The top cross country teams and runners from Madawaska to Kittery will converge on the 5,000-meter course behind Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast on Saturday for the high school state championship meet, while state champions will be crowned in field hockey and volleyball and regional titles will be determined in boys and girls soccer.
The cross country action starts at 10 a.m. with the Class B boys race, followed by the girls at 10:45. The Class C boys will go off at 11:30, the girls at 12:15, the D boys at 1:00, girls at 1:45, and the day concludes with the Class A meets, boys at 2:30 and girls at 3:15.
All three field hockey state title games will be played at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium starting with a Class A matchup between Skowhegan and Bonny Eagle of Standish at 10 a.m. The Class C game between Stearns of Millinocket and Telstar of Bethel follows at noon, and the day wraps up at 2 p.m. with Belfast against York in the Class B final.
The volleyball state final will feature the winner of this afternoon’s semifinal matches at UMaine-Machias between No. 1 Greely of Cumberland Center and No. 4 Gorham at 1p.m., followed by No. 3 MDI vs. No. 2 Woodland.
The state final will begin at 7 p.m. at UMM.
The No. 5 Hampden boys soccer team will try for the Eastern Maine Class A title as the Broncos head to Topsham to face No. 3 Mount Ararat at 3 p.m. In Class B, No. 1 Ellsworth will host No. 3 Winslow at noon. Dexter, the No. 4 seed in Eastern Maine Class C, hosts No. 10 Madawaska at 11 a.m., while No. 6 Bangor Christian heads to No. 5 Van Buren for a 3 p.m. game to decide the Eastern Maine Class D title.
In girls soccer action, Eastern Maine Class B top seed Presque Isle will host No. 2 Winslow at 1 p.m. and Eastern Maine Class C fifth seed George Stevens of Blue Hill will travel to No. 2 Madawaska for a 2 p.m. game. Lee won the Class D title Friday 7-0 over Greenville.
In cross country, the day’s exciting races should come in Class B on both sides. In the girls’ meet, the team competition figures to be close between Eastern Maine champ John Bapst of Bangor, Old Town, Western Maine winner Cape Elizabeth and runner-up York.
John Bapst features a 1-2 punch of Maddy Glover and Courtney Martin, but Old Town, led by Cassie Hintz, was right on the Crusaders’ heels at the EM championships last weekend, as the Indians finished just six points back.
The Capers’ top runner is defending state champ Elise Moody-Roberts, who held the Belfast course record until Hintz broke it last week. Clare Egan is the No. 2 runner for Cape while Old Town has a good 2-3-4-5 pack in Ashleigh Madden, Hilary Maxim, Chelsea Nye and Eliza Tibbetts behind Hintz.
Western Maine champ and No. 1-ranked Greely of Cumberland Center looks like the favorite in the Class B boys race, but don’t count out Falmouth, which was close behind them last week, or Eastern Maine champ Hampden along with John Bapst and Ellsworth.
Class A boasts teams that have held the No. 1 spot in the state cross country poll most of this season: the Scarborough boys and Mount Ararat girls. The Eagles of Topsham are poised to win their first state title since 1992. If they do so, it’ll be the first time someone other than Mt. Blue of Farmington or Sanford has won it all since 1997 when Brewer won. Sanford won the title a year ago.
Scarborough is searching for its first crown since 1983, when the Red Storm was in Class B. Last year, they had the title snatched away due to an ineligible runner.
The favorites in Class C appear to be the Lisbon boys and Freeport girls, the defending state champions. EM champ Foxcroft Academy on the girls side and Central of Corinth in the boys ranks along with the boys and girls teams from Sumner in East Sullivan should be in the mix.
And in Class D, the Monmouth Academy girls look to end Elan of Poland’s four-year state-title run. East regional winner Lee Academy has an excellent pack led by Shelby Pickering and Brooke Harris. The boys meet should be close with Elan, EM champ Madawaska and Lee all contending.
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