BRUNSWICK

On Saturday, cross country runners competed in the Regional Cross Country Championships, with the goal to reach the state championships, which are slated to take place this upcoming Saturday at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.

Along with teams advancing, individual runners finishing in the top 30 advanced to this Saturday’s festivities.

Class A

Throughout the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference season, Brunswick’s Tessa Cassidy has battled tooth and nail with Cony’s Anne Guadalupi. Saturday was no different, with Cassidy coming out on top in the Eastern A Regional.

Cassidy ran the flat 5K Belfast course in 19:29.93, with Guadalupi in second at 19:40.91.

But, it was Hampden Academy that came away with the overall win, taking first with 45 points, with the Dragons, behind three top-7 finishers, claiming second with 62 points. Lewiston (113), Mt. Blue (139) and Mt. Ararat (139) rounded out the top five, with Brewer’s 150 points good for the sixth and final spot out of Eastern A for the State Class A meet.

“It wasn’t her best time, but the conditions were muddy,” said Brunswick coach Dave DeLois of Cassidy. “Tessa was able to get out early and pull away.”

Also for Brunswick were Tiffany Tanner (fifth, 20:27.00), Ruth Van Kampen (seventh, 20:58.11), Brooke Escoe (23rd, 22:28.98), Emma Nagler (31st, 23:09.94), Kyra Teboe (35th, 23:21.27) and Callie Crawford (44th, 23:58.81).

Katherine Leckbee once again paced Mt. Ararat’s fifth-place showing, running a 20:20.41 for fourth-place overall. Colette Kinkaid (11th, 21:38.65), Emma Levy (32nd, 23:10.72), Madison Leckbee (38th, 23:26.85), Isabella Blessington (63rd, 25:49.19), Sara Lamb (65th, 26:06.03) and Jun Inaba (66th, 26:30.23) finished for the Eagles.

On the boys side, it was a Mt. Blue-Lewiston battle at the top, with Mt. Blue’s Aaron Willingham holding off Lewiston’s Isaiah Harris, 16:24.77-16:26.52.

But, once again it was the Hampden Academy Broncos that claimed the title in a close battle with the Cougars and Blue Devils. Hampden finished with 70 points, with Mt. Blue (76) and Lewiston (78) close behind.

Brewer was fourth (107), Messalonskee fifth (108), Brunswick sixth (142) and Mt. Ararat (144) claiming the seventh and final spot in the 13-team scoring field.

“The guys really wanted to make it to State’s after missing out last year for the first time in a long time,” said DeLois.

Mt. Ararat’s Matt Gott was the top-placing Eagle, crossing the finish line in 17:25.60 for ninth, improving slightly on his 10th-place showing at KVACs.

Other finishers for Mt. Ararat were Eagan Eldridge (15th, 17:56.51), Cameron Meier (34th, 18:30.16), Steven Johnson (40th, 18:56.84), Ted Burns (46th, 19:07.98), Eric French (49th, 19:19.01) and Thomas Emerson (77th, 20:53.82).

For Brunswick, John Murphy was 14th in 17:54.62, with teammates Christopher Tanner (18:10.43) and Jason Higginbotham (18:16.38) finishing 25th and 28th, respectively. McKinley Stinson (37th, 18:31.46), Evan Guernelli (38th, 18:39.53), Benjamin Flanagan (65th, 19:49.22) and Nick White (83rd, 21:32.81) also ran for the Dragons.

West at Twin Brook

Teams from the West were at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland on Saturday. In Western B, the Freeport boys and Morse girls advanced to the State Class B meet.

“The boys had a very respectable race,” said Freeport coach Brian Berkemeyer after his Falcons finished fourth with 118 points behind York (72), Greely (92) and Cape Elizabeth (105). “Chandler Vincent in fifth (17:32.05) is solid, and Erik Brobst was shooting for the top 10 and just came up short (11th, 17:46.34). Henry Jaques (16th) also had a personal record at 18:00.

“I feel that all of the boys have something left in the tank.”

Other scorers for Freeport were Ethan Sclar (42nd, 19:11.30) and Tyler Frey (44th, 19:21.15), with Bennett Hight (56th, 19:58.80) and Liam Gallagher (57th, 19:59.75) rounding out the Falcons.

The Morse boys, missing its top two runners in Christopher Walfield and Carlo Frenquelucci, finished 13th overall with 348 points as the top seven teams moved on.

“This group was as hard working of a group that we’ve had,” said Morse coach Dane Dwyer. “We ended the season with nine runners breaking 20 minutes at the 5K distance, with a few more running below 21 minutes. We’re going to miss losing our captain Balt von Huene (top Morse runner in 19:57.03), but we’re looking forward to the 2015 season and the strong group of returning runners.”

Lisbon’s Nicholas Harriman punched his spot in the State Class B meet, finishing 20th in 18:19.42. Cape Elizabeth’s Mitch Morris was first overall in 16:45.48.

In Western B girls competition, Katherine Leggat- Barr of Greely was first in 19:46.76. But, Yarmouth took the title with 39 points, with the Rangers second with 45 points followed by the Capers with 54. York finished fourth (115), Maranacook fifth (153) and Morse grabbed the sixth and final spot with 165 points.

Freeport just missed out, taking seventh at 185. However, Falcon Lily Johnston secured a state spot with her 17th-place finish in 21:38.68.

“It was one of Lily’s better races, actually it was her best race of the year,” said Berkemeyer. “She is new to running. She is a hard worker, gives every race her best effort and still has room to improve. She continues to surprise herself and me as well.”

“Western B girls had three of the top Maine teams for all classes,” said Dwyer. “We finished slightly behind Maranacook, a team we finished slightly ahead of at KVACs. On our best day, we probably would have been in fifth.”

For Morse, Maris Silvestri was the top Shipbuilder in 22:02.42 (26th), with teammates Maeve McGowan (27th, 22:08.84) and Ruth Nadeau (29th, 22:15.11) slightly behind. Kelsea Albertson (41st, 23:18.82) and Amelia Franklin (56th, 24:24.95) also scored for Morse, with Whitney Durgin (61st, 21:49.63) and Isabelle Paulus (72nd, 26:05.10) finishing.

For Lisbon, Kaitlyn Bundy was the lone Greyhound runner, taking 54th in 24:09.01.

In Western C, Waynflete edged Freeport-based Merriconeag Waldorf School in the girls race, 39-66, while the Boothbay Region boys won in a tiebreaker over MW, with both teams scoring 51 points. It came down to the sixth runner, with Merriconeag

Waldorf ’s Graham Roeber just behind Boothbay’s Kyle Alamo.

Hannah Austin of North Yarmouth Academy won the girls competition in 20:44.23, just ahead of M-W’s Olivia Skillings (21:09.54).

Richmond’s Olivia Winokurzew finished 36th in 24:29.67.

Ben Allen of Winthrop was first in a solid time of 17:19.04 in the boys run, with NYA’s Matthew Malcom the runner-up in 17:29.08. M-W’s Tucker Pierce was third in 17:42.82, with teammates Zach and Nick Neveu in sixth and seventh, respectively.

Wiscasset runner Brandon Goud missed the top 30 cut line by one spot, crossing the finish line in 19:51.62, while Richmond’s top runner was Nate Vintinner in 20:46.18.

Class C will compete first on Saturday, with the boys beginning at 11 a.m. and the girls at 11:45 a.m. Class A is up next, with boys at 12:30 p.m. and girls at 1:15 p.m., followed by Class B at 2 p.m. (boys) and 2:45 p.m. (girls).

Comments are not available on this story.