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BELFAST – Breaking a course record is by no means an easy task.
When you’re on your home course, as Belfast Area High School senior Levi Miller was Saturday, it’s a bit easier.
Miller toured his home 5,000-meter loop in 15 minutes, 36 seconds, breaking the record former Greely of Cumberland Center star Ben True set in the state championship meet last year (15:51). The meet record (15:57), also owned by Miller, fell as well.
The boys team competition in the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions went to the Greely Rangers, who outdistanced two-time defending champ Cumberland, R.I., 87-93. Falmouth finished third with 131, Mt. Blue of Farmington fourth (166), Ellsworth fifth (217), John Bapst of Bangor sixth (222), Hampden Academy seventh (233), Caribou eighth (243), Old Town ninth (255), and Leavitt of Turner rounded out the top 10 out of 31 scoring teams with 272.
The top five individuals were Miller, Casey Diehl of Greely (16:09), Cumberland, R.I.’s Andrew Coleman (16:35), Corey DeWitt of Ellsworth (16:54), and Jonathan Forcella of Falmouth (17:03).
Another record fell in the girls race, as Bapst junior Maddy Glover buried the meet record set by Brewer’s Heather Clark two years ago (19:33) with an impressive time of 18:57.
Teammate Courtney Martin (19:04) was right behind in second as the Crusaders thumped the Mt. Blue Cougars 81-118 in the team competition. Ellsworth ended up third with 162, followed by Greely (166), Maranacook of Readfield (176), Hampden (209), Old Town (214), Mount Desert Island (229), Cumberland, R.I., (249) and Falmouth (262) in the 26-team field.
Finishing third overall individually was defending individual champ Lily Hanstein of Mt. Blue (19:37), followed by Jen Leyden of Greely (19:41) and Jana Piazza of Ellsworth (19:48).
In the girls race, Glover didn’t feel as though she had the meet record at any point in the race.
“It’s been close all year between me and Courtney Martin,” she said. “Most of the time she beats me in practice. It’s hard to gauge who’s better that day.”
The Crusaders’ team philosophy was evident again as their pack time (difference between first and fifth runner) was right around three minutes.
“We don’t have any fights, and we really value each other,” Glover said.
John Bapst coach John Emerson not only enjoyed the large meet but felt it was good to see state-meet competition.
“It’s always good to see the competition and always impossible to quite gauge it,” he said. “You don’t know what the next week is going to bring.”
Glover and Martin finished back-to-back for the second time in as many weeks, and they are learning how to settle into a race.
“They understand how fast they should go out,” Emerson said. “The first mile isn’t the race. More of the dynamics take place in the second and third miles.”
A smile on Martin’s face near the end of the race proved that Bapst was having fun.
“With about 700 yards to go, I made a small comment to Courtney and she looked up and smiled at me,” Emerson said. “I think these guys are having fun.”
The Crusaders’ Nos. 3-4-5 runners were Nicole Lavertu in 10th, Eve Jordan in 29th, and Vanessa Weber in 46th.
Old Town standout Cassie Hintz didn’t compete in the race as she traveled to Cary, N.C., to compete in the 6th Great American Cross Country Festival, where she finished fifth.
In the boys race, Miller’s plan worked to perfection: Go out fast (4:47 first mile), coast through the middle, then kick down at the end.
“With a half-mile left, my coach [Jo-Ann Nealy] told me I’d have to hammer down to get it,” he said. “It worked out well. I had it in my mind that I was going to go for it today. I wanted to get the record back to Belfast.”
Joe Diprete-DiGioia, a Belfast runner who died in the meet on the same course last year, was in Miller’s mind.
“It was kind of tough for our team to go through it,” he said. “Everyone around the state gave us a lot of support, so that really helped out.”
Elsewhere, the defending state champion Rangers got a strong second-place finish from senior Diehl (16:09) en route to the victory. Coach David Dowling was impressed with the meet, which gave his team a chance to see the state-meet course.
“It’s a super meet, well-run, well organized,” he said. “I really liked the unseeded, seeded, and freshman races as it gave a chance for kids not often competing at the front to see what they are made of. It’s a great all-around experience.”
The results of all three races were combined to determine the team scores.
Greely finished second at the Manchester (N.H.) Invitational a couple of weeks ago, and Dowling likes the way his team is progressing.
“We’re coming along just as we hoped,” he said. “Winning here gives us a lot more confidence on this course. We ran much faster today and really appreciated the course more. It was great to practice on it and come out with the win.”
Rounding out the scoring for the Rangers were John Pride (24th), Ben Knowles (25th), and Harrison Sheldon (26th).
The freshman races went to Ethan Shaw of Falmouth (17:30) and Maranacook’s Jen Monsulick (20:12.5), while the unseeded heats were won by Mike Hodsdon from Cony of Augusta (19:21.8) and Mary Vaughn of Brunswick (22:28.7).
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