Two more weeks of tough competition proved that the Boothbay Region High School track team is prepared for Mountain Valley Conference Championships on May 23 at Cony High School.

On May 14 the Seahawks track team competed at Hall-Dale High School. The girls team came away with their second win of the season, while the boys team placed third out of nine schools.

Most notably, junior Sophia Thayer broke the school record in the 3200 meter race set just one week earlier by freshman Hannah Morley. Thayer's time of 12:32 was 9 seconds faster than Morley, and 17 seconds faster than the record previous held by Caroline Jones since 2004.

Coach Nick Scott said the camaraderie with Thayer and Morley is a fantastic feature to have on a track team.

“It's a great spot for our distance girls to be in. They get a great race every time out,” Scott said. “It's also a great security to know the person breathing down your neck is your teammate.”  

On May 17, the Seahawks got a taste of what's ahead at the MVC championships when they competed at Cony High School's “Under the Lights Invitational.”

Boothbay competed against 11 schools, with the girls team placing fifth, and the boys team placing eighth. Although the Seahawks fell short of the top team ranks, Boothbay boasted strong individual performances that resulted in 39 personal records broken at the end of the night.

With the MVC and state championships on the horizon, Scott said he expects the girls team will finish pretty strong given the group of athletes who have consistently provided points throughout the season.

Scott said Morgan Crocker, Jessie Vander, Sophia Thayer, Hannah Morley, Hannah Brewer, Arden McSwain and Nell Anthony have done well in multiple events and are likely to place high at the MVC championships.

On the boys side, Linc Simmons and Antonio Maulolo have are key scorers in the throwing events, while Jason Maddocks has racked up points in the sprinting events.

The boys distance team have also been peaked this season with the trio of Alex Owen, Benn Scully and Robert Campbell, Scott said.  

35 athletes from Boothbay will board the bus on May 23 and head to Augusta to the MVC championships held at Cony High School, starting a 2:30 p.m. Boothbay will compete against 14 other teams in their conference.