Washburn runner is four-time state champ
Koch bests field on Cumberland course
WASHBURN SENIOR Carsyn Koch raced to her fourth consecutive state cross country title Saturday in Cumberland. She became only the second girl from Maine to ever accomplish the feat.
Photos courtesy of Stacey Baker
WASHBURN SENIOR Carsyn Koch hugs teammate Carmen Bragg, while Mackenzie Worcester looks on after Koch captured the Class C state championship in cross country Saturday at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland. With the victory, Koch claimed her fourth state title.
WASHBURN RUNNERS Mackenzie Worcester, left, and Carmen Bragg stay close while crossing the finish line Saturday.
DEREK BAKER leads a group of runners at Saturday’s state cross country meet in Cumberland. Baker placed 20th in the race.
Mark Haskell/Courier Publications
HILARY BOUCHER competed for the PI girls Saturday.
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
CUMBERLAND — Carsyn Koch helped spearhead the revival of Washburn cross country in the fall of 2010 after the school had gone several years without such a program. Now she goes out as one of very few athletes who can lay claim to being a four-time individual state champion.
“Saturday was a great day to run. It was perfect,” said Beaver coach Mike Waugh. “And on a perfect day, Carsyn achieved perfection. It’s remarkable.”
Koch capped off a brilliant high school career in the sport Saturday at Twin Brook Recreation Area by leading an 86-runner field on the five-kilometer course, finishing with a time of 20 minutes and 24.79 seconds. She was nearly 17 seconds faster than runner-up Hannah Austin of North Yarmouth Academy to earn top honors in Class C for the fourth consecutive year.
Koch admitted experiencing nervousness, not just heading into Saturday’s race but as far back as August when her senior campaign got under way. She said she’s had a lot of thoughts running through her mind.
“There were a lot of ‘what-ifs.’ Like, what if I twist my ankle or what if I got hurt in soccer,” Koch said. “Winning was a goal I’ve had for awhile because I knew only one other girl [Kennebunk’s Abby Leonardi] had ever won four state championships.
“As far as the race, it is very hilly and I actually hate that course, but I knew I just had to do the best I could and run my race,” she said.
Koch said making state cross country racing history with the four wins hasn’t really hit her yet.
“I can’t really wrap my mind around it yet,” she said. “It almost doesn’t feel real. When I think about it, I’m proud of myself and the fact that I could do it, but it’s still so surreal.”
The Beavers, however, were unable to defend their team state title as Orono, the team they got past a year ago, claimed a slim two-point victory (48-50) this time around.
“The race was excruciatingly close. We lost by two, which is a margin that most people don’t understand, because that’s closer than two points in basketball or soccer,” Waugh said. “You can’t take anything away from the ladies. They ran and gave everything.”
While Washburn had the overall champion in Koch, Orono featured a little more balance by having the fifth-, sixth- and seventh-place runners, as well as No. 17 and No. 21.
“The two Orono freshmen, Kassidy Dill and Hannah Steelman, were critical to their victory. Their performances propelled them … they’re a great team,” Waugh added.
Koch said that with her Beaver soccer team still having a chance to make it to the state championship, which is on Nov. 9 and the same day as the New England Cross Country Championship, she has already decided to pass on running in the XC meet, making Saturday her final event as a high school athlete.
The Beavers did not have another runner inside the top 10, with Carmen Bragg and Mackenzie Worcester finishing just outside that range by ending up 11th and 12th, respectively. Bragg’s time was 22:04.29 and Worcester’s 22:06.61.
Emilia Churchill came in 18th in 22:22.64 and Tori Koch was 20th in 22:30.21.
The Washburn boys, making their first appearance in the state meet in 20 years after qualifying the previous week in Belfast, placed 10th with 265 points. Boothbay nipped Orono for first place.
Beaver sophomore Derek Baker led his team and was 20th overall out of 92 competitors with an 18:49.25 clocking. Cameron Preston (20:19.04), Michael Ericson (21:21.65), Parker Thompson (22:22.02) and Kenny Irving (22:35.31) were the team’s other scorers.
The individual champion in Class C was Telstar’s Josef Holt, who finished in 17:00.87.
In Class B, coach Justin Fereshetian’s Presque Isle boys took 10th place out 15 teams with 266 points. The senior trio of Saul Nunez, Trevor Levesque and Dustin Drabek paced the Wildcats. Nunez was 40th overall out of 115 runners with a time of 18:38.24. Levesque was 53rd in 19:04.71 and Drabek 55th in 19:07.07.
The Wildcats’ Jason Bartley had a clocking of 19:22.3 and teammate Jacob O’Berry crossed the finish line in 20:20.4 as their team’s other scoring members.
Cape Elizabeth was the team champion, beating out Eastern Maine champion Ellsworth for the top position. The Capers scored 49 points and the Eagles 61. Ellsworth’s Dan Curts was able to defend his state title as he came in at 16:09.22.
The Wildcat girls were last in the 14-team field, tallying 360 points. The squad’s top finishers were Mandy Graham and Emily Colligan. The sophomore duo crossed the line in nearly the same time, with Graham credited with grabbing the lead spot in 57th place with a time of 22:57.86 and Colligan 1/100th of a second back and in 58th.
The girls’ field included 111 runners. Following Graham and Colligan for PI were coach Lori Googins’ other four runners — Hilary Boucher (25:30.73), Amanda Palmer (26:11.24), Bonnie Corey (27:09.91) and Rachel Maxwell (30:35.7).
MDI dominated by scoring 49 points for the team title. The Trojans were 41 points better than runner-up Freeport. Kristin Sandreuter of Greely was the individual winner in 18:37.96.
