OLD TOWN – It’s easy to get excited about running in, or watching the Sectional Invitational.

If you’re running, you’ve got “Chariots of Fire” blaring through Victory Field as you start, and if you’re watching, you may have noticed Old Town junior Cassie Hintz smash yet another record.

This time, it was her own.

Hintz, who owned the previous mark of 18 minutes, 28 seconds, blasted that old mark by a minute, six seconds (17:22.78) over the 3.03-mile course at the 56th annual meet Saturday.

That time would have placed her fourth in the boys’ varsity race.

Compared to last year, Hintz is on a good pace. She ran about a 5:48 mile Saturday.

“I’m feeling very good right now, and I’m not tired so that’s a good sign,” she said.

She was also happy to set the record on her home course.

“I’m glad I ran well on my home course. That’s always fun,” she said.

Hintz will have a chance to run against the top runners in the country, as she will compete in the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C., next weekend.

“I’m really excited to run with the good girls from around the country,” she said.

In the team competition, the John Bapst of Bangor girls finished first while the Caribou Vikings captured the boys title.

In the girls race, John Bapst used a 2-3 finish of Courtney Martin (19:09.84) and Maddy Glover (19:09.86) to claim the title. The Crusaders easily outdistanced cross-town rival Bangor, 44-75. Hampden Academy finished tied with the Rams as Tara Hackett, Bangor’s fifth runner, finished ahead of HA’s Margrethe Hassell.

Rounding out the top five were Old Town (80) and Mount Desert Island (108).

One element to winning in cross country is to have positive energy, and coach John Emerson’s Bapst team certainly has that.

“Everybody is real upbeat right now,” he said. “To have that positive energy on the team is an advantage that every coach really wants.”

The Crusaders were minus Nicole Lavertu, who is nursing a minor knee injury, but should be back soon, according to Emerson.

Bapst ended up having a good week of training despite a meet last Saturday and one on Tuesday.

“We balanced enough rest so that kids were able to come here and run well,” Emerson said.

Backing up Glover and Martin were Maggie Jones (12th, 21:57.68), Vanessa Webber (13th, 2:01.12), Eve Jordan (14th, 22:02.28) and Denise Miller (15th, 22:03.21).

Rounding out the top five girls individuals were Jolene Belanger of Bangor (19:57.75) and Amanda Gervasi of Hampden (20:24.83). The middle-of-the-pack award went to Maren Askins of John Bapst, who finished 26th.

In the boys race, the 300-mile plus round trip was well worth it for Caribou as the Viking boys won their third big meet of the season (Ellsworth Invitational, Caribou Invitational), defeating runner-up Hampden, 60-79 with a 1-2 finish from Sam Sheehan (17:03.46) and Cale Dubay (17:17.61).

John Bapst was third with 82, the Indians fourth with 94 and Brewer fifth 139.

Despite missing three runners who are in Wyoming (Dimitri Luffi, Joey Bard and Ricky Michaud), Caribou’s younger JV runners stepped up.

“That makes a huge difference [having the JV runners push the varsity kids],” Caribou coach Roy Alden said. “The depth helps develop new runners and they’re always fighting for positions.”

The three Caribou runners in Wyoming are there training with 12 other County athletes as part of a two-week program sponsored by the Maine Winter Sports Center.

The 1-2 finish of Sheehan and Dubay paid dividends for the Vikings.

“It helped,” Alden said. “Cale had to step it up a little bit and so did a couple of kids who had been JV runners part of the season. They worked hard.”

Dubay was pressured most of the race by Orono’s Lexi Wakeling, who finished third in 17:21.70. By taking advantage of a long downhill after the second mile, Dubay was able to secure the 1-2 finish.

“It’s all downhill after that second mile all they way until you get out of the woods,” Dubay said. “I started to pick it up after the second mile because there was only a mile left, and just cruise in from there.

The Vikes start their season earlier than most teams because of the fall potato harvest.

“We have a summer program where the kids get together and run together during the summer,” Alden said. “They train so they can put a good base together, and having long-term running helps.”

Also scoring for Caribou were Andrew Ciszewski (11th, 17:52.17), Stefan Ciszewski (22nd, 18:27.60) and Drew Freme (24th, 18:32.51).

Travis Vicary of Old Town (17:24.19) and Ryan Lena of John Bapst (17:32.21) went 4-5 while the middle of the pack award went to OT’s Aaron Putnam, who finished 40th.

The Hampden girls and Caribou boys won the JV titles with John Bapst’s Holly Binette (23:04.34) and Caribou’s Bryan Lamoreau (18:41) recording first-place finishes.

56TH OLD TOWN SECTIONAL

TOP 10 FINISHERS

Boys

1. Sam Sheehan, CAR, 17:03.46

2. Cale Dubay, CAR, 17:17.61

3. Lexi Wakeling, ORO, 17:21.70

4. Travis Vicary, OT, 17:24.19

5. Ryan Lena, JB, 17:32.21

6. Brendan Carr, BRW, 17:35.89

7. David Clements, MDI, 17:39.82

8. David McCourt, JB, 17:48.57

9. Seth Tillotson, OT, 17:49.4

10. Zachary Whited, JB, 17:50.38

Girls

1. Cassie Hintz, OT, 17:22.78

2. Courtney Martin, JB, 19:09.84

3. Madeline Glover, JB, 19:09.86

4. Jolene Belanger, BAN, 19:57.75

5. Amanda Gervasi, HA, 20:24.83

6. Molly Peverada, HA, 20:44.05

7. Emily Farley, MDI, 20:47.93

8. Ashleigh Madden, OT, 20:55.7

9. Lindsey Mercier, BAN, 21:06.80

10. Julie Carson, CAR, 21:20.30