Instead of running the 800-meter run, the event in which he’s the defending New England champion, Harris opted to try his hand at running the mile for the first time in his career. The result was no different than his races in the 800.

Harris grabbed the lead away from Leavitt’s Harrison Knowlton 800 meters in and cruised to the finish line from there, coming in at 4 minutes, 36.24 seconds. Knowlton finished second in 4:46.26. 

“Coach didn’t want me to lead off the first two laps,” Harris said. “He thought Harrison from Leavitt would take it out so I was expecting that I was going to sit on him the first 800 and then the second 800 see what I could do. At the start of the race nobody was taking it out so I just had to pick up the pace by myself.”

It was the first of many first-place finishes for the Blue Devils, who swept both the boys’ and girls’ meet in Leavitt. The boys won 10 events and totaled 177.5 points. Edward Little finished second with 141 points, followed by Leavitt (122.5), Oxford Hills (75), Maranacook (36) and Monmouth (34). The girls took home the top spot with 164 points, winning eight events. Edward Little (137), Maranacook (82), Monmouth (64) and Oxford Hills (55) rounded out the top five among a field of eight. 

Harris’ day wasn’t done after the mile. Not too long after winning the mile, he was crossing the finish line first once again, this time in the 400. Harris held off teammate Mohamud Abukar in 52.55. 

As for who’s idea it was for Harris to run the mile, that was all the New England champion’s idea. 

“He wanted to try to do the mile,” Lewiston coach Paul Soracco said. “We were looking to score some points in different events. He wanted to try the mile so we threw him in that and the 400. He ran a good time. He’s never run the mile before. We let the kids sometime pick out some different events that they want to do. We’re getting them ready for the meets down the road.” 

As a result of running both the mile and the 400, Harris did not compete in the 800. That left the door open for Edward Little’s Yusuf Adow. Adow topped Lewiston’s Abbas Muktar by nearly 3 seconds, crossing the finish line in 2:06.96. 

Even with the victory, Adow was a bit disappointed as he wanted to race against Harris. 

“He’s the best runner in the state and I wanted to race him today,” Adow said. “I know he’s going to beat me, but I still wanted to have a good race.” 

Adow, Britanee Nouchanthavong (javelin) and Selena Gauthier (long jump) won individual titles for the Red Eddies as well as the boys’ 4×800 relay. 

Along with Lewiston’s victories came new school records. Hassan “Speedy” Mohamed once again lived up to his nickname, breaking the school record in the 200 with a time of 22.49. He also won the 100 in 11 seconds flat. Heather Kendall set a new mark in the girls’ 100 at 12.55. Kendall would win the 200 in 26.19. 

“It’s been a great day,” Soracco said. “We had a lot of really outstanding performances, a lot of school records, both boys and girls. All the kids I’ve talked to have PRed and had great days today. A lot of it is we finally got some warm weather. We’ve been practicing and competing in the cold weather and it has a lot to do with it. Very, very happy with today’s performances.” 

It wasn’t a school record, but Jazlyn Dumas reached a top jump of 5 feet to win the girls’ high jump. Dumas’ top jump separated her from a pack of four who all cleared 4-10. Yet, she didn’t even know she had won until approximately 15 minutes after her jump. She wasn’t even in the vicinity of the high jump area when it happened. 

Dumas was winning the 400 when it happened. Dumas finished the 400 in 1:07.93 and was then informed by Soracco that she had won the high jump as well. She still tried to clear the next height, but her legs weren’t cooperating. 

“It felt awesome,” Dumas said about winning the high jump. “I was so happy, but then the next thing I knew I was like, “Oh, man, that means I’m going to have to keep jumping.’ My legs basically felt like jelly. They kind of feel like they’re going to give out, but I just had to pull myself together, take a break and try my best.” 

The meet began at approximately 3:30 p.m. with the girls’ 4×800 relay and the sun high in the sky. It ended five hours later with the girls’ pole vault after the sun had called it a day, setting to the west. 

Leavitt’s Ashley Pratt defeated both the darkness and her 10 competitors to close out the meet, clearing a height of 8-06 in the pole vault. The lack of sunlight didn’t bother her, even though she said she’d never vaulted that late at night. 

“I actually like the darkness, I don’t know why,” Pratt said. “I felt more focused and less distracted.” 

Being the last event of the meet, all eyes were on Pratt and Edward Little’s Lauren Berube, who finished second at 8 feet, at the end. 

“It made me a lot more anxious, but I think I was a lot more motivated than normal,” Pratt said. 

Pratt joined Hunter Sirois (javelin), Billy Bedard (long jump) and Noah Hutchinson (high jump) as individual winners for the Hornets.