State cross country titles will be decided Saturday at Belfast’s Troy Howard Middle School in Classes A, B and C.
In Class A girls, the West’s Bonny Eagle, Massabesic and Cheverus should lock horns with the likes of Hampden Academy, Mt. Ararat and Brunswick.
Bonny Eagle will have Mary Szatkowski (fourth in the West Regional, 20:10) and Samantha Cox (sixth, 20:27), while Cheverus’ top runner is Shannon Conly (third, 20:07). Jocelyn Archeson of Massabesic finished fifth in 20:11.
On the East side, Mt. Ararat (second overall) was led by Kelly Lynch (21:10) and Olivia Swan (21:22), who placed sixth and seventh respectively, along with Lauren McNett (14, 22:10), Emmie Cox (15, 22:33), Nicole Ross, (26, 22:59), Alicia Caterina, (32, 23:33) and Amy Segars (37, 24:04).
STANDOUT RUNNERS for Mt. Ararat High School this fall include Olivia Swan (left, with Emmie Cox right behind her) and Sam Wood. The Eagles are scheduled to compete in the Class A Cross Country Championships Saturday at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.
“I think out of the west Massabesic looks like a good bet,” said Brunswick coach Dave DeLois. “But you can’t overlook Cheverus, and Mt. Ararat could also be right there. But I don’t see a team coming out of the East winning it.”
The Mt. Ararat boys took third in Eastern A behind Lewiston and Bangor and should battle Massabesic and Scarborough, which took 1-2 in the West. Massabesic’s George Morrison won the 5K race in 17:29.7, just two-tenths of a second faster than teammate Michael Aboud. Scarborough’s Robbie Hall took fourth in 17:42.
In the Mt. Ararat effort, junior Sam Wood won the East regional in 17:00, four seconds faster than Mohamed Aswil of Lewiston, with Eagles teammate Nathan Mackenzie 12th (17:40). Mt. Ararat will need some help from runners Jake Demosthenes (23, 18:12), Matt Gott (25, 18:17), Shea Nelson (28, 18:28), Ted Burns (42, 19:11) and Jake Papa, (55, 19:53).
In the regional, Brunswick’s top runner was Jamie Ross in 21st (18:05).
Others figuring to get in on the scoring for the seventh-placed Dragons include Alex Nichols (27, 18:27), Jason Higginbotham (33, 18:37), John Murphy (40, 19:03), Donovan Shea (41, 19:06), Walter Martin (49, 19:24) and Christopher Tanner (51, 19:30).
“I feel it is really hard to factor in the West teams, other than Bonny Eagle, Cheverus and Massabesic will be tough,” said Mt. Ararat coach Diane Fournier. “We (girls) could be third or fifth just from what I see. Hard to tell until meet day! But, Massabesic looks like the team to beat from the West.
“Sam and Nate will do well,” said Fournier of the boys race. “They both like the course, and if the weather is like last week, I put my money on Sam!
“If they get rain close to the end of the week, it will be sloppy in places,” added Fournier of the Belfast site. “If it’s weather like last Saturday, there will be ‘white water’ conditions! It was true cross country last week. Some of those puddles were unreal and there was one place just as you went into the woods that was eroding like crazy. One thing about the Belfast course crew, they do a great job of preparing and repairing the course. It looks nice until Friday, not sure what Saturday looks like.”
In Class B girls, Falmouth, Yarmouth and Freeport head up the West, while Camden Hills, Waterville and MDI look strong in the East.
“If all goes well we should be in the top-five” said Freeport coach Brian Berkemeyer of his girls. “The girls are really peaking at the right time. There are a couple of teams in the East that look formidable.”
Freeport runners to follow include Nina Davenport, who placed 15th in the regional (22:33), Elly Bengtsson (17, 22:41), Ciera Wentworth (20, 22:46), Bethanie Knighton (27, 23:11), Hayley Steckler (29, 23:18), Emily Jennings (33, 23:33) and Katie O’Neil (39, 23:47)
Morse’s Charlotte Recknagel placed 26th in 23:10 to make the top- 30 individual cut.
In Class B boys, Cape Elizabeth and York are strong in the West, while Ellsworth dominated the regional, scoring 27 points. Freeport placed sixth to advance in the West.
“Abrin Berkemeyer and Mark Donahue are really having great runs,” said coach Berkemeyer. “Abrin is working on getting back to mid-season form and Mark has been steadily moving up.
“Belfast should be faster. It will help the top runners … my top-10 seem to be in good shape.”
In Class C girls, Merriconeag of Freeport and Waynflete battled it out in the West, while Washburn and Orono went 1-2 in the East.
Merriconeag was led by fourthplace finisher Samantha Pierce (22:34), and others to look for include Teagan Wu (7, 22:52), Zoe Chace-Donahue (14, 23:32), Emelie Chace-Donahue (31, 24:30), Carlin Tindall (33, 24:49), Zoe Oswald (41, 25:30) and Emma Dolan (52, 26:30).
Lisbon runners expected to compete include Bree Sautter (ninth, 22:58) and Caitlyn Bundy (19, 23:51).
In Class C boys, Hall-Dale, Waynflete and Boothbay went 1-2-3 in the West, while Orono and Bangor Christian impressed in the East.
The Lisbon boys qualified in the eighth and final spot and should be sending Nicholas Harriman (ninth, 18:33), Cote Brauneis (23,19:46), Jeff Willey (39, 20:30), Ben Kates, (45, 20:42), Jordan Cole (65, 21:30) and John Pettingill (79, 23:51.69).
The Merriconeag boys took ninth and didn’t advance, but were led by first-place finisher Jack Pierce (16:38), who is state-bound, along with Zach Neveu (10th, 18:37).
Richmond runner Travis Robbins placed 24th in 19:52 and is eligible to run in Belfast.
The state meets start times are Class A boys at 11 a.m., girls at 11:45 a.m.; Class B boys at 12:30 p.m., girls at 1:15 p.m.; Class C boys at 2 p.m., girls at 2:45 p.m.
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