SACO — When the Thornton Academy girls’ track and field team trailed by 17 points heading into the last few events of the SMAA championships Saturday, coach Lisa Huntress wasn’t worried.
“For us, it’s always that way,” Huntress said. “But we know we’re going to pack a punch at the end.”
The Trojans’ depth in the discus, shot put and pole vault helped them secure a fifth consecutive conference title, while the Thornton boys also placed first, snapping Scarborough’s three-year title reign.
For the girls, Thornton finished with 94 points. Gorham took second with 77, and Cheverus placed third with 74.
Thornton made a big surge when Jaigan Boudreau (125 feet, 9 inches) and Johnna Scott (111-3) placed first and second in discus to earn 18 points. Paige Boudreau (32-41/4) and Jaigan Boudreau (32-33/4) then took second and third in the shot put behind South Portland’s Rebekah Hunnewell-Dunphe.

Katie-Marie Roy rounded out the scoring for Thornton with a second-place finish (10-0) in the pole vault, which Scarborough’s Anna Gardner won at 10-6.
Other winners for Thornton included Mia Taranko in the long jump (16-41/4) and the 400-meter relay team — Kieya Dion, Sabria Merrifield, Roy and Taranko — which set an SMAA record in 50.09 seconds.
“That was a wonderful surprise,” Huntress said. “We had some things up our sleeve today.”
Westbrook’s Nyagoa Bayak, chosen as the SMAA’s outstanding girls’ field athlete, broke the 15-year-old league record of 5-6 1/4 and her own all-time state best of 5-10 in the high jump, as she cleared 5-10 1/4.
“I’ve had my sights set on that — high jump is such a mental game,” said Bayak, who also broke the Hill Stadium record of 5-9. “No matter what, I’m always going to want more.”
Jason Montano and Travis Snyder led the Thornton Academy boys, who won with 96 points. Falmouth placed second with 82 and Scarborough — which suffered some injuries — finished third with 67.
Montano, named the outstanding field athlete for SMAA boys for both the regular season as well as for the championship meet, won the discus (169-0) and shot put (55-7). Snyder won three events — the 110 hurdles (15.32), the 300 hurdles (41.45) and the pole vault (15-3).
“Luckily, (Snyder and Montano) are juniors, so I get another year out of them,” said Thornton coach George Mendros, the SMAA boys’ coach of the year. “We had a lot of kids who came through.”
For Scarborough, Jarett Flaker and Ben Hatch did not compete in any events after the 100-meter dash, in which Flaker placed first in 10.83 seconds — an SMAA record — and Hatch was third (11.07).
Mendros said both runners were dealing with hamstring injuries, but sitting out was just precautionary with the state championships scheduled for next Saturday at Bath’s McMann Field.
But Snyder said Thornton Academy could have competed against the three-time defending champions either way.
“We wanted to win it the whole week … we didn’t care who else was getting in the way,” said Snyder, who was also third in the long jump. “We could have done it even if they were at their best.”
Falmouth got victories from Douglas Cooke in the 400 (50.82), Alvaro Fuentes in the 200 (22.67), John Auer in the 1,600 (4:25.74) and the quartet of Ethan Ali, Quaid Guarino, Adrian Friedman and Kyle Bouchard in the 400 relay.
The Gorham girls placed first in four events. Anna Slager, the girls’ outstanding track athlete, won the 1,600 (5:10.47) and anchored the 3,200 relay team (9:42.09), following Kate Tugman, Iris Kitchen and Meadow Fortier. Other winners for the Rams were Evelyn Kitchen in the javelin (112-11) and Stef Meacham in the race walk (8:16.88).
Cheverus freshman Victoria Bossong swept the 100 and 200 (12.64 and 25.64).

Strong showing for locals

The Massabesic boys squad would get a champion at the SMAA meet as Jarrod Hooper picked up a win in the 800 on Saturday.
Thornton’s Dawson Desrosiers finished second behind Hooper. TA would also get second-place finishes from Katie-Marie Roy in the girls’ pole vault. Allie Gross (high jump) and Taranko (triple) finished third for the TA girls, while Will Chapman was third in the boys’ high jump.
Alden Shields brought home two second-place finishes for the Kennebunk boys as the junior was the runner-up in both the 200 meters and long jump. Andrew Ladd finished second in the high jump.
Kennebunk’s Caitlin Wolff was second in the 200 and 400, while finishing third in the 100-meter dash. Grace West finished third in the 1,600 race walk.
Sanford would get a second-place finish from Julia Allen in the girls’ javelin, while Izzy Troop (pole vault), Ethan Shain (200) and Brendon Tremblay (pole vault) all finished third.
Biddeford’s Ben Drummey earned a runner-up finish in the pole vault and Cody Saucier was third in the discus.
Noble’s Nina Tasker finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and Eric Griffin was third in the javelin.
— Journal Tribune Sports Editor Pat McDonald contributed to this story.