For Greely's Becky O'Brien, the butterflies don't come at the meet, they come before the meet.

"It's always in the car ride," said O'Brien, who set New England records in the girls shot put and discus Saturday at Thornton Academy. "As far as getting to the meet, I go there and I know I have a job to do. But when I got to the Saco exit, I could feel it in my stomach."

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Noble's Anthony Stanton won the New England championship in the boys high jump less than two years after he first came out for the Knights' track program.

"It takes a lot of practice, a lot of learning and a lot of teaching," Stanton said. "The key to it is how you prepare for a meet."

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Thornton Academy's Dan Smith finished second in the boys discus (169-5) and third in the shot put (52-9).

"I've never seen this many people here," Smith said of the crowd at Hill Stadium. "It's kid of cool, but you've got to stay focused."

In addition to Smith in the boys competition, Morse's Darrus Grate was fifth in the 100, Bangor's Riley Masters was fifth in the mile run, Waterville's Dominik Alexis was fourth in the high jump, Fryeburg Academy's Orion Winkler was sixth in the pole vault and Biddeford's Justin Tarbox-Toussaint was fourth in the javelin.

In the girls competition, Brunswick's Kristin Slotnick was fourth in the 200 and fifth in the 100, Greely's Abby Diehl was sixth in the 300 hurdles, Hall-Dale's Laura Peterson was fifth in the long jump and Erskine Academy's Anna Niedbala was third in the discus.

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Rachel Schneider, a Sanford resident who attends St. Thomas Aquinas in Dover, N.H., wasn't sure what state her championship in the 1,600 would represent.

"I think I'll have to split it," Schneider said, laughing.

Schneider, a junior, won the mile in 4:51.61.

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