Ponies, Bapst, Lee win Hintz smashes course record

BELFAST – Mount Ararat of Topsham proved the rankings to be correct in the Eastern Maine cross country championships at Troy Howard Middle School Saturday while Old Town standout Cassie Hintz smashed another course record.

The Eagles, who have been consistently on the top of the MTCCA cross country polls all season, got the usual 1-2 punch from seniors Beth Wilcox and Jessie Wilcox with junior Krystal Douglas right behind in third to lead MA to a 43-74 win over runner-up Mt. Blue of Farmington in the Class A meet. Waterville was third with 106, Bangor fourth (129) and Leavitt of Turner fifth (138) while Brunswick (154) and Edward Little of Auburn rounded out the state-meet qualifiers.

Meanwhile, in the Class B meet, Hintz toured the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 48 seconds.

Beth Wilcox finished in 18:57.5, followed by Jessie Wilcox (19:03.1) and Douglas (19:32.6) to help MA capture the Class A title.

“Well, it’s the first year they’ve both been healthy at the same time, which is good,” said veteran Eagles coach Diane Fournier about the Wilcox sisters, who are twins.

Douglas has also been a consistent contributor for the Eagles, according to Fournier.

“She’s been huge, especially the last couple meets, she’s come on strong,” Fournier said. “We’ve got to stay healthy one more week [for the state championships].”

In Class C, senior-laden Foxcroft Academy bunched five runners in the top 16 to fend off defending champ Sumner of East Sullivan.

Leading the Ponies’ express was Melissa MacAlister in third (21:38.7), followed by Shannon Marden (4th, 21:43.4) and Tamlyn Frederick (5h, 22:13.2).

“The last four years we’ve kind of played the bridesmaid role, Sumner wins, we’re second,” said Ponies’ coach George Rolleston. “Our senior captains Alyssa [Robinson] and Melissa [MacAlister], it’s a dream come true for them.

In Class D, after scoring four goals in a soccer game against Shead Friday, Shelby Pickering finished third (21:44) to lead Lee Academy to a win. Pickering was one of five Pandas who finished in the top eight with Brooke Harris (2nd, 21:27.7), Carrie Mallett (5th, 21:57.9), Amanda Gifford (6th, 22:07.5) and Kimmy Thurlow 8th, 22:53).

“I just asked Shelby Pickering to kind of dictate the pace,” said coach Todd Thurlow. “She just runs on pure guts, and has the heart of a lion.

Woodland, Greater Houlton Christian and Searsport will join Lee at states next week.

In Class B, Old Town junior Hintz continued one of the great seasons Maine girls cross country has seen in a while, smashing the 5K course record of 18:34 that Cape Elizabeth sophomore Elise Moody-Roberts set a year ago in the state meet. Hintz toured the windy loop in an average of 5:44 per mile.

This week, they’ll be competing against each other.

Hintz’s efforts led the Indians to a second-place finish behind John Bapst of Bangor in a very close meet. Maddy Glover (19:16) and Courtney Martin (19:17) finished 2-3 and Nicole Lavertu ninth (19:55) to give the Crusaders a 62-68 triumph. Eve Jordan eked out a 23rd-place finish for JB while Denise Miller and Vanessa Weber were 25th and 26th, respectively.

The other four teams heading to states are Ellsworth, Hampden, Mount Desert Island and Belfast.