Locals dominate at cross country regionals- Northern edition

Every local school qualified for the cross country state meet last Saturday by virtue of strong showings at the regional championships at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland.

And five Forecaster Country squads took home regional titles.

Class A

Falmouth’s Ben Greene wins the Class A South individual title. Greene paced the Yachtsmen to a team victory as well. John Jensenius / For The Forecaster

Falmouth’s boys’ squad edged defending Class A state champion Scarborough, as the Yachtsmen’s 90 points were two better than the Red Storm’s.

Falmouth, which qualified for the state meet for 22nd consecutive year, was paced by Ben Greene, who was first in the region, completing the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 32.20 seconds.

“I went up the ‘Pain Cave’ and I was like, it’s ‘Go Time,’” Greene said. “I went down that hill, made the left turn and I just took off.”

Ben Potter was runner-up (16:34.43). Also scoring for the Yachtsmen were Michael Smoluk (21st, 17:51.54), Logan Ross (31st, 18:09.25) and Faran Igani (35th, 18:20.30).

“Everyone on the team did great,” said Greene.

Falmouth’s Karley Piers had the third-best individual time in the Class A South girls’ meet and helped the Yachtsmen finish second as a team.

The Falmouth girls, meanwhile, tallied 83 points and came in second behind Bonny Eagle (59) to qualify for states for the 16th straight season. Junior Sofie Matson stole the show by coming in first individually with a time of 17 minutes, 51.74 seconds, which broke the course record, set in 2011 by Kennebunk’s Abbey Leonardi (18:05.59), who went on to help the University of Oregon win an NCAA title.

“I knew I wanted to go sub-18,” said Matson, whose previous best at Twin Brook was 18:41 in the Class A state meet two years ago. “I wasn’t really sure what the course record was.”

Karley Piers came in third (19:11.14), Viviana Griffin placed 19th (21:36.95), Maeve Walsh was 25th (21:41.26) and Teagan Barry finished 35th (22:24.19).

Class B

Greely’s Sam Wilson was fourth individually in the Class B South boys’ race. The Rangers came in first as a team.

Greely stole the show in Class B, as both the Rangers’ boys’ and girls’ squads finished first.

Greely’s boys totaled 64 points, which was three better than runner-up York. The Rangers, who qualified for states for the sixth year in a row, were led by top five finishers Sam Wilson (fourth, 16:54.34) and Riley Franklin (fifth, 16:59.07). Also scoring were Elias Leggat-Barr (ninth, 17:28.70), Leif Harvey (12th, 17:43.21) and Atticus Smith (34th, 18:44.61).

Freeport (143) was fifth and Yarmouth (166) came in sixth and both squads also qualified for the state meet.

The Falcons, who qualified for states for the 11th straight season, were led by Martin Horne (eighth, 17:23.46). Also scoring were Henry Horne (26th, 18:22.53), Nate Davis (32nd, 18:39.04), Heath Cockburn (35th, 18:45.20) and Caleb Hunter (42nd, 18:59.76).

The Clippers’ top finisher was Odeh Rizkallah (10th, 17:33.14). Also scoring were Anders Corey (36th, 18:45.70), Harrison Pendleton (37th, 18:48.04), Lincoln Truesdale (40th, 18:52.50) and Dan LaMourie (43rd, 19:02.40). Yarmouth will run in the state meet for the fifth year in a row.

Greely’s Marin Provencher was third in the Class B South girls’ meet and helped the Rangers take the team title.

In the girls’ race, Greely came in first with 62 points, 30 clear of second-place York. The Rangers, who qualified for states for the 12th consecutive season, were led by Marin Provencher, who was third in 19:59.20. Also scoring were Abby Hollis and Charlotte Taylor who each finished in 20:59.20 and placed seventh and eighth respectively, Katie Hankinson (16th, 21:43.30) and Elsa Dean-Muncie (28th, 22:41.60).

Freeport (103 points) finished fourth and Yarmouth (125) was fifth. Both squads qualified for states.

The Falcons, who qualified for states for the fifth year in a row, were led by Jane Dawson (10th, 21:20.10) and Jillian Wight (11th, 21:26.80). Also scoring were Elsa Blease (19th, 22:08.10), Katie Whittier (30th, 22:44.80) and Allison Brown (33rd, 22:51.40).

The Clippers, who made it to states for the 10th consecutive autumn, were led by Sadie Cowles, who finished 15th (21:43.10). Also scoring were Maddie Marston (18th, 22:05.70), Mary Psyhogeos (22nd, 22:17.80), Addison Hounchell (26th, 22:37.10) and Anna Thornton (44th, 23:42.80).

Class C

Maine Coast Waldorf’s Seamus Woodruff was the individual runner-up in Class C South and helped his team win the title.

Class C proved to be a Maine Coast Waldorf double coronation.

The boys’ squad had 28 points to easily outdistance runner-up Boothbay-Wiscasset (94). MCW was led by Seamus Woodruff, who was the individual runner-up in 17:24.27. Also scoring and placing in the top 10 were Aiden Kusche (fourth, 17:51.48), Bryan Stark-Chessa (sixth, 17:56.95), Louis Walker (seventh, 17:59.20) and John Miles Muentener (ninth, 18:05.23).

North Yarmouth Academy had 203 points and was eighth, qualifying for the fourth year in a row. The Panthers were led by Chris Hamblett, who was 10th (18:10.83). Also scoring were James Tourigny (23rd, 19:00.72), Noah Hallward-Rough (45th, 20:19.36), Caleb Waterman (57th, 20:55.61) and Logan Welch (68th, 21:25.35).

MCW’s Olivia Reynolds won the Class C South girls’ race and helped her team win the crown.

The MCW girls also rolled to the title by scoring 37 points, which was 36 better than second-place Maranacook. Olivia Reynolds was first individually in 20:05.80.

“I’m from Cumberland, so this course really feels like home,” Reynolds said.

Also scoring for MCW were Emma Haims (fourth, 21:56.60), Mamie Whittier (seventh, 22:19.50), Ava Teegarden (11th, 22:42.10) and Nora Goldberg-Courtney (14th, 23:13.60).

NYA had 242 points and placed ninth, but only five teams from the region qualified for states. The Panthers were led by individual qualifier Emma Collins (20th, 23:42.50). Also scoring were Ellie Hilscher (43rd, 26:18.20), Eleanor Commons (57th, 32:14.40), Sam Levasseur (58th, 32:14.50) and Kelty Jennings (64th, 40:22.40).