With a roster of strong returnees and some rookies, coach Nick Scott said he has high hopes for indoor track this season. The 22-person team has its first meet Dec. 19 at University of Southern Maine in Gorham.   

Scott said his main goal is to qualify as many athletes as possible for state championships. Unlike with other sports, Maine only offers classes A and B. In addition, the team has to compete in the larger Western Maine Conference, not the usual Mountain Valley Conference, and doesn't have a conference championship. Scott said their only championship meet is the state’s. “Winning any state championship is really hard, let alone a Class B one," he said.  

However, the Seahawks are looking strong. Last year, 12 athletes qualified for the Class B State Championships in 17 events, more than in any season since 2018, according to Scott. In addition, Scott said the Seahawks broke school records in every category from the 55m dash to the two-mile run, and almost all school records for girls were rewritten.   

With 14 returning athletes, projections look good. Scott expects at least two runners, AJ Crocker in the two-mile run and Rose Campbell in the 55 and 200-meter dash, could qualify based on preseason rankings. Ben Gapski, the team’s sole Wiscasset athlete who set a program record for the triple jump as a freshman last year, is also promising.  

Scott also said the team’s promising race walker, Ross Gaffney, has hopes for his own championships. Race walking isn’t an official event for Maine sports, but Gaffney is training to qualify for the New Balance Nationals Indoor national championships. Scott said Gaffney has met a good enough time to qualify, so it would be a matter of competing in a qualifying event during the season.   

However, overall, the coach said he wants to keep the focus on personal records and gradual improvement.   

“Track and field and cross-country are fantastic sports in that (there aren’t) Heal points, there's no playing time and, regardless of your talent level, we can always work on refining our abilities and just getting better and better over the course of the season," Scott said. "And so that's really what we focus on in the winter.”  

This year’s team is made up of seniors Logan Bourne, Campbell, Gaffney, Lysander Lefevre, Kora Mckenney, Nathan Percival and Abby Orchard; juniors Crocker, Lexi Hughes, Casey Phelps and Sabine Pochee; sophomores Isaac Fanslau, Gapski, Aron Geddes, Kolton McKenney, Jess Raburn, Elijah Smith, Moriah Smith, Zuri Smith and Sam Ware; and freshmen Dom Dipippio and Maggie McCarthy. It is coached by Scott, Jake McCarthy and Josh Higgins.