BRUNSWICK

It took an extra week, but the high school Regional Cross Country Championships were held on Saturday throughout Maine.

At Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, Class A North runners took to the 5K course under cloudy conditions, with rain that seemed to plague most of the state holding off.

The Brunswick girls had a day, taking the regional title with a team score of 71 points, with Cony (114 points), Mt. Ararat (119), Mt. Blue (119), Brewer (120) and Messalonskee (134) qualifying for this upcoming Saturday’s State Class A Cross Country Championships.

Led by a 3-4 finish by Dragons Micaela Ashby and Isabella Pols, along with an eighth-place showing by Caitlin Kelly, Brunswick rolled to the win.

“They did a good job,” said Brunswick coach Dave DeLois. “Isabella and Caitlin all had personal-bests on that course on Saturday, along with just about all of our runners. Getting third, fourth and eighth is big. It all worked out pretty well.”

Mt. Ararat runner Katherine Leckbee, who won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship two weeks earlier, repeated her winning performance by cruising to the regional title.

Leckbee was able to pull away from longtime rival Anne Guadalupi of Cony, posting a winning time of 18:46.77.

Elina Woolever of Brunswick placed 25th, with Dragon teammates Emma Slocum, Kirah Despres-Bowman and Desiree Tanner also competing.

For the Eagles, Rebecca French claimed 21st, while Sara York was 24th. Also running for Mt. Ararat were Katie Lynch, Josie Miller, Fay O’Donnell and Hope Langworthy.

In the boys Class A North race, Mt. Blue ran off with the title, led by individual champion Tucker Barber’s winning run of 15:57.44.

Hampden Academy (93) was second, followed by state qualifiers Mt. Ararat (99) and Brunswick (120) in third and fourth, respectively. Bangor (125) and Lewiston (145) also qualified.

The top area finishers were Eagles Cameron Meier (fifth) and Lisandro Berry- Gaviria (sixth), with Dragon Cameron Ashby finishing in ninth and Mt. Ararat’s Eagan Eldridge in 10th.

Other Eagles in the mix were Lucas Bergeron (25th), Aaron Hyde, Bailey Ruth and Matthew Donovan, while Brunswick competitors were Will Shaughnessy (11th), Andrew Chingos (28th), Hunter Parker, Daniel Lyons, Nick DeRosa and Forrest Blankenship.

Class B South

The Freeport boys entered Saturday’s regional race at Twin Brook in Cumberland the defending champs.

Greely put an end to that, winning both the boys and girls titles handily.

In the boys race, the Rangers had 47 points, with the Falcons defending their title well by finishing second with 86 points. Wells (86), Lincoln Academy (100) and Yarmouth (117) rounded out the top five, with Morse claiming 13th out of 15 teams in action.

Yarmouth’s Luke Laverdiere was the boys individual champion, crossing the finish line in 16:13.34. Close behind was Freeport’s Henry Jaques, who claimed second in 16:35.47.

Yacob Olins (seventh) of Freeport ran well, along with teammates Alex Les (11th), Tom Doyle (24th), Heath Cockburn, Eero Pandora and Tanner Morrison.

Morse’s top runner was Ben Willertz, who claimed 34th in 18:41.04. Other Shipbuilders in 5K action were Alex Wicks, Brady Leavitt, Tyler Bodeen, Mikail Tipton, Jordan Leuteman and Chipper Simpson.

In the girls race, Greely placed three runners in the top nine in running away with the title. The Rangers scored 41 points, with Yarmouth (64), York (90), Maranacook (119) and Cape Elizabeth (126) in the top five.

Freeport finished eighth with 238, while Morse was 10th with 271.

Lily Horne had a solid day for Freeport, taking fifth in 20:06.50. Other Falcons running in the event were Laura Pierce, Olivia Botting, Caroline Stairs, Emily Sclar, Katie Morrissey and Jessie Minieri.

Shipbuilder Sydney McCarren punched her ticket to Saturday’s State Class B run, claiming 17th in 21:05.87. Morse’s Kelsea Albertson, Jenny Wilbraham, Isabel Doran, Whitney Durgin and Samantha Brown were also in action.

Class C South

The smallish field competed at Twin Brook, with St. Dom’s (31) capturing the girls regional championship and Maine Coast Waldorf (70) taking home the boys title.

In the girls race, Faith Blethen of Boothbay was the top finisher in 21:11.80.

Waynflete (60) finished second, followed by Maine Coast Waldorf (73), Traip Academy (108) and Monmouth (127) rounding out the top five teams among the girls.

Destiny Anair of Richmond quickly drove to Cumberland after competing in the girls soccer semifinals in Richmond on Saturday. She arrived in time to finish in 24th place with a time of 23:46.45. Bobcat Olivia Rideour also competed, along with Wiscasset’s Keisha Small and Ella Jones.

In the boys race, Winthrop’s Jacob Hickey continued his dominance, winning in 16:40.62.

Waynflete also finished second in the boys competition with 72 points, with Boothbay (80), North Yarmouth Academy (138) and St. Dom’s (140) in the top five. Lisbon was seventh with 151 points.

Mike Schlotterbeck led the Greyhounds, taking 12th in 18:52.02, followed by David Schlotterbeck in 17th (19:06.84). Kyle LaRoche of Lisbon claimed 19th, with Izaya May, Michael Ray, Kadrian Ruguillies and Alex Cole rounding out the Lisbon contingent of runners.

Wiscasset’s Brandon Goud turned in his soccer shoes for running shoes, taking seventh overall in 18:06.21. Other Wolverines were Gage Varian, Quinn Ranta and Sam Strozier, while Richmond featured Ford Strout (24th), Spencer Soule and Christian Wing.

Runners will be back at Belfast’s Troy Howard Middle School this upcoming Saturday for the state championships, with Class B boys kicking things off at 1 p.m.

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