Morning Sentinel
HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD: Eagles' 1st home meet a successful one
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BY BILL STEWART Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 05/16/2009

SOUTHCHINA -- At 7 a.m., athletic director Doran Stout and a team of workers arrived at the track facility for final preparations. At 12:30 p.m., a concession stand crew set up two grills that would later cook 180 hamburgers and 200 hot dogs.

And at 3:31, Erskine Academy finally made history, when a starter's gun fired to officially open the school's first-ever track and field meet.

"We've been practicing harder all week for this," said junior Corrine Roberts, who competed in the 1,600-meter run and 800. "It was kind of strange (Thursday). We were hearing, 'We have a meet tomorrow,' which was normal. But hearing that we had a meet here was not. We were making history. It was awesome."

Lawrence, Maine Central Institute, Waterville and Messalonskee participated in the meet, which made for a busy day at Erskine -- the school's baseball, softball and tennis teams were also in action at home.

Waterville swept the meet. The boys finished with 143 points to edge out Erskine, which had 106. The Waterville girls finished with 191.5 points while MCI was second with 73.5. The Erskine girls finished fourth with 49 points.

Erskine has had a track and field program for about 20 years and has had a track surface for eight. But it wasn't until this spring when the school finally had the equipment needed -- excluding the pole vault, which was contested Thursday at Waterville -- to host a meet.

For many Erskine athletes, the historic day was a long time coming.

"Oh my!" said junior Meg Thompson. "We've been preparing for this and stressing out, too. But it's been so much fun. We've all been out here picking up trash and just getting it ready. It's the first-ever track meet. It's such a blast. It's just so cool. There was just a lot of really high energy.

"The entire week you kept thinking about the home meet. Then you get here and it's like, 'Wow, this is our track. I know this track. This is our turf.' "

Added Jackson Fortin, a junior middle-distance runner: "It felt weird to run on the track with actual competition and not just a practice."

The track was lined and measured early Friday, and the infield grass received a fresh cut. Stout said everything went about as smooth as it could. He said about the only thing he couldn't control was the weather, but that ultimately cooperated, too.

"We had to make sure the pits were turned over and everything was measured and taped off," Stout said. "It was an all-day thing. But we just wanted this to go well."

Prior to the first event -- the 4x800-meter relay -- the visiting schools presented Erskine coaches a gift basket to commemorate the occasion.

"We gave them two shot puts, a rubber disc and two batons," Messalonskee coach Scott Wilson said. "Oh, and we gave them lots of candy, like 15 pounds of M&M's."

Messalonskee senior sprinter Erik Anderson, who set a school record in the 100 with a blistering time of 11.22 seconds, presented the gift basket.

"It was pretty exciting," he said. "It's just exciting to be a part of something new."

Other visiting athletes agreed.

"It means a lot," said Waterville junior jumper Lynn Fleming. "Our coach (Ian Wilson) told us it was their first meet and that we had to run hard. It was exciting."

And for the Eagles, it was well worth the wait.

"Everyone's been talking about it in school," Thompson said. "Everyone's been saying, 'Oh, what game are you going to on Friday?' "

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com

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