Brewer’s Lufkin, Bangor’s Smallwood break own PVC-EMITL records

It was quite a week for Austin Lufkin.

On Wednesday, the Brewer High School senior signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at FCS Division I institution Wofford University in South Carolina.

Saturday in the PVC-Eastern Maine Indoor Track League’s regular-season finale, Lufkin once again made history in the shot put circle.

Lufkin, who has rewritten the EMITL’s shot put record twice this winter, did so for a third time and in the process became the first thrower in league history to break the 60-foot mark in the shot put, uncorking a throw of 61 feet, 1.25 inches at the University of Maine’s New Balance Field House.

The record-breaking throw came on his second throw of the evening. Lufkin’s previous mark was 59-11.50, so it’s safe to say Lufkin is peaking at the right time of the season.

Lufkin’s Witches and Hampden Academy finished in a first-place tie in the team standings.

Earlier in the day, Bangor senior Rihan Smallwood raised her EMITL pole vault standard even further.

Smallwood, who cleared 10-7 in the season’s first meet to set a new league record, soared to new heights on Saturday in clearing 10-9.

If the performances by Lufkin and Smallwood from last weekend are any indication, track fans in eastern Maine will be treated to some fast times, high jumps and long throws at Friday’s league championship meet at UMaine, scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.

Lufkin, Smallwood and Mount Desert Island distance runner Tia Tardy, the league’s standard-bearer in the mile, will all be looking to improve on their record-setting distances, heights and times while Hampden Academy shot putter Daija Misler will be looking to break a shot put record that is more than three decades old.

Misler owns a personal-best of 41-1 this winter while Diane LeClair of Orono set the league record of 43-1.50 in 1983.

LeClair’s record is the league’s longest-standing league record (34 years), while Bangor’s Karen Watkins has held the triple jump mark since 1987.

Messalonskee, Belfast, Waterville earn KVAC titles 

Championship season in high school track and field got underway over the weekend at Bowdoin College as Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams gathered for their championship meet.

The Class A competition proved to be a clean sweep for Messalonskee of Oakland, as the Eagles’ boys and girls’ squads both left Brunswick with conference-championship hardware.

The Mount Ararat of Topsham girls and Brunswick boys were the runners-up in Class A.

In Class B, it was the Belfast girls and the Waterville boys who walked away with titles.

The Lions girls finished well in front of runner-up Lincoln Academy of Newcastle, tallying 114 points while the Eagles came up with 87.

On the boys’ side, Waterville added yet another track trophy to its trophy case, eking out a 94-91 victory over Belfast.

Ryan McLaughlin

About Ryan McLaughlin

BDN sports reporter Ryan McLaughlin grew up in Brewer and is a lifelong fan of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. In "The Boston Blitz" he'll be sharing his perspective with BDN readers about what's happening on the Boston professional sports scene.