Maine Distance Festival July 5 1997

Results

Story by: Steve Vaitones

The Maine tourist industry slogan is "Maine - the way life should be", and the Maine Distance Festival can well be described as "the way track should be" (with apologies to field eventers).
Bowdoin College, school of author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is in the coastal town of Brunswick Maine, a half hour north of Portland and one town removed from the factory outlet store mecca of Freeport. But there were no "discount-quality" performances at Saturday's meet, as records were rewritten in nine of the twelve contested events. The track and stands, surrounded by a stand of tall pines, evokes the past; the covered main grandstand of brick and stone dates to the early part of the century and one can easily envision Harold Abrams and his coach sitting there in a scene out of Chariots of Fire.
Fans, including the likes of Bob Hersh and Joe LeMay, began to funnel into the stadium more than an hour prior to the meet on this perfect evening, and by the first gun an estimated 2000 were on hand to cheer on the scholastic competitors.
Setting the tone for the evening, Dartmouth-bound Parker Pruett of Sumner ME took out the pace hard in the 800, recording a split of 53.3 on his way to a 1:54:00, among the fastest (if not _the_ fastest ever) by a Maine high schooler. Leanne Brady of Trumbull CT ran the same way in the girls race, leading gun-to-wire for her record 2:14.31 record run.
The HS miles found Matt Gallagher of Ontario coming out of a pack that hit a 2:15.6 half way split and pick up the pace and close with a 2:09; his 4:24.86 missed Pruett's meet mark by less than two seconds.
Girls' victor Shalane Flannagan, off her freshman season at Marblehead MA, was unchallenged in the girls mile.
The senior race card got going with the 800's. Adina Valdez towed the women through a 64.2 opener, and assembled field just had to pick up the pace. The field shifted gears until Alisa Hill took control going into the final turn and added the 800 record to her already standing mile mark, clocking 2:05.18 The men's large field took up a lot of space on the starting line of Bowdoin's six lane track, and a fast pace was predicted as former GMU ace Alex Morgan was looking for a World Champs qualifer. USC's Isaac Turner (part of the USATF Development Team competing on the east coast) decided to quickly get out of harm's way. His 51.4 opener strung the field out some, but at 650, the polar bear started to climb on his back and the pursuing group led by David Krummenacker started moving by. Down the homestretch the GaTech all-American was challenged by NAIA champ James Njorge but the order remained the same as both dipped under 1:47. Turner held on for a sub-1:50. Further down the results was an example of what this type of meet can do for development in the state and beyond; U.Maine soph Thinh Ly, the old meet HS 800 record holder before the meet started, skipped the 1:52 minute entirely to clock a 1:51. PR.
To this point, the crowd was responsive and growing more enthusiastic race by race. The women's 5000 broke them wide open, as it was announced that Melody Fairchild was looking for her World qualifier. An opening 3:02 1K found Fairchild, Gwyn Coogan, and Maria Servin (MEX) in a line. By 2K (3:05), the Oregon grad had put 10 meters on the pursuing pair and it was a race against the clock. She continued to crank out 75. laps from there, with 9:16 and 12:25 splits for 3K and 4K. Homestretch applause grew to full lap cheering with 3 laps to go; the final two laps were supported by a full standing ovation as the petit Coloradan stopped the clock at 15:30.97. It was an inspiring solo effort.
The men's steeplechase was more tactical and competitive, as Greek national team member kicked to a 8:49.52 win. In the men's 5K split into two distinct packs. After a 5:37 split at 2K, Andre Williams assumed the lead and led a half dozen through 9:04 for 3200 m. A spurt reduced his competition to Aussie David Leatherby, and a 66 lap before hitting 4K (11:16) set him up for the win, 14:00.49. The women's mile was a small but quality group. Chris Gentile came back from the 8 to set a 64.4 pace, 2 seconds up on the other runners. At 600, Kathy Franey was moving strong and had several strides at 800 (2:14.0). She was on her own from there in 3:23.3 and 4:33.50
The men's mile closed the program. The mile was the moving reason to begin this meet two years ago as an attempt to run a sub 4 in the state. Sixteen runners toed the line, including Jonathon Riley who was taking his last shot at a sub 4. Canadian Willie Best took things through 58.9 and sub 2 at 800, though the players were not quite on his shoulder. Andy Christianson took over through the 1000. At the bell, JimSwenson had the lead, but a move by Maine native Sam Wilbur brought the crowd to their feet. With 200 to go, the Enclave duo of Andy Downin and Scott Anderson moved ahead with Erik Nedeau on their heals. The decibel level rose and, and Downin noted, "I knew they weren't cheering for me". Ned broke by in the final 100 and broke the beam just as the clock displayed 4:00. Did he get the magic mark? Unfortunately, no, as fans let out a collective groan for the 4:00.51. Riley had run with the big boys but could not muster his strong kick as he closes a storybook season and heads for Stanford by way of the Jr Pan Am games in Havana.
The fans gave an ovation for the great show put on by all athletes that evening. Nike East Coast Promotions Coordinator Dave Vona noted that he had only heard noise like this at one other place in the US -Eugene. GMU women's coach Norm Gordon (clerk for the evening) and Jeff Johnson of the Farm Team both used the term "Eugene East" for the feeling. And while some of the spectator base was made up of general New England track geeks, most was local fans looking for a good show. They were not attached to a particular HS athlete, they were not there just for the mile, they were on hand to see a heck of a meet. The desa.ds,faStiSt The The The sum of the pieces - facility, weather, fields, a growing reputation, hospitality (a fraternity house was available for no-cost lodging for up to 40 athletes for a week) and the plain need for a meet like this after the US Nationals - gives hope that the flame of summer (vs spring) track is still flickering; many in the races planned to head to Montreal for the McGill Distance Classic on the 7th. Talk's already started about a closer link to a Boston area meet beforehand.
Thinking globally and acting locally, Meet Director Steve Podgajney is the catalyst for this success, and he is far too too modest to take the credit he deserves for growing this crazy idea of a summer meet into reality. Local businesses put prize money on the table and cover some meet expenses; HS coach Barry O'Neil puts together the scholastic fields; Bruce Bickford works with the open fields; Pete Slovenski sets up his facility; USATF's Men's Development took advantage of a domestic opportunity for competition (where were the women?); and everyone has a great time. What a novel concept. Make your reservations for next year (both fans AND athletes!)
Steve Vaitones