Coach Nick Scott's expectations were exceeded at the Mountain Valley Conference Championships when his Boothbay Region High School track and field team came up big when it really mattered. Despite the damp conditions and occasional rain showers, the Boothbay girls team took second place only to the Lisbon Greyhounds, while the boys finished eighth place at Cony High School in Augusta on May 23.

The capital city venue hosted a very competitive field for many of Boothbay's point scorers. Sophomore Morgan Crocker placed in the top three in all four of her events. Feeling the pressure, not only did Crocker overtake the first place runner in the final heat to win the 100 meter hurdles conference title, she broke three personal records in the 100m hurdles (17.65 sec), 300m hurdles (51.09 sec) and the long jump (15 feet, 3 inches).

Other conference title winners were Jessie Vander, shot put (34 feet, 8 inches)  and discus (105 feet, 2 inches) and Sophia Thayer in the 1600 meter run (5:44 minutes). Vander, who entered conference in first place, broke her own senior record by four inches, tossing the shot put a distance of 34 feet, 8 inches.  

Other stand performances came from Nell Anthony and Hannah Morley. Anthony who placed second in the javelin, threw 96 feet, 9 inches with possibly broken fingers after slamming her throwing hand in a car door just hours before the meet. Morley once again set a new school record in the 3200 meter run. Despite ousting her teammate's (Thayer) school record set only one week earlier by 0.3 seconds, Morely settled for second place overall in the conference.

“The girls team's finish was huge,” Coach Nick Scott said. “Our best finish in a very long time.” The last time a (Boothbay) girls team placed that high in a conference was over 20 years ago, according to school records, when Boothbay was part of the Mid Maine conference.

On the boys side, senior Linc Simmons entered the conference unseeded in the discus. But when he hurled the disc 111 feet, he surprised everyone when he came away with second place finish overall.

Another surprise surfaced when junior Benn Scully, who was ranked sixth in the 800 meter run (2:09 minutes), also placed second in the conference final. Scully went on to rack up more points in the 4x800 meter relay race.

Senior Alex Owen ended the meet with a bang when he beat his personal record in the 1600 meter run (4:52) by 10 seconds. Although he ran a sub-five minute mile that would typically secure a spot in the final heat, Owen just missed placement, due to such a deep field of competitors.

Boothbay's individual performances ranked high at the MVC championships, which their could indicate a favorable outcome at the Class C state championships.

“The states really is about experiencing individual success,” Scott said. Although there will be as many as 30 schools present, Scott also thinks the girls team has a chance of making the top five.

Fifteen Boothbay athletes will advance to the state championship meet starting around 10 a.m. on June 1 in Dover-Foxcroft.