Four local runners represented the Houlton area very well in the state cross-country championships held last Saturday in Belfast.
Houlton’s Rylee Warman, Isaiah Brown and Noah Holmes, all turned in personal season low times, while Greater Houlton Christian Academy’s Wesley Ganglfinger finished strong. As a freshman, Ganglfinger came in 61st with a time of 19:26.63.
According to Houlton coach Chris Rines, all of his runners ran at their peak performances on a very wet and muddy course.
Warman finished in the top 15, with a time of 21:13.42, as 91 runners were competing in the Class C girls’ state meet, while Brown finished in 23rd with a time of 18:10.49 and Holmes was 63rd coming in at 19:32.00 out of 90 runners in the boys’ meet.
“Noah ran the best race of his career, shattering his personal record (set last week at the regionals) by 22 seconds on a very slippery and muddy course,” said Rines. “Isaiah also ran a season best time which was three seconds faster than his Festival of Champions time, however, still three seconds off of his career personal best of 18:07.”
Brown and Warman both placed ninth out of just the Eastern Maine finishers.
“With the state championships now over, our cross country season has officially come to a conclusion,” Rines said. “It was certainly a challenging undertaking, but the kids made it fun. Even though we didn’t always have the best places or results throughout the year, they all grew as individuals and learned some very valuable life lessons. I’ll be looking forward to following the kids as they continue on with their sports this winter.”
