By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
BELFAST – A 72-year wait has finally come to an end for the Caribou Vikings’ boys cross country program.
For coach Roy Alden, who himself had been chasing an elusive title for the previous 20 years, the Class B state championship his squad captured Saturday at the Troy Howard Middle School was for all the athletes who have gone through his program since 1990.
Contributed photo/Laurie Sheehan
Ryan Washington of the Vikings, foreground, completes his sprint to the finish line at Saturday’s state meet in Belfast. Washington came in 33rd place and helped Caribou win the Class B state championship.
After the results were posted several minutes after the conclusion of the race, Alden had senior captain Christian Sleeper go check them out.
“I saw him pump his fist and he came back and I told him to go tell his teammates the news,” Alden recalled.
Sleeper did so, and then returned to his coach, who was seen wiping away tears.
“It was much more emotional that I thought it would be,” Alden said. “I guess it was because it was so many kids, so many years and coming so close multiple other times.
“But it was a great feeling.”
Caribou had qualified for the state meet every year since 1993, but had come up short every time. There were several close calls, including a third-place finish as a Class A team in 1996 and thirds in both 2001 and 2006 and a runner-up finish in 2007. The Vikings have also been Eastern Maine champions on five occasions under Alden.
Contributed photo/Leo Kashian
Caribou’s Caleb Chapman, right, leans ahead of Hampden’s Ethan Burke at the finish of Saturday’s state championship meet held in Belfast. Chapman, a junior, placed 13th in 17:15.98.
“Every year, whether we are good enough or not, [a state championship] is our goal. Every team we put through that process and get them to believe they have a chance,” Alden said, “so this made it neat to actually accomplish that goal.”
On Saturday, senior D.J. Flynn said the team had a plan, was focused and executed the strategy to near perfection.
“We knew if we could get our pack time as small as possible, we would have a shot of coming away with [the title],” he said.
“It was odd because when we were at the start line, nobody was really nerved up. We knew what we wanted to do and knew we had to go out and do it,” he added.
The Vikings were led by Sleeper’s fourth-place performance, which was the fifth best placement by a Caribou runner in a state meet under Alden’s reign. He made it through the 3.1-mile course in 16:36.94 – 48 seconds faster and three places higher than his performance the previous week on the same course.
“I went out and wanted to be in the top five,” Sleeper said. “The first mile was about a 4:57 or 4:58, which is faster than I thought, but I felt good and when I got past the one-mile mark I saw coach [Roy Alden] and kind of smiled at him. I knew it’d be a good day.”
“It was great to see. I knew he just had to trust his talent and be himself,” Alden said. “I looked over at him and his eyes were up and he was smiling. I knew he’d finish strong and he just kept hammering the whole race.”
The Vikes also had Caleb Chapman and Flynn in the top 20 and Ryan Washington and Jesse Sandstrom among the top 40 as the Vikings compiled 92 points to defeat runner-up Falmouth (100), third-place Cape Elizabeth (109) and 10 other Class B teams. Silas Eastman of Fryeburg Academy was the individual champion with a time of 16:02.44.
Chapman, in his first year on the cross country team, came in 13th in 17:15.98 and Flynn was 17th in 17:19.29.
Contributed photo/Laurie Sheehan
Mackenzie Belyea leads a large group of runners along a straightaway during Saturday’s Class B state meet. Belyea was 23rd overall and her Vikings took seventh place as a team.
“It helped always being able to see Caleb close by,” said Flynn, who himself had just joined the team at the beginning of his junior year. “We had passed a couple of Falmouth runners about a mile in and we just kept going.”
“Caleb sprinted to the finish and passed a couple kids,” Sleeper said. “That was big because in a meet that close, every single place counts.”
Washington, who had registered a top-10 at the EM meet, took 33rd in 17:44.55 and Sandstrom placed 36th in 17:48.07.
Jake Michaud (53rd) and Kjetil Rossignol (70th) were Caribou’s other competitors among the 108-runner field.
“It was great for these kids and seeing how they came together and focused on doing what had to be done,” said Alden. “They seemed to handle the pressure of the situation with unbelievable pride and dignity,” he added.
The victory was also unique in that it marked the first time since 1998 that an Eastern Maine team in any of the three classes had come away with a state title.
The last year a Caribou team won a state championship was 1938. That team included Maine Sports Hall of Famer Emery Plourde.
“It’s a good feeling to know we had broken the barrier that had been keeping us back all these years,” Flynn said. “Seventy two years is a long time.”
Next up for Caribou is the New England Championships, which will take place Nov. 13 in Thetford, Vt. The team last qualified for that meet in 2007 when it placed second in the state meet.
The Caribou girls turned in a seventh-place showing as a team at the state meet.
“We had a 1:44 seven-runner gap, which is the best Caribou has ever seen,” said Viking coach Thomas Beckum.
MacKenzie Belyea, a sophomore, led the Vikes by placing 23rd in 20:41.07. Senior Mary Jo Sheehan was 31st in 21:07.42.
Sophomore Ashley Richards recorded a personal-best time of 21:56, which placed her 57th overall out of 101 competitors. Dayna Michaud, Katie Plourde and Natasha Bishop crossed the finish line in consecutive order for the 65th, 66th and 67th positions, while Kelly Kashian came in 73rd place.
John Bapst took the team championship and Old Town’s Dacie Manion was the overall champion. “With only two seniors on the varsity squad and many upcoming eighth-graders, the future [for the program] looks bright,” Beckum said.
Contributed photo/Leo Kashian
Caribou Viking team members displaying their state championship trophy following Saturday’s Class B state cross country meet held in Belfast are, from left, coach Roy Alden, Ryan Washington, Jake Michaud, D.J. Flynn, Christian Sleeper, Caleb Chapman, Jesse Sandstrom and Kjetil Rossignol.
Contributed photos/Laurie Sheehan
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS – Caribou won the Class B state cross country title Saturday in Belfast. At left, Christian Sleeper receives encouragement as he passes by Caribou girls XC coach Thomas Beckum late in the race. In photo above, Caleb Chapman and teammates D.J. Flynn, left, and Jesse Sandstrom give coach Roy Alden a hug after they learned they had won the title. Below, Caribou senior Jake Michaud and York’s Ben Young run side by side during the competition held at the Troy Howard Middle School.
