September 20, 2024
CROSS COUNTRY

MDI, Mattanawcook Academy notch second straight crowns Brunswick overcomes impressive showing by Brewer in Class A

BELFAST – The Mount Desert Island girls cross country team set sail from the Island Saturday morning in search of treasure.

That treasure was their second consecutive Eastern Maine Class B championship.

The Trojans earned their pot of gold, besting runnerup Medomak Valley of Waldoboro 68 points to 95 on an unseasonably humid afternoon at the Troy Howard Middle School.

“We definitely wanted to win, but on any given day anything can happen, but we were hoping to win,” said sophomore Jessica Swanson, who was MDI’s second runner in 12th place.

Caribou finished in third with 96 points while John Bapst of Bangor was a close fourth with 98. Leavitt of Turner Center (112) and Presque Isle (124) rounded out the six qualifiers for next week’s state meet at Leavitt.

Brunswick placed three runners in the top 10 and held off Brewer 42-57 for its third consecutive Class A crown while Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln cruised to its second straight Class C championship with 24 points.

In Class B, junior frontrunner Heather Spurling got things rolling for the Trojans, pulling away from Old Town senior Hilary Maxim in the stretch portion of the race to win individual honors in 19 minutes, 57.38 seconds over 3.1 miles.

“I actually felt pretty good,” Spurling said. “It was just strange being up front so I was just thinking they were right there and I had to go or else.”

MDI’s pack power behind Spurling did the rest, with freshman Kailyn Russell and sophomore Frances Blank finishing 19th and 20th, sophomores Mackenzie Curtis and Lily Madeira in 23rd and 33rd and junior Jessica Rothenheber 41st.

“I think we have a lot of depth on our team,” said Rothenheber. “We’re always really here for each other.”

Swanson added, “We have good team chemistry.”

Having graduated three key seniors last year, the Trojans were counting on the younger runners to step into pivotal varsity roles, and they have come through, in particular Russell.

“She’s very important, well every runner’s important,” Swanson said. “It’s just amazing to see a freshman come out like that and run awesome.”

Now, MDI has set its sights on another pot of gold on its treasure map, a second consecutive state championship.

Maxim finished second in 20:08.38 while Bapst’s Kim Spencer took third in 20:17.04.

In Class A, Brewer came in with a goal of spreading out its pack a little and getting its top three runners closer to those of Brunswick, a goal which junior Katie Snow felt the Witches accomplished soundly.

“I think it’s good that we’re not so close to each other, we can spread out and break up Brunswick’s pack,” said Snow, who was Brewer’s third runner in 11th place, behind freshman Michelle Haluska and sophomore Bekah Clark, who finished 7-8.

“[Brewer coach Glendon] Rand talked about it earlier, it was a goal for us,” concurred junior fifth runner Caitlyn Wilson.

Rand got what he called an exceptional performance from his top four of Haluska, Clark, Snow and junior Kaitlin Noyes, who was 13th.

“We ran very well, we got a good start,” Rand said. “I’m real optimistic we can go to state meet next week and run real tough.”

Wilson finished 23rd while classmates Ashley Geiser and Brooke Madden were 25th and 26th.

Last fall, the Witches qualified for the state meet as a team for the first time since 2000, but the difference between that team and this one is that they are expecting to be competitive.

“Last year was a new experience for us, having not been for quite a few years,” Rand said. “I think this year we’re looking to go down there not just to be there but to compete.”

The improvements are also there, particularly with Clark, who didn’t compete in cross country last fall and Haluska.

“With Bekah and Michelle adding to our team, it’s definitely helped a lot,” Snow said.

Mt. Blue of Farmington finished third with 81 points, Mount Ararat of Topsham and Cony of Augusta tied for fourth with 108, but the Eagles were rewarded fourth place.

Bangor beat out Hampden Academy for the last of the six state-meet berths, 166 points to 179.

Sophomore Rachel Huber led the Rams with a 15th-place finish while Lacey Littlefield was HA’s top runner in 30th.

Mt. Blue’s Silver Hunt raced to the individual title in 19:22.94, good for the day’s fastest time.

In Class C, Renee LaFlamme ran uncontested to her third consecutive individual EM “C” crown in 20:23.23 in leading the Lynx to back-to-back regional championships.

Greenville finished second with 81 points, Fort Kent third with 86, Orono fourth (100), Searsport fifth (141) and Foxcroft Academy rounded out the six qualifiers with 159.

LaFlamme, a senior, was happy with the individual victory but acknowledged the team title means more.

“Having me win and having my whole team win for the second year in a row is awesome,” LaFlamme said.

Juniors Jana Larlee and Hannah Ruhl finished fourth and fifth for the Lynx while freshman Katelyn Deraps took eighth and classmate Abby Paul 10th.

Junior Mary Weatherbee in 27th and sophomore Jessi-Rae Day in 51st rounded out MA’s lineup.

While the Lynx are satisfied with Saturday’s triumph, they are setting their sights on bringing a state title to Lincoln.

“Our whole team plans on winning states, that’s our goal,” LaFlamme said.

Fort Kent’s Grate Boutot finished second while Penobscot Valley of Howland’s Casey McCloskey took third.


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