High school runners from Aroostook had strong showings in the Regional Class C Cross Country championships at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast over the weekend.
MSSM finished third in the girls competition, while Greater Houlton Christian Academy placed fourth. For the boys, GHCA and MSSM also had solid showings, placing third and fourth respectively.
Houlton, Katahdin and Hodgdon runners also had solid individual showings at the meet, but did not score as a team.
The top half of teams and the top 30 runners across the line move onto the state championships, to be held Saturday, Oct. 28, at Twin Brook in Cumberland.
“Twin Brook is a private facility that is very well kept,” Houlton coach Chris Rines said. “The grounds are soft and full of rolling hills and winding woods trails. The course runs slow and can sap the energy out of a heavy-footed runner easily. Other than the UMPI course, we don’t really run on anything quite like it but we are ready to hit the challenge head on and are excited that we have four great prospects heading down to represent our schools and communities.”
MSSM’s Dolcie Tanguay was the top female runner for local athletes as she completed the course in 20 minutes, 20.85 seconds.
“Dolcie ran a very smart race and if she can turn in another personal best, she is poised to be a top 10 finisher at next week’s state meet,” said MSSM coach Marie Beckum.
GHCA’s Bridget Hill was just two hundredths of a second behind her, finishing fifth at 20:20.87.
MSSM placed three runners in the top 10 as Naomi Kihn finished eighth (20:46.07) and Madison McCarthy was 10th (21:08.76).
“Naomi improved on last season’s time by over two minutes and Madison has really come on in the last few weeks,” Beckum said.
Other runners for the Penguins included 36) Charlotte McCulloh, 25:19.35; 43) Bailey Chalmers, 26:31.87; 53) Eunseo Son, 27:35.20; and 56) Rachel Jeon, 27:49.06.
Other runners for GHCA were Grace Graham, who finished sixth (20:22.44), while Teagan Ewings was 11th at 21:31.15. Olivia Nadeau placed 37th (25:22.93), while Chloe Fekete was 46th (26:48.30) and Kathryn Nightingale was 58th (28:33.45).
Washburn had several runners log solid efforts. Madison Miller finished 16th (21:53.68) to lead the Beavers. Other Washburn results were: 26) Kassandra Farley, 22:48.56; 41) Brianna Turner, 26:20.29; 49) Kyla Cunningham, 27:04.32; 51) Raegyn Chavez, 27:12.34; 63) Bobbie Campbell, 29:33.25; and 64) Caroline Brown, 29:40.16.
Results for other local runners were: Jordyn Ritchie, Katahdin, finished 15th (21:49.65); 23) Emmalyne Drake, Houlton, 22:46.28; 33) Jeannelle Ross, Hodgdon, 24:02.26; 39) Jillian Ross, Hodgdon, 25:49.79; and 73) Lauren Swimm, Houlton, 33:52.54.
“Every girl that ran for us dropped their absolute season-best effort today,” Rines said. “Two runners, Emmalyne Drake and Jeannelle Ross hit career personal bests in their efforts. Jordyn Ritchie ran better than she had all year, and though she missed hitting her career best, she did manage to finish 10 seconds better than her regional performance from a year ago.”
The complete girls team scores were: 1) George Stevens Academy, 46; 2) Orono, 52; 3) MSSM, 85; 4) GHCA, 87; 5) Narraguagus, 129; 6) Washburn, 143; 7) Mattanawcook, 167; and 8) Machias, 211.
Boys results
Hodgdon’s Joel Bond was the top local boys runner, completing the course in 17:38.02. Houlton’s Jeremy Cook was 27th at 19:19.80 and Ean Bolstridge was 86th at 23:13.64.
“The boys made out very well,” Rines said. “Joel had been on pace for a low 17-minute finish through the first two miles of the race but ended up just seconds over his personal best. His top ten finish earned him a medal. Jeremy Cook missed his best time by mere seconds as well but the effort was good enough to finish in the top thirty. After the first mile, Jeremy was just outside the top 30, but a smart race plan and execution put him in contention and he didn’t look back. The biggest improvement for the boys came out of Ean Bolstridge with almost a full minute off of his previous best time. Nolan Jacobs was unable to finish the race due to an ongoing injury sustained days prior to last week’s PVC meet.
For the GHCA boys, Wesley Ganglfinger was the top runner, finishing ninth at 17:52.55. Other Eagle runners were: 23) Cole Winslow, 19:01.78; 29) Will Austin, 19:25.77; 31) Jeremy Stone, 19:34.16; 43) Joel Carmichael, 20:29.21; and 75) Isaac Potter, 22:15.65.
MSSM boys results were: 13) Will Perkins, 18:29.95; 14) James Cyr, 18:31.18; 30) Sawyer LaChance, 19:30.15; 35) Oliver Wainmen, 20:00.73; 68) Jay Philbrick, 21:36.74; 87) Sage Betko, 23:15.38; and 99) George Johnson, 25:00.88.
“All five scorers did what they needed to do to secure a team state berth,” said Beckum, in her first year as the Penguins’ coach. “Both [the boys and girls teams] have been committed to consistent training since they arrived in Limestone in mid-August. I believe in structured, goal orientated training and the athletes of MSSM certainly responded well.”
Results for Washburn boys were: 28) Aidan Churchill, 19:21.03; 32) Devon Maynard, 19:41.37; 53) Konner Jordan, 20:59.72; 58) Edwin McLaughlin, 21:08.01; 59) Gavin Dunagan, 21:10.47; 69) Jacob Maynard, 21:42.58; and 72) Shawn Helton, 22:05.08.
Team scores for the boys event were: 1) Orono 19; 2) GSA, 104; 3) GHCA, 107; 4) MSSM 129; 5) Calais, 144; 6) Mattanawcook Academy, 159; 7) Lee Academy, 160; 8) Washburn, 194; 9) Bucksport, 237; 10) Machias, 241; 11) Sumner, 268; 12) Madawaska, 302; and 13) Fort Kent, 345.
