Cape Elizabeth nips MDI for B championship

TURNER – The past few weeks, the Mount Desert Island girls cross country team has lived and died in close meets – all of which have been championship meets.

“It’s sort of a bittersweet day,” said Trojans coach Bruce Merrill after they were nipped in a close Class B state meet by Cape Elizabeth. “State runnerup is a good thing but we also hoped to win. Cape ran a great race today and got by us.”

They got by the Trojans, by a slim five-point margin, 100 to 105. York was third with 115, followed by Eastern Maine champ Old Town (120) and Maranacook of Readfield’s 134 to round out the top five on a sunny but chilly day at Leavitt Area High School new 3.1-mile course.

Cape Elizabeth tucked their first three runners in the top 15, which gave it a 12-point lead over MDI. Coach Mary Ann Doss, however, was aware that the York Wildcats were right there with them.

“We started looking at blue [jerseys] halfway through the race because York had a great day today,” she said. “They knew what they had to do.”

The Capers’ top runner was Erin Gross, who finished ninth (20 minutes, 32 seconds).

Despite MDI’s disappointment of not winning the state title, Merrill noted that his girls accomplished another goal.

“We had one goal at the beginning of the year which was to qualify for New Englands, and we did that, so the girls are just thrilled,” he said. “There’s nothing to be sad about today, top to bottom.

Heather Spurling paced MDI with a 15th-place effort (21:05) while Emily Farley was 16th (21:14).

Eastern Maine champ Old Town will join the Trojans at New Englands in Thetford, Vt., in two weeks. Old Town put its first three runners in the top 12. Sophomore Hilary Maxim was third in 20:05 while junior Eliza Tibbits and sophomore Ashleigh Madden took slots 11 and 12 in 20:47 and 20:51, respectively.

John Bapst of Bangor’s Madeline Glover was the Class B individual champ at 19:37.43 while Maranacook of Readfield’s Abby Pullen finished second (19:49.46), York’s Chelsea Jordan placed fourth (20:08.95) and Ellsworth’s Shauna Lynch took fifth (20:20.59).

Belfast’s Megan Nealey earned a seventh-place finish (20:25.85).

In Class A, the EM champion Brunswick Dragons dominated the field, winning Eastern Maine’s lone state title.

Brunswick finished with 80 points to runnerup and Penobscot Valley Conference power Hampden Academy’s 103.

The Broncos won a tight four-team race for second place with Catherine McAuley of Portland (third, 104 points), Scarborough (fourth, 111) and Kennebunk (fifth, 121).

“We felt really good about the race,” Hampden coach Dick Balentine said. “We wanted to at least beat the people we beat last week [in regionals]. We weren’t quite sure what we could do against the Western Maine teams but we were able to do very well against them so we’re very pleased.”

Molly Peverada finished second and Amanda Gervasi captured 12th (ninth for team scoring) for the Broncos, with times of 19:34 and 21:04, respectively.

Brunswick tucked all five of its runners in the top 23, led by Chelsea Leeman’s eighth-place effort.

“Brunswick is a really strong team. They deserve it [the state title],” Balentine said.

McAuley’s Abigail Iselborn was the “A” individual champ in 19:31.29 while Oxford Hills of South Paris’ Mandy Ivey took third (19:52.43), Deering of Portland’s Ashley Morgan was fourth (19:53.09) and Kennebunk’s Lauren Johnston was fifth (20:15.23).

In Class C, two-time defending state champion Freeport was the heavy favorite, and showed why.

The Falcons placed three runners in the top 10 to oust Waynflete of Portland, 53-84. Mattanawcook of Lincoln was the top Eastern Maine team in third with 114, Monmouth Academy was fourth at 115 and North Yarmouth Academy fifth with 139. EM champ Lee Academy was seventh with 162.

Kelsy Nichols and Lucy Garrec took places three and four for Freeport, with times of 20:54 and 21:00, respectively. Abby Samuelson was 10th (21:32).

Mattanawcook’s Renee LaFlamme dueled with Zoe Filliter of North Yarmouth Academy the whole way, with LaFlamme holding the lead most of the way. In the end, Filliter outsprinted the Lynx’ sophomore to win in 20:38.35. LaFlamme finished in 20:38.84.

Waynflete of Portland’s Betsy Critchfield took fifth (21:06.95) and Mattanawcook’s Casey McCloskey captured sixth (21:16.92).