Inside Maine this fall, Osman Doorow was perfect.

A senior at Lewiston, Doorow swept through the cross country season without a loss until an injury forced him to drop out of the New England meet in Vermont.

Until then, Doorow dominated every race and posted the fastest time of any runner in any class when he won the Class A state championship at Twin Brook in Cumberland.

This, despite slipping and falling in the final corner, a tumble that cost him any chance at his goal of breaking 16 minutes.

Instead, his 16:17 was still 14 seconds faster than anyone else in A, B or C.

Doorow is our choice as the Maine Sunday Telegram boys’ cross country runner of the year.

Born outside of Nairobi, Kenya, to Somali parents, Doorow arrived in Lewiston a little more than two years ago.

“I started running here my sophomore year,” he said.

In Kenya, he had played a little soccer but nothing else. He did not run competitively until coming to Maine.

That first fall, he finished as high as fifth in a dual meet and wound up 14th at the Class A state meet, Lewiston’s third runner on a deep team that won the state title.

As a junior, Doorow won a few early meets and finished eighth at the state meet. It turns out he wasn’t entirely healthy, the result of an iron deficiency.

“It took the winter to get him going,” said Lewiston Coach Kim Wettlaufer. “By spring he was really coming on.”

Doorow finished second in the mile at the Class A indoor track championships, then took second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters outdoors.

“This fall,” Wettlaufer said, “he’s been on a whole new level.”

He won three September meets by 1:18, 1:20 and 1:46. He took on a field of nearly 300 at the Festival of Champions in Belfast and won by nearly 15 seconds in 15:50.

At the KVAC championships, he shattered the course record at Cony High by 18 seconds. He returned to Belfast for the Northern Maine regional meet and ran a season-best 15:40. A week later, he won at Twin Brook to become an individual state champ for the first time.

“Last year I was not 100 percent,” he said. “This year, I was really ready to go.”

At New Englands, he fell just after the starting line and tweaked something in his leg. The injury worsened as the race progressed.

“When I got to two miles, my legs starting hurting and I couldn’t even move,” he said. “I just dropped out.”

The injury forced Doorow to scrap plans to run the Foot Locker Northeast Regional and instead concentrate on the upcoming indoor track season.

“We’ve got indoor and outdoor,” Wett-laufer said, “and he’s excited about that.”

Sunday Telegram All-State Team

Paul Casavant, Hampden Academy junior: The Class A runner-up and the top Mainer at the New England meet (20th overall), Casavant had the second-fastest time at the state championships, regardless of class. He led Hampden to the Class A North title.

Connor Doherty, Scarborough senior: Doherty was the Class A South runner-up and placed sixth in the state, helping the unbeaten Red Storm defend their team title. He was fifth at the Festival of Champions.

Osman Doorow, Lewiston senior: Doorow was the Class A state champion by 14 seconds and the only runner in any class to break 16:30 at Twin Brook (16:17). He won the Northern Maine regional at Belfast in 15:40, 10 seconds faster than his winning time at the Festival of Champions.

John Hassett, George Stevens Academy junior: Hassett was the Class C state champion by 27 seconds, leading the Eagles to the team title, and the third Mainer at New Englands (55th overall).

Henry Jaques, Freeport junior: Jaques improved from fourth in the regional meet to Class B runner-up as he helped the Falcons win their second straight state title. He was the fourth Mainer at New Englands, 61st overall.

Luke Laverdiere, Yarmouth sophomore: The Class B South champion in a time (16:32) that was fastest in his regional meet, regardless of class, Laverdiere also won the WMC title and placed second at the Manchester (N.H.) Invitational in the small school race.

Cameron Meier, Mt. Ararat junior: Meier improved 56 places from his sophomore year to finish fifth in Class A. He was the 10th Mainer at the New England meet and 114th overall.

Jesse Southard, Gorham senior: Southard improved to third in Class A after placing fifth in the Southern Maine regional. He was the sixth Maine finisher at the New England meet (88th overall).

Colin Tardiff, Scarborough senior: The regional champion who placed fourth in Class A, Tardiff led the unbeaten Red Storm to a successful title defense. He was the seventh Mainer at the New England meet (99th overall).

Chandler Vincent, Freeport senior: Vincent was the Class B champion by seven seconds (in 16:34), leading the Falcons to a successful title defense. He was third in the WMC championships.

Coach of the Year

Jim Harmon, Scarborough: Harmon led the Red Storm to not only a second straight Class A state title and eighth in 12 years, but an undefeated season to boot. Scarborough won every SMAA meet, the Southern Maine regional, the Festival of Champions (over 63 other schools) and even the SMAA Second Seven meet for junior varsity runners. “I think it’s only the second time we’ve ever gone undefeated the whole way through,” Harmon said. “I think we did it in 2005, too.”

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