AUGUSTA – Over the past three months, Danielle Donovan and Sara Richard have been pounding the pavement in and around the Presque Isle area, side by side, stride for stride, pushing each other all the way through the 1993 cross country season.

On Saturday, they were at it again, coming out of the hilly University of Maine-Augusta woods for one long last loop around the field leading to the finish line of the 3-mile state cross country championship course here.

The two Presque Isle High School dalers were the first two runners to emerge from the woods during the girls Class A portion of the meet. Donovan, a freshman in high school, but a veteran in cross country competitions, won the race in 19 minutes, 34 seconds. Richard, a senior, was 10 seconds behind.

“I knew we were both going to do well, but I never thought it’d be one and two,” said Richard, who was 16th in last year’s state meet. “We run together, and that helps us push each other.”

“You can’t beat having Nos. 1 and 2,” said PI Coach Sue Lougee. “Danielle being a freshman and everything, it’s unbelievable. But, she’s been training hard and she came in as a seasoned runner. This is Sara’s fourth straight state meet.”

The 1-2 finish by these little-known Wildcats was just one of many surprises in the meet, in which Eastern Maine schools put forth one of their best state meet performances in recent history.

Eastern Maine pulled off a 1-2-3 sweep in boys Class C. George Stevens Academy won the title, and Washington Academy and Sumner finished second and third.

The Foxcroft Academy girls were also the surprise winner in Class C. Cape Elizabeth was nestled into the second place spot, but Stevens and Narraguagus were third and fourth.

Maranacook of Readfield swept the Class B ranks, winning both boys and girls championships. It was the fourth straight title for the Black Bears boys, who were led by Brian Christianson’s individual victory in 16:14. The Maranacook girls snapped a string of three straight Greely titles.

Gladys Ganiel of ‘Guagas repeated her individual Class C championship of last year, despite taking the previous three days off because of a back problem.

“I was kind of frustrated because I like to run so much but I knew I couldn’t,” Ganiel said. “But I know when stuff happens you just have to be patient, learn from it, and try to work through it. You get those little trials, and those are what make you a stronger person and a stronger runner.”

Ganiel’s time of 18:15 was two seconds slower than the time put forth by Greely’s Molly Dinan in Class B. Dinan, who was seen warming up on UMA’s hills before her race, was clocked in 18:13.

In the boys Class C race, GSA was led by Dan Carter’s fifth-place finish. Larry Malm finished 12th and Dagan Heaverin was 26th to help pace the Eagles in becoming the first EM school to win a C title since Searsport did it in 1987. Andy Seeger was 32nd and Herb Gilley was 40th to round out the scorers.

For the Foxcroft girls, Deri-Ann White finished fifth overall while Erin Kimball posted a 10th-place finish and Ellen Caldwell was 14th. Holly Stelmok was 33rd and Jess Anderson was 36th to round out FA’s scorers.

In other action, the Cheverus boys won their sixth consecutive state Class A title over Brunswick behind the second-straight individual championship of Ryan McCalman. McCalman had the fastest time of all competitors, crusing the course in 16:01.

Westbrook, meanwhile, won the girls Class A championship, despite an impressive 11-second, pack-time performance by the Old Town Indians. Old Town finished third behind Mount Ararat.

In Class D, Seacoast Christian Academy won the boys title while Falmouth won the girls championship.

David Howe of Old Orchard Beach won the individual boys race in 16:27 while Emily Holdtman of Falmouth won the girls title in 19:59.

In Class C, Matt Lane of Old Orchard Beach won the individual title in 16:12.

Cross Country Champs

Teams

CLASS A Cheverus boys Westbrook girls CLASS B Westbrook girls CLASS C George Stevens Academy boys Foxcroft Academy girls CLASS D Seacoast Christian boys Falmouth girls

Individuals

CLASS A

Ryan McCalman (Cheverus) 16:01

Danielle Donovan (Presque Isle) 19:34 CLASS B

Brian Christianson (Maranacook) 16:14

Molly Dinan (Greely) 18:13 CLASS C

Matt Lane (Yarmouth) 16:12

Gladys Ganiel (Narraguagus) 18:15 CLASS D

David Howe (Old Orchard) 16:27

Emily Holdtman (Falmouth) 19:59