Volume CXXXI, Number 22 April 19, 2002 f

Unlikely track stars from small-town Maine

In 1998, Narraguagus High School in Harrington did not have an indoor track program and the spring track team worked out in a dirt parking lot.
What are the odds of having two students from the 1998 Narraguagus High School graduating class of eighty students end up as college track team captains? And what are the odds of two students from the Narraguagus class of '98 going on to become college track record setters or becoming record-setting, team captains at the same college?

Captains Nick Lyford '02 and Casey Kelley '02 rebroke their records this past weekend at MIT. (Henry Coppola, Bowdoin Orient)

Casey Kelley '02 and Nick Lyford '02 both graduated from Narraguagus High School and enrolled at Bowdoin College in the fall of 1998. Each has gone on to be elected team captains, and this past Saturday they each broke school records in their track specialties.

"Narraguagus is my favorite high school," observed Bowdoin Coach Peter Slovenski. "Everyone on our team from Narraguagus broke a school record last weekend."

Kelley and Lyford already held school records in the women's triple jump and men's javelin, but each broke their own record and took first place in a meet on Saturday involving six teams at M.I.T. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"I knew Casey would be a standout in college athletics," recalled Slovenski. "She had been a Class C state champion in the triple jump and hurdles, and had a lot of motivation for track. Casey was the top recruit of the year. But Nick has been a great surprise. "

Lyford contacted Bowdoin coaches about sports, but he contacted the basketball coach first. Nick was a Downeast Athletic Conference and State of Maine McDonald's all-star basketball player his senior year at Narraguagus, averaging 12 points and 13 rebounds a game.

"Basketball was my first love in high school," admitted Lyford. "When I visited Bowdoin, I wanted to play college basketball in the winter, and then maybe do track in the spring."

Nick had some success in high school track. He threw the high school javelin 157' and scored in the Class C high jump with a jump of 6'. But Nick was not convinced there would be much more track and field in his future.

"He told me he wanted to play varsity basketball," Coach Slovenski remembered, "and he also said he liked to ski. I figured between basketball and skiing we'd never see this guy on a college track team."

"Nick didn't work very hard at track in high school," Casey Kelley recalled. "He used to hide in the back of a pick-up truck just to get out of running intervals."

But this past weekend Nick set a new college record in the javelin with a throw of 189'10". Lyford has been a two-time All-New England selection in the javelin, and this past winter won the shot put in the collegiate state meet. His track accomplishments have been the result of his outstanding natural talent and a new found work ethic that has impressed his teammates enough to elect him captain of the 55 member squad.

"You need to work a lot harder to be successful in college track," observed Lyford. "Every college team has some guys who were state champions in high school, so I had to start putting in the work if I wanted to be competitive at this level."

And both Casey and Nick have become very competitive All-New England track and field athletes at Bowdoin.

"During their freshman year, Casey was always on time for practice, and Nick was often missing," said Coach Slovenski. "Casey told me to look for him in the back of pick-up trucks. He had a lot of excuses for not being at practice. But now he is one of the most dedicated athletes on the team, as well as one of the best students. This semester Nick is completing an honors project in physics."

Women's team captain Kelley has had an outstanding four year career for the Polar Bears. "Casey has been a team leader and one of our top scorers ever since her first season," noted Slovenski. "She was competitive in the college championship meets right away, and she has improved her performance each year through hard work."

Kelley was high scorer for Bowdoin this past winter with 88 points and broke her own school record in the triple jump this past weekend with a leap of 36'10". In the same meet Kelley also won the hurdles (16.20) and the javelin (121')

Kelley and Lyford have been good friends through high school and college and also good rivals. Kelley is an anthropology major and math minor. Lyford is a physics major, and Kelley enjoys reminding him about high school physics. "I got a higher grade in physics than he did," she says with a smile.

It has taken Lyford a bit longer, but now he has caught up to Kelley in physics and track. "They've made terrific contributions to Bowdoin as students, athletes, and leaders," noted Slovenski. "The Narraguagus connection has been great for Bowdoin College."

-Courtesy Peter Slovenski