barrier for the first time this season to finish third among a very highly contested 100.

Finishing in the top 10 but just shy of scoring positions were L. Ross in the 800 (10th), A. Ross 1600m (8th), and Ardell in Javelin (10th). Hitting new personal bests (PRs) in events were Amelia Drake in Discus, Johnson’s 1600 and 800, A. Ross in 1600, and L. Ross 800. Final team scores were Bangor HS, 207; Brewer HS, 129; Old Town HS, 121; Houlton/GHCA, 71; Bangor Christian, 25; Fort Kent HS, 14 and Washburn HS, 4.

On the Boy’s side freshman James Brady was again the lone scorer for the

STRONG START – Gavin Wright explodes out of the blocks in the boys 100 meter.

team with 10 points from two sixth-place finishes in the 1600m and 800m races and a second place in the 3200m.  Brady improved his javelin from last week and found a place in the finals round of the event, but fell just shy of a scoring spot in seventh place.

Landon Laferriere had a sensational debut in 1600 running to a 10th-place finish. Gavin Wright was the next best placing Shire in the shot put (14th), and discus (15th). Hitting new PRs on the day were Brady – 800, 3200, and javelin; Ethan Casale, javelin; Laferriere’s 100m and Hayden Stoker-Pelletier in the javelin. Final scores for the boys teams were Bangor HS, 214.5; Brewer HS, 133.5; Old Town HS, 121; Washburn HS, 32; Bangor Christian, 19; Houlton/GHCA, 10 and Fort Kent HS, 6.

Full Results, including names, times, and places from the meet can be found here: https://me.milesplit.com/meets/538090-bangor-meet-2-2023/results#.ZE7V8XbMKUm

“These are incredible kids both on and off the track.  Not only do they show up and perform on meet day and work hard at practice, but they are caring and not afraid to serve their community,” said Rines. “We omitted our typical easy pre-meet practice day and participated in a campus-wide trash clean-up competition on Friday before the meet. The kids were able to cover eight miles of land around the school and community park and picked up around 175 pounds of trash in a little under an hour.” More on that here.

The team looks forward to seeing their Aroostook League counterparts over the next three weeks with the next two meets in Caribou (May 5 and May 13) and the Aroostook County League Championship meet in Presque Isle (May 19).

For more information, please check out their facebook page at www.facebook.com/houltontrack

Week 1 (Bangor 1) Press Release

Week 1 Photo Album

Week 2 Picks, Full Album Here

 

 

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