BELFAST — The Mt. Ararat High School boys cross country team cruised through the regular season, often placing six, or even seven, runners in the top 10 in most of its events.

Last week, the Eagles were challenged, but still came out on top in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship.

On Saturday at Troy Howard Middle School, Mt. Ararat’s top runner Lisandro Berry-Gaviria won another big race, edging Brunswick rival Will Shaughnessy by over three seconds, with Berry-Gaviria finishing the 5K course in 15:40.67.

The Eagles scored 36 points, with Grady Satterfield (fifth), Nate Chen (ninth) and Lucas Bergeron (10th) finishing in the top 10.

Mt. Ararat longtime coach Diane Fournier felt her team needed to show its abilities in the State Class A Championship qualifier, where the top seven boys teams in Class A North advanced to this upcoming Saturday’s event at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland.

“If we’re going to do something next week (at states), we had to do it this week as well. It’s two down, one to go now. I think that’s a fun thing to think about,” said Fournier.

Brunswick had a strong showing in the boys race, taking second with 42 points behind Shaughnessy’s runner-up finish in 15:43.93. Tyler Patterson (fourth) and Joey Valliere (eighth) earned top-10 finishes.

Bangor (59) points, Hampden Academy (129), Messalonskee (151), Cony (171) and Brewer (210) advanced to the state meet.

In the girls Class A North meet, Camden Hills captured the title with 57 points, with Mt. Blue (91) and Bangor (91) in second and third, respectively.

Mt. Ararat (126) claimed fourth and Brunswick (127) was fifth, each punching spots in the state championship.

Micaela Ashby was 14th for Brunswick, with Mt. Ararat’s top finisher, Camila Ciembroniewicz, in 15th.

Lydia Gilmore of Bangor was first in a time of 19:30.17.

Class B & C South

At Twin Brook on Saturday, the southern teams took to the 5K course.

In the girls meet, Freeport advanced to Saturday’s State Class B Championship by claiming fourth with 103 points.

Jane Dawson finished 10th to lead the Falcons, with teammate Jillian Wright in 11th.

Greely won the title with 62 points, with York (92) and Cape Elizabeth (94) in third and fourth, respectively.

Morse’s top finisher was Lorelei Pryor, who claimed 48th.

In the boys run, Freeport ended up in fifth behind the strong showing of Martin Horne, who was eighth in 17:23.46.

The Falcons will be joined at the state meet by Greely (64), York (67), Lincoln Academy (94), Cape Elizabeth (107), Yarmouth (196) and Wells (182).

Morse just missed out on advancing, ending up in eighth place, a mere seven points behind Wells.

Individually, Aidan Pryor (20th), Liam Scanlon (27th) and Finn Thelan (30th) will run on Saturday, with the top 30 runners in each region moving on to the state meet.

Maine Coast-Waldorf school swept the Class C South events.

In the boys race, Boothbay/Wiscasset was the runners-up with 94 points, while Lisbon was third with 132. Both teams will compete in Saturday’s State Class C Championship.

Will Perkins of Boothbay/Wiscasset was the top finisher, completing the 5K in 17:16.69.

Aidan Laviolette of Lisbon was third in 17:25.45.

In the girls run, Maine Coast-Waldorf scored 36 points to edge Maranacook (42). Winthrop (82) and Waynflete (105) advanced to the state meet.

Richmond’s Leah Wescott claimed fourth and will run on Saturday. She finished in 21:38.90. The Bobcats were seventh with 188 points.

Wiscasset/Boothbay was sixth, led by Glory Blethen’s 12th-place showing.

DREW BONIFANT of the Kennebec Journal contributed to the story

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