WINDHAM — Maria Curit said it all when she said this.

“For the big meets, you need big competitors.”

The Biddeford senior backed up her assertion in style, becoming in a double winner in the biggest meet in the state, the Maine Class A Track and Field Championships, staged Saturday at Windham High.

Curit led a parade of local girls to the top of the podium.

Kennebunk junior distance runner Abbey Leonardi continued her three year stranglehold on the titles in the 1600 (4:55.39) and 3200 (10:42.63) races.

Biddeford senior Keila Grigware captured her third consecutive javelin title, setting a new Class A mark (131-10) in the process.

Grigware fell short in her defense of her shot put title, finishing third to Thornton Academy senior Abby Huntress (37-10.50).

“I really wanted it,” said Huntress, whose mother Lisa Huntress is Thornton’s throwing coach. “I’ve wanted to be a state champ since forever. I’ve been running track since I was about six, so I’ve always wanted to be a state champ. Now I’m here.”

In Curit’s case, it was a desire to make a return trip to the top that kept her going, particularly in the 400 (57.81).

“The long jump, I felt pretty confident with,” she said “because I’m jumping good right now. But with the 400, I told myself, ”˜it’s my senior year, it’s my last race. I’m going to win no matter what.”

Curit was running with the pack at the halfway point, then saw her chance to hit the ignition.

“I knew I had a lot left,” she said. “I could really feel it. That gave me a lot of confidence.”

Curit was just as impressive in the long jump (18-1.75), breaking the previous Class A mark (18-01) which had stood for 21 years.

“I worked really hard in long jump this year,” she said. “I felt really good right off the bat.”

For Leonardi, state championships have become the norm.

She now has accrued nine Maine titles, including the past three Class A cross country championships.

Even so, Leonardi said that winning, even if by huge margins, never gets old.

“It’s still really fun,” Leonardi said. “Even if someone’s pushing you, the biggest part of it is internal.”

Leonardi’s margin of victory was 13.19 in the 1600, while in the 3200, she finished 52.21 ahead of Thornton’s Charlotte Pierce.

She said her focus is fixed on next week’s New England championships, which will be in Burlington, Vt.

“I’m definitely shooting for the end of the season,” Leonardi said. “So I wasn’t going to run my fastest. So I’ve just tried to have fun and hold a consistent pace. I know I have a lot more in me.”

On the boys side, newcomer Alex Shain of Sanford grabbed first place in the long jump (21-2), winning on jumps after being equaled by Mt. Ararat’s MacKenzie Gary.

“The first couple jumps weren’t very good,” said Shain, “and then I pulled out a 21-2 and so did McKenzie. We tied the whole time, we couldn’t get any better. I just ended beating him out by a little bit.”

Shain, a senior, was making his first state meet appearance, having only started jumps this year.

“I started out and I wasn’t very good,” he said. “But I just kept going and going, and kept getting better and better. It just worked out.”

Shain also ran a leg on Sanford’s 4 x 100 relay team which finished second (44.45).

The Redskins finished first in the 4 x 400 (3:29.14), and second in the 4 x 800 (8:15.74).

Bonny Eagle captured both the boys (94) and girls (82) state titles.

In the Class C girls meet in Bath, Old Orchard Beach’s Katie Hatch won a state championship in the 100-meter dash. Hatch ran in 13.06, narrowly edging out Winthrop’s Karen Rice by one hundredth of a second. 

“I think it came down to who had the better lean at the finish line,” OOB coach Carolyn Mehlman said. “We specifically worked on her start and her finish in practice last week. We wanted her to have more drive coming out of the blocks and to have a better lean at the finish.  Mission accomplished.”

— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.