CUMBERLAND, Maine — The County was well represented at the state Class C cross country championship Saturday at the Twin Brook Recreation Area.
Greater Houlton Christian Academy senior Grace Graham was the top local runner as the talented senior finished eighth in the state with her time of 20 minutes, 48.31 seconds.
“Grace missed qualifying for New England‘s by seconds, while senior Bridget Hill also ran right with the front pack,” GHCA coach Angela Ewings said. “Senior Wesley Ganglfinger took off over 30 seconds from the last time he ran this course two years ago. Having a school of our size and competing competitively in states shows the work ethics of these athletes. Although most of them with the exception of Graham, Ganglfinger, and Cole Winslow had not run this difficult course before, yet most of them ran their best race of the season.”
Hodgdon senior Joel Bond was the top local runner in the boys event, as he finished 13th with a time of 18:09.84.
“The state races are always fun to watch,” Houlton coach Chris Rines said. “You can tell everyone who qualified shows up and puts down their best efforts. The course has plenty of rolling hills on soft grass and long pieces out in the woods that removes you from the spectators. Several parts loop around and always has you changing direction, elevation, and stride length. The only straightaways are the beginning and finish of the course.”
Orono won the girls competition with 71 points. GHCA finished seventh with 157 points, and the Maine School of Science and Math was eighth with 159 points.
The Orono boys were also victorious, finishing with 48 points. MSSM placed ninth with 212 points, while GHCA was 11th with 233 points.
Results for GHCA girls were: 8) Graham, 20:48.31; 13) Bridget Hill, 21:19.80; 30) Teagan Ewings, 22:33.60; 66) Olivia Nadeau, 25:14.00; 76) Kathryn Nightingale, 27:38.79; and 77) Chloe Fekete, 27:53.31.
Katahdin senior Jordyn Ritchie finished her running career with a solid 26th place with her time of 22:27.68. Houlton freshman Emmalyne Drake was 42nd in her first state meet, completing the course in 22:58.44.
For GHCA, the individual boys results were: 22) Wesley Ganglfinger, 18:33.16; 63) Cole Winslow, 19:59.96; 71) Will Austin, 20:19.98; 72) Jeremy Stone, 20:27.18; 87) Joel Carmichael, 21:31.73; 102) Alex Walker, 22:36.36; and 104) Isaac Potter, 22:46.12.
Jeremy Cook was the lone Houlton boys runner competing and he finished 64th with a time of 20:04.57.
“This was the first time either Cook or Drake had qualified for a state meet and both were very excited to be here,” Rines said. “Bond and Ritchie had state meet experience from a year ago and although the harder course did not result in faster times for them this year, they did manage to place much higher than they had on the quicker Belfast course last year.”
