Conference meets highlight XC action KVAC runs Friday; PVC set Saturday

With temperatures finally starting to drop to where they should be this time of year, the state’s high school cross country runners are gearing up for postseason meets, which kick off this weekend with conference championship action.

The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference and Penobscot Valley Conference will host their respective championship meets, with the KVAC meet set for 3 p.m. Friday at UMaine-Augusta while the PVC championships will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Saxl Park in Bangor.

In the KVAC meet, the Class A and B schools will all compete in one race, but the “A” and “B” teams will be scored separately.

The Brunswick and Brewer girls appear to be the top two teams in the Class A girls division and have had two tight battles so far this fall.

The two-time defending Class A state champion Dragons have come out on top both times, but only beat the Witches by two seconds at last weekend’s Mt. Blue Relays in Farmington.

Brewer has a talented junior class in Kaitlin Noyes, Caitlyn Wilson, Katie Snow, Ashley Geiser and Brooke Madden while freshman Michelle Haluska and soph Bekah Clark have also been effective runners for coach Glendon Rand’s club this fall.

Leading the way for Brunswick will be the 1-2 punch of Caroline Webster and Clare Franco.

Both teams have very strong packs, and whichever team has the faster pack time – the difference between a team’s first and fifth runner – should come out on top.

The boys meet will feature a fast group of individuals, led by Lewiston’s Mohamed Noor, while Bangor’s Riley Masters, Mt. Blue of Farmington’s Eric Marceau and Cony of Augusta’s Luke Fontaine.

Noor has established himself as the man to beat, running away from both Masters and Marceau to take individual honors at the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions.

Noor’s Blue Devils, who have been ranked atop the MTCCA coaches polls all season, are the ones to beat. Lewiston’s other top runners are junior Robbie Leeman and soph Sadam Abdi.

Brewer is led by senior Travis Blackmer and soph Evan Taylor, while Hampden Academy has gotten an impressive freshman season from Evan Piccirillo.

The Medomak Valley of Waldoboro boys and Maranacook of Readfield girls are favored in the Class B competition.

In the PVC meet, the Caribou and Ellsworth boys will renew their always-friendly postseason rivalry.

If the results of the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions is any indication – the Vikings finished four points ahead of the Eagles – this meet will be another Caribou-Ellsworth classic.

Coach Roy Alden’s Vikes are led by senior frontrunner Spencer McElwain, who will vie for individual honors with Presque Isle senior Corey Park.

Other key athletes for Caribou include Finn Bondeson, Jesse Stephens and Christian Sleeper.

Logan Will leads the way for coach Andy Beardsley’s Eagles, the defending PVC and Eastern Maine champs.

On the girls side, defending Class B state champ Mount Desert Island is the favorite, but is not without challengers in Caribou and John Bapst of Bangor.

Heather Spurling has had a good season for coach Kate Goupee and should be locked in another battle with Old Town’s Hilary Maxim for individual honors, while Bapst’s Kim Spencer should contend as well.

Jessica Swanson, Kailyn Russell, Frances Blank, MacKenzie Curtis, Lily Maderia and Jessica Rothenheber lead a cohesive 2-through-7 pack for the Trojans, who ran to a strong third at the Festival of Champions.

Caribou has a steady top four led by Hannah Saunders, Deanna Michaud, Mary Jo Sheehan and Janelle Gagnon.

John Bapst is coming off a victory at last weekend’s Pendale Invitational and will be tough on its home course.

Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln certainly can’t be counted out. The Lynx feature one of the state’s top individuals in Renee LaFlamme, and have a solid 2-3 punch in Jana Larlee and Hannah Ruhl.