Defending champion Emily Durgin finished second to lead Cheverus High to a fourth-place finish at the New England cross country championships Saturday in Thetford, Vt.

Old Town senior Dacie Manion (10th), Cheverus freshman Shannon Conley (19th) and Brunswick junior Katie McMahon (22nd) also finished among the top 25 in the field of 266 to earn all-New England status.

Silas Eastman, a sophomore at Fryeburg Academy, was the only Maine boy to earn that status. He finished 20th and was the first underclassman across the line.

“I was hoping for that,” Eastman said of winning a medal. “But my main goal was to be top for Maine.”

Lindsay Crevoirsat, a senior from Glastonbury, Conn., won the girls’ race in 19 minutes, 11 seconds over 3.1 miles. Durgin finished 12 seconds behind, and just 2 seconds ahead of Jackie Nicholas, a senior from Nonnewaug High in Connecticut.

“The race went out really, really fast,” Durgin said. “You have to go out fast because (the course) tunnels in after 200 (meters).”

Durgin stayed with a lead pack of 10 runners through the first mile. With 1,000 meters to go, she was in fourth, and she managed to pass two runners to take second, matching her result from the 2008 New England meet, when she and Kennebunk junior Abbey Leonardi gave Maine a 1-2 finish.

Besides Durgin and Conley, junior Fiona Hendry (44th) and freshman Kiera Murray (89th) finished among the top 100 for Cheverus, which placed fifth as a team a year ago. Junior Maddie Woods rounded out the scoring in 159th.

“We were upset that we weren’t in that top three,” Durgin said. “That’s what we were aiming for. But next year we’ll have the same team and try to be up there.”

The Mt. Ararat girls placed 12th among 30 teams, with Massabesic 18th, Cape Elizabeth 19th, John Bapst 24th and Mt. Desert Island 28th.

Falmouth led the Maine boys’ contingent in 20th place, followed by Scarborough (21st), Mt. Ararat (23rd), Cape Elizabeth (26th), Caribou (27th) and North Yarmouth Academy (28th).

Falmouth junior Tim Follo in 33rd was the second Maine schoolboy to finish. Four others from Maine placed among the top 60: Boothbay Region junior Chase Brown (37th), Ellsworth freshman Dan Curtis (41th), Mt. Ararat junior Andy Reifman-Packett (42nd) and Madison junior Matt McClintock (57th).

McClintock, the Class C state champion, had run faster times than Eastman, the Class B champ, at the regional and state meets.

“I was really looking forward to getting to finally race him,” Eastman said. “I was hoping to stay right with him the whole race, but he ended up getting boxed in like I did last year, so I never saw him.”

Robert Allen of Cranston, R.I., won the boys’ race in 16:28. Eastman’s time was 17:19.

“It’s a tough course,” said Fryeburg Coach Bill Reilly. “There’s a lot of hills. I thought (Eastman) had a great race. He did what he wanted to do.”

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:

gjordan@pressherald.com