Track and field: SMAA championships highlighted by impressive performances

May 24—KENNEBUNK — Arnaud Sioho felt the warm air and the added electricity that a championship track and field meet produces, and knew it could be a day for something special.

Marshwood's Andre Clark just wanted to get through his two 100-meter races uninjured after a spring of frustration caused by a recurring hamstring injury.

Sioho, a junior at South Portland, won four events, set four school records and recorded the top effort at an in-state meet this spring in three of them to headline a bevy of top-level performances Friday afternoon and night at SMAA Championships at Kennebunk High.

Clark not only finished injury free, he also set an all-time Maine record with his clocking of 10.62 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

Sioho's mark of 23 feet and 7 3/4 inches in the long jump moved him into second place on Maine's all-time list. A few minutes later he ran the fastest 110-meter hurdles time in Maine this year, 14.60. He would later post the state's best time this year in the 300 hurdles (38.94), and shatter meet and school records with his 47-6 3/4 triple jump.

"My personal best in the long jump was 22-9, and I jumped 23-7. That was pretty huge," Sioho said. "It's a great day for a PR. It's sunny and it's a championship meet. That always gets you pumping."

The only Maine high schooler with a longer jump was Mattanawcook Academy's Cayden Spencer-Thompson, who went 24-1 3/4 at the 2019 New England Championship.

Clark said he purposely tried not to push too hard in either the heat or the final of the 100. Still, he lowered Maine's all-time best twice, running 10.69 in his heat and then 10.62 in the final to beat the former mark of 10.71 set by Jarrett Flaker of Scarborough at the 2020 SMAA Championships.

"Those were just my second and third 100s of the year," said Clark, who will try to repeat as Class A state champion next Saturday at Thornton Academy. "Those are very satisfactory times. I wanted to win, but I really didn't care what my time was, but then I ran the 10.69 in the heat and was feeling good. Biggest thing was to not hurt myself."

Sioho's four wins earned him the boys' performer of the meet award and paced South Portland to the team championship with 129 points, well ahead of runner-up Gorham (90). Bonny Eagle (71) was third, and Portland and Sanford tied for fourth with 65 points.

Scarborough, behind triple-winner Emerson Flaker, captured the girls' title with 127 points, pulling away from the closely bunched trio of Falmouth (93), Windham (91.5), and Portland (90). Cheverus was fifth with 48 points.

Flaker won the 100 (12.29) and 400 (57.62), then finished the sprint sweep with a time of 25.42 in the 200 — No. 1 in Maine this year. She also anchored the winning 1,600 relay.

"It's good to get used to the nerves and having some competition," Flaker said. "Next week, there will be lots of competition and it's going to be exciting."

Windham's Tayla Pelletier, another junior, was also a three-event winner, taking both hurdles races as well as the triple jump, with the top distance in Maine this season of 37-2 1/4. Pelletier was second in the high jump with a personal-best 5-2.

Falmouth thrower Ruby Prentiss won the girls' discus (133-6) and shot put (39-5 3/4). The indoor shot put champion this winter, Prentiss is looking to improve on her junior-year outdoor state-meet finishes of second in the discus and fourth in the shot put.

"The focus is on fine-tuning. This past week, we started to taper our training because with SMAA, states and New Englands, those are the three most important meets," Prentiss said.

In the boys' throws, Sanford's Tucker Walker won the discus (153-4) and shot put (51-2), and teammate Nick Farrington took the javelin with an impressive heave of 180-6.

In girls' distance events, Portland junior Samantha Moore and Scarborough sophomore Laurel Driscoll each had an impressive runaway win. Moore looked powerful and fast in winning the 800 in a meet-record 2:14.44, fastest in Maine this year. She was named the girls' performer of the meet.

Driscoll cruised with control and plenty of speed — and seemed hardly winded — as she won the 1,600 in 4:59.99. Moore did not run the 1,600; Driscoll didn't run the 800.

"I'm really excited to race against Samantha Moore again," Driscoll said, looking ahead to the state meet.

Driscoll's PR this season is 4:56, meaning she's among an elite group of Maine girls who have run sub-5:00. That group includes Moore, Orono's Ruth White, York's Cary Drake, and Greater Houlton Christian's Teanne Ewings.

"I've found some workouts that work for me and the team is really strong," Driscoll said. "There's a good group of girls to push you."

Portland's Nathan Blades won the boys' 1,600 in 4:19.73, fastest in the state this year. Maddox Jordan of Noble took the 800, beating Blades by a little over two seconds in 1:56.62.

Another in-state season best effort was turned in by Gorham's Nolan Feyler — 48.34 in the 400.

The stadium lights went out completely at exactly 10 p.m., setting off a flurry of screams and then cell-phone flashlights. Fortunately, a heat of the girls' 1,600 had just finished and the next heat had not started. The lights were turned back on within two minutes. The meet, which began at 3 p.m., was also slowed by timekeeping failures. It concluded at 10:27 p.m.

At the end of the meet, the regular-season SMAA athlete of the year were announced. Flaker (track) and Prentiss (field) were the girls' picks, with Sioho (field) and Feyler (track) winning boys' honors.

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