AUBURN — Consider the long odds of having one national champion from Maine in a sporting event. Now imagine two national champions from the same high school.

Factor in the unlikelihood that one of those competitors would wear the gold medal for the second time in three years, and that the other would claim it in his first race of the season.

In the real world, Saturday’s accomplishments by Abby Dunn and Luc Bourget would be considered a longshot. But for Edward Little High School, the Auburn Running Club and the Maine racewalking community, it’s just more of the same.

Dunn, an EL senior, and Bourget, a junior, each walked to a title in the New Balance National Indoor Championships at the New York City Armory.

It was an encore and a triumphant farewell for Dunn, who won the girls’ race as a sophomore before finishing fifth in 2011.

“I think I was more excited to win this time. There was something about being it my senior year and my last chance to do this race,” Dunn said. “I wanted to go out and win it. Last year all the girls ahead of me and on the podium were seniors, so I felt like maybe this year was my turn.”

Although Dunn entered the fray seeded first, she felt that was a tenuous measuring stick, at best.

New York racers compete at a 1,500-meter distance in high school. Their seeds are prorated to the mile by adding 30 seconds to the qualifying time.

“So you can’t really tell with their times. But a lot of those girls didn’t go out as quickly as I thought they would,” Dunn said. “I really wanted to wait and see what the New York girls did, so I kind of hung back for the first two or three laps. Once it seemed like nobody was breaking out, Tom (Menendez, Dunn and Bourget’s coach) yelled, ‘OK, you need to go now.’ “

Dunn overtook Maine teammate Katie Flanders of Gorham near the end of the next-to-last lap and held on until the finish.

She finished in 7:28.13, winning by six seconds and setting a personal record.

Maine is fertile ground for racewalkers. One of the local pioneers, Kevin Eastler of Farmington, has competed in the Olympics. The state has produced national champions and All-Americans by the busload.

Like many of her teammates. Dunn was introduced to the sport by Menendez at his youth track and field camp one summer.

“I learned from Christie Bernier. She was a national champion and taught me, so it’s kind of cool and now I teach there and I’m a national champion,” Dunn said. “I think the fact that it’s an event for the high school outdoor season has helped in Maine.”

In the spring, Dunn will attempt to complete a four-year sweep of Class A championships in the racewalk.

She has accepted a cross country and track and field scholarship at Goshen (Ind.) College, where she will major in elementary education.

It’s an NAIA school, something that was essential to Dunn’s continued development. The NCAA does not award championships in racewalking.

Bourget is a distance runner who is new to the racewalk. That didn’t stop him from blistering the boys’ field with a time of 7:17.03 that is second-best in the nation this year.

The unsung local followed Dunn’s strategy of surging into the lead with about 500 meters remaining. He won by seven seconds over another Mainer, Ian Rixon of Medomak Valley.

Maine’s newest champion wasn’t necessarily sold on the event before the trip. According to a press release, Bourget remarked on the ride to New York that it was “silly” to make a 14-hour round trip to compete for seven minutes.

Afterward? “Even though it was a long trip,” Bourget said, “it was well worth it.”

A third EL walker was part of the state’s phenomenal weekend.

Adam Robinson finished fourth in the boys’ race to claim All-America honors, joining Dunn, Bourget, Flanders and Rixon.

Saturday’s titles bring the career total to 12 for Lewiston’s Menendez, the track and cross country coach at Monmouth Academy.

“Winning is the easy part. People fail to realize the amount of time, effort and energy these kids put in out of sight of everyone,” Menendez said. “They have to give up a lot, but the opportunities are there. All you have to do is go for it with your heart and soul.”

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