SACO — Neat and tidy. That’s the way Kennebunk freshman Abbey Leonardi swept away all comers in her two events, Saturday, in the Maine Class A state track and field championships, staged at Thornton Academy.

With her sights set on setting a new state record in the girls 1600, Leonardi achieved that with ease, while also scoring an impressive win in the 800.

Tacked onto the cross-country state championship Leonardi won last fall, the afternoon capped what has been a sensational first varsity season.

“It’s kind of weird,” she said, “to think that I did all that stuff. It (hasn’t) really hit.”

Leonardi’s twin-win feat was matched by Massabesic senior Georgia Boisse’s successful title defenses in both the shot put and discus.

Meanwhile Biddeford’s Keila Grigware (javelin) and Hannah Wiley of Thornton (300 hurdles) both won their first state championships.

Even though Leonardi, too, was a first-time spring season winner, she ran both of her events as though she was in a race by herself.

Her record time in the 1600 (4:56.64) lopped nearly half a second off the previous decade-old mark, and was 11 seconds faster than the second-place pace run by Bonny Eagle freshman Emily Durgin.

Later, Leonardi challenged Brianna Neault of Biddeford’s 12-year old mark (2:15.60) before she finished in 2:16.92.

“It means a lot,”  said Leonardi, “just to be able to be able to win both events.”

She might have been happy just to be able to run at all, after waking up Saturday morning feeling less than sub par.

“My (twin) sister (Alex) had the flu all week,” Leonardi said. “And when I woke up this morning, I didn’t feel very good. So, I’m just happy that I won both. I did my best.”

Which in the 1600 was better than any schoolgirl in the state had ever run.

She led from the second lap on, crossing the finish line well ahead of Durgin.

“If it’s fast enough,” Leonardi said, “I don’t mind letting someone else do the work. After that, I was just concentrating on my splits. And the record.”

The record now hers, Leonardi bent over deeply to catch her breath, both long pigtails tumbling over her shoulders.

Had she been thinking about topping the mark Jen Moreau (Mt. Ararat) set back in 1999.

“A lot,” she admitted.

Leonardi’s win in the 800 seemed effortless.

She ran with the pack for a lap and a half, before finding high gear.

In short order, Leonardi viewed the finish line, then the clock.

Had there been someone on her heels, she would have seen her, too.

But Scarborough’s Whitney Chamberlain was still nearly three seconds behind.

“It was just the same thing,” Leonardi said. “If someone was willing to take the lead and was fast enough. Once I made my move, I wanted to (go) hard and not be lazy about it.”

Boisse was visibly affected by her victories.

Having shredded the ligaments in her left knee last winter during basketball season, Boisse wasn’t certain whether she was physically or emotionally able to repeat as a champion.

Her performance proved that she was.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to throw this year,” Boisse said. “It was hard not knowing. That was a big motivation.”

First came her winning toss in the shot put (37-10.25), followed later by her 123-01 discus hurl.

“(It means) a lot,” said Boisse, who will head to Bethel College in Indiana, this fall. “I prepared really, really hard for this. With my knee injury, trying to come back. Just mentally. That’s the hardest part.”

Sophomore Abby Huntress (107-6) placed third in the discus.

Grigware surprised herself, and perhaps the rest of the javelin field, with her winning throw of 122-1.

“I actually didn’t think that I would do as well as I did,” Grigware said. “I didn’t really set any expectations for myself. I just went in there, relaxed and threw. I had nothing to lose.”

Even so, she gained it all, beating runner-up Christy Manning (Scarborough) by nearly eight feet, and smashing her own personal best by a whopping 10 feet.

Wiley, a junior was competing in her first state meet since transferring from Kennebunk during the school year.

Besides wearing new team colors, Wiley was running in an unfamiliar event. She last ran the hurdles as a freshman.

“I’m really proud of myself,” said Wiley. “I was struggling at the beginning of the season, whether I should do the 400, or the 300 hurdles. But I’m really glad with what I did. My goal was to ”˜PR’ and not necessarily win the states. So I’m really glad with that.”

Other impressive finishes were registered by Biddeford sophomore Maria Curit (2nd in the long jump and 400, third in the 200), Sanford senior Vicki Hewey (fourth in the 3200), and Massabesic junior Hannah Pierce (third in the 1600, fifth in the 3200).

— Contact Dan Hickling 282-1535 ext. 318 or dhickling@journaltribune.com.