Rams, Elan, Falmouth, NYA win O’Keefe of Sumner captures ‘C’ boys title

AUGUSTA – Kirby Davis will tell you that for the past several weeks – even as he and his Falmouth teammates continued to be ranked tops in state, and even as they consistently defeated Western Maine cross country rival Greely – the Yachtsmen were concerned.

Concerned about the last week of the season. Concerned about the state championships. And concerned about the fact that in the past, no matter what the Yachtsmen did, Greely seemed to find a way to come out on top.

During Saturday’s state Class B cross country championships, Davis and his teammates vanquished their perennial demon with a dominant effort at the University of Maine-Augusta.

“Greely’s been the monster we’ve been going after all year,” Davis said. “We’ve [beaten] them in every single meet, but they’ve been beating us [in the state meet] the last three years. Finally, I think we’ve been able to do it.”

Davis was right.

The Yachtsmen tucked four runners in ahead of Greely’s second runner and negated the fact that Greely star junior Ben True won the race in the day’s fastest time – 15 minutes, 42 seconds – on the 3.1-mile course.

Falmouth tallied 47 points to Greely’s 65 to take a “comfortable” win over a team they’d edged by one point a week before.

“We were hoping that today, with [a complete, healthy team] we could actually put a dent into them,” True said. “But it didn’t seem like we could.”

In Class A, sophomore Eric Giddings of South Portland emerged from the woods with a sizeable lead that didn’t shrink over the wind-blown final 800 meters. Giddings finished in 16:07.

The Deering of Portland boys, meanwhile, laid waste to the rest of the Class A field, tucking their five scorers in the top 13 runners en route to a 43-71 win over runner-up Edward Little of Auburn. Cheverus of Portland was third with 111 while South Portland scored 122. Eastern Maine champ Mt. Blue of Farmington – led by individual runner-up Matt Dunlap – was fifth with 152. Brewer was seventh among 11 schools with 178.

In Class B, True did exactly what he was expected to do: He dominated, topping runner-up Levi Miller, a Belfast sophomore, by 44 seconds.

But the Falmouth boys had four runners in the top 10 and posted a 47-65 win over Greely of Cumberland Center. Mount Desert Island scored 100 while Belfast finished fourth with 115.

Belfast’s Miller followed up a second-place EM effort with a second in statewide competition.

“The front-runners went out pretty quick, so I just stayed behind them and made a push with about a half-mile left,” Miller said. “It worked out great.”

In Class C, junior Ryan O’Keefe continued the family tradition of running excellence, running away from the field to win in 17:18. O’Keefe’s older brother, Brendan – a standout at Brown University – won individual titles in 1998 and 1999.

North Yarmouth Academy dispatched runner-up Freeport 52-81 to win the team crown. Madison was third with 86 while Piscataquis Community of Guilford took fourth with 128.

O’Keefe said the victory was a surprise, as he had run against – and lost to – NYA’s Sam Crocker in the past.

“I didn’t really expect to win, but it all fit together on one day,” O’Keefe said. “It happened to be the right day.”

In Class D, Doug Pelletier, a home-schooled senior who runs for Seacoast Christian of Kennebunk, captured the individual title in 17:02, but Elan of Poland earned the team win with a 56-point total. Monmouth was second with 76 and Waynflete of Portland was third with 85.

Pelletier’s triumph – like many on Saturday – shouldn’t be viewed as a surprise: Family history was in his favor. Father Sam was a standout distance runner who ran in the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and sister Samantha won three individual cross country titles for Seacoast Christian.

And just minutes after Doug Pelletier finished, his sister – eight-grader Laura – captured the Class D girls race.

Elan coach Peter Rowe, whose Buccaneers struggled in the Western Maine championships, said the win was a surprise.

“We were third last week and ranked sixth among the teams coming in,” Rowe said as the point totals were being tabulated. “For us to win this would be nothing short of miraculous.”