Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln junior Cayden Spencer-Thompson was a double-event winner Saturday at the 73rd New England Interscholastic Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.
Spencer-Thompson captured both the boys long jump and triple jump in securing two of six victories by Maine participants — all high school juniors.
Brewer High School’s Jacob McCluskey won the boys discus, Jason Montano of Thornton Academy in Saco won the boys shot put, TA’s Travis Snyder was tops in the boys pole vault and Nyagoa Bayak of Westbrook placed first in the girls high jump.
Spencer-Thompson got off to a lofty start in the long jump, posting what turned out to be the winning leap of 24 feet, 1 3/4 inches on his first attempt.
That jump, a new personal best, was exactly 1 foot longer than the 23-1 3/4 he jumped a week earlier to win the Maine Class C title and shatter a 41-year-old state record.
Already an indoor All-American in the triple jump and the New England runner-up outdoors in the event a year ago, Spencer-Thompson soared to victory Saturday with a leap of 48-3 3/4. That was more than a foot farther than runner-up Nate Hobbs of St. John’s Prep in Massachusetts (47-3 1/2).
McCluskey secured his victory in the discus with a throw of 168-1 on his final attempt. The Class B state champion in the event (147-10) placed third at New Englands in 2017.
Montano led three Mainers to finish among the top 10 in the boys shot put with a best of 59-2 1/2. Brewer senior Garrett Graham also earned All-New England honors, finishing fourth with a heave of 55-0 1/4 on his last try.
Croix Albee of Mount Desert High School in Bar Harbor finished eighth with a throw of 53-2 1/4.
Snyder won the pole vault at 15-9, while Bayak’s 5-11 high jump was two inches better than her nearest competitor.
Steelman 23rd in NCAA 5,000
Hannah Steelman of Orono and Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, ran a personal best in the women’s 5,000-meter final at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, late Saturday afternoon.
But the effort was good for just 23rd place in the 24-runner field.
Steelman, one of two freshmen in the race, finished in 16 minutes, 9.63 seconds, easily besting the 16:18.32 she clocked at the NCAA East Regional qualifying meet.
On Thursday, Steelman earned second-team All-America honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by virtue of her school-record time of 9:59.94 during her semifinal heat. She finished eighth in her heat and 14th overall and missed qualifying for the finals by two seconds.
Steelman’s All-America honors are the first ever for a Wofford runner.
