The discus cage was set up Tuesday. Sand from a nearby gravel pit was carted in this week, which finished up the area for jumpers.

The track and field facility at Erskine Academy is ready for its first-ever meet, which will be held at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

"The discus cage took most of (Tuesday)," Erskine athletic director Doran Stout said. "It took five hours to put that baby up. It's exciting."

The history-making meet Friday will bring Waterville, Messalonskee, Lawrence and Maine Central Institute to South China. The track meet is just one of four events Erskine is hosting Friday -- the baseball, softball and tennis teams will also be in action.

"We'll have 450 athletes here Friday," Stout said, "and that would be without any fans."

The parking situation?

"That's going to be a problem," said Stout, who also asked track and field spectators to bring chairs because there are no bleachers at the facility. "We're going to have 10 buses at the school. I think I have an idea of where to put them. I'm sure it will look chaotic, but most track meets do. We'll pull it all off."

Added Erskine coach Scott Rollins: "We're good to go. We have a little sprucing up to do, but everything is in excellent shape."

Because Erskine does not have equipment needed for the pole vault, that event will be held today at Waterville.

* * *

It's been an interesting season for the Lawrence track and field teams. The Bulldogs, who will host three meets by regular season's end, have competed against just one fellow Class A school -- Messalonskee.

"We haven't seen anyone in Class A but them," Lawrence coach Tim Alberts said. "I'd like to think the boys and girls can be middle of the pack, but it's hard to know."

The strength of the boys team is its middle distance and distance runners.

Michael Brooks, Sebastian Peters, Ross Mosher, Christopher Caron, Christopher Low and Casey Clark lead a pack of talented runners. Brooks, a senior, is coming off an impressive four-team meet Monday that featured Waterville, Messalonskee and Mt. View.

Brooks won the 800 meters and was part of the victorious 4x400 relay team as well.

"Brooks has had a great season," Alberts said.

Alberts added that Sara Quimby and Hannah Shepherd are performing well for the girls team. Quimby won the 400 and high jump Monday while Shepherd, a freshman sprinter, finished second in the 100 and fifth in the 100 hurdles.

The problem for the Bulldogs, however, is depth.

"We don't have a boys pole vaulter, no boys hurdlers and we have like one boy in the triple jump," Alberts said. "That's basically four events we don't have anybody in. We just don't have enough depth."

* * *

Winslow and Waterville, the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B frontrunners, won't compete against each other until the annual Community Cup, scheduled for May 22 at Lawrence High School.

The Black Raiders didn't compete at the Waterville Relays last weekend because they needed a break, according to Winslow coach Shawn Carey.

"We usually don't go there," he said. "It's a good training day for us. We take that weekend off to give us another day of practice. Plus, we have a few kids who are dinged up and it gave them a chance to rest."

Winslow hosts a four-team meet today with Nokomis, Mt. View and Skowhegan. The Black Raiders are receiving another strong spring from Christina Massey, who set the school record (5 feet, 3 inches) in the high jump recently. She's also close to breaking the school's long jump mark of 17-1.

"She's around 16-7ish right now," Carey said. "She should get there."

* * *

Waterville may compete against Class A power Edward Little next week in an exhibition meet.

"It would give us an outstanding level of competition," Waterville coach Ian Wilson said. "But we'd have to juggle the kids a bit."

Waterville is hosting the freshmen meet May 19 before it competes in the annual Community Cup on May 22 at Lawrence. The meet with the Red Eddies would be Wednesday, and Wilson said the Purple Panthers would go hard.

"We would reload and go all out for that meet," Wilson said. "Then we'd have to see what's left in the tank."

* * *

Lewiston High School boys track coach Ray Putnam says his team looks forward to the annual Waterville Relays every year.

"We come every year," he said. "It's a good meet."

And ...

"And we wish we could go up against Waterville more often," Putnam added. "It's too bad we can't. Not seeing Waterville in the regular season is a travesty. We have a nice rivalry going with them. Both programs just respect each other."

Of course, there was another reason for the Blue Devils to show, as well: The boys wanted to break the meet's 4x800-meter relay record, which rival Edward Little set last spring.

"We had the record last year, but we got passed on last leg," Putnam said. "So, yeah, we came back to get that record."

The Blue Devils did set the meet record, finishing the relay in 8:26.72.

They did, however, finish second to the Purple Panthers in the overall team scores.

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com