With no definitive team favorite going into Saturday, the competition for supremacy is expected to be a battle at the Festival of Champions at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. The Scarborough Red Storm are the defending champions and have won the event four times over the past eight years. They are expected to challenge once again. The Deering Rams have quickly emerged as a threat in Class A, and will look to prove they are the top team in what will be their first ever trip to Belfast. The Falmouth Yachtsmen have been incredibly consistent at Belfast and have finished no worse than fifth at the event every year since 2010, and hope to win for the first time since 2011. The Greely Rangers are another team looking to challenge for the win. They recently finished fourth at the small schools race at the Manchester Invitational, and were ranked second in the most recent Saucony Flo-50 team poll.Individually, John Hassett of George Stevens Academy is the fastest Maine returner. However Yarmouth's Luke Laverdiere will look to prove that he is, without a doubt, the best runner in the state. Check out the team and individual previews for the Festival of Champions.
The Deering Rams have been the surprise team of the fall and come into Saturday as the top ranked team in the state. This will be the first time in event history Deering will travel to Belfast. Expected to lead the way for the Rams on Saturday is junior Yahya Nure, who has emerged as one of the individual favorites in Southern Maine this season. The most impressive characteristic of this Rams team has been their tight 1-5 pack, which has separated Deering from the rest of the state. They have averaged about a 75 second spread this season, which will be a huge factor in a meet as large as this. Sophomore Alex Troxell has been the Ram's consistent no. 2 runner this season and finished just three seconds behind Nure at their meet at Noble last week. If Deering can get low sticks from Nure and Troxell, the Rams will be in great shape to contend for the team title on Saturday.
The Scarborough Red Storm are the defending Festival champions, and have won the event four times over the past eight years. They come in as the third ranked team in the state and are expected to be led by Shamus Malia, who has transformed into one of the top runners in the SMAA this fall. Connor Coffin, a freshman, has been their consistent no. 2 runner this year and will be the only freshman in the seeded race, he'll be counted on for the Red Storm to contend for the team title this Saturday. Andrew Goodwin, and the emergence of sophomore Harrison Osborne, give the Red Storm one of the best 1-4 in the state regardless of class, but for Scarborough to win its fifth FOC title in nine years, they'll need a standout performance from junior Luke Grover, who has been running as their no. 5 this year.
Falmouth finished third last year, and won the event back in 2011. Leading the way for the Yachtsmen is senior Jeremiah Sands, who is expected to challenge for the individual title on Saturday. Sands has proved himself against the best of the WMC as he recently beat Freeport's Henry Jaques on his home course two weeks ago. Sophomore John Auer has had a great second year on the trails and finished sixth in the Freshmen race last year. Connor Piers and Ben Wyman round out Falmouth's top four, which gives them one of the strongest 1-4 in the state. Wyman has missed the last two meets with an injury. The achilles heel from this Falmouth team has been its lack of a true no. 5 runner. Charlie Henning and Alex Kinley have switched off as Falmouth's no. 5 runner this year, and both will likely need to run their best race of the season for the Yachtsmen to win on Saturday.
The Greely Rangers come into Festival of Champions with some positive momentum after finishing fourth in the small schools race at the Manchester Invitational posting a very impressive 31-second 1-5 split. They are the second ranked team in the state going into Saturday. Max Stickney has been their no. 1 runner this fall and ran a season best of 17:30 in Manchester to finish 29th. While they're quick split will certainly help on Saturday, their lack of a true front-of-the-pack runner is their achilles heel. Getting a season best run from Stickney on Saturday could certainly help that problem, and perhaps lead Greely to a top three finish.
The Orono Red Riots are a similar team to Greely in that they have a very impressive 1-5 split. At the Sectional Invitational on Sept. 24, Orono had just a 38 second 1-5 split on their way to another dominant victory. They've been the top team in Class C this year, and are expected to be led by junior Matt Keresey, who has emerged as an individual threat in 2016. Orono's 2-5 core of Lowell Ruck, Jonathan Steelman, Jonathan Spencer, and William O'Neil is incredibly strong and gives the Red Riots one of the more complete teams in the state regardless of class. For Orono to contend the Class A and Class B teams on Saturday they will likely need Keresey to contend for a top-10 finish, and the rest of their top five to have their best race of the season.
The Windham Eagles are another team that is expected to challenge for a top finish on Saturday. They are led by Ben Breton, who is expected to challenge for the win. Breton has been arguably the top Class A runner in Southern Maine this season.
Other teams to watch for on Saturday include Mt. Blue, who is led by individual threat Tucker Barber; Massabesic, who recently competed in the large schools race at the Manchester Invitational; and Lincoln Academy, who is quickly emerging as a threat to Orono in Class C.
Out of state teams
Cumberland, Rhode Island - Cumberland finished second overall last year and brings back three runners from its top six, including Harry Travers and Ryan Mardo, who finished 25th and 39th respectively last year.
Burillville High School Harrisville, RI - Burillville finished 33rd as a team last year but brings back five of its top six, including senior Jeff Pichie who comes in with a seed time of 16:49.
Harwood Union Vermont - Harwood Union finished fifth overall last year and brings back its top three, including senior Noah Eckstein who finished sixth overall.
Individual
Luke Laverdiere (Yarmouth)
Laverdiere has been on fire so far in 2016 and comes into Saturday with the fastest time in the state having run 16:03.26, which he ran on his home course last Friday. Laverdiere has only raced in Belfast once, but that shouldn't really affect him at all. He is the favorite going into Saturday and will look to break 16:00, depending on conditions.
John Hassett (George Stevens Academy)
Hassett is undefeated on the season posting wins at the Bucksport Invitational (16:08.37) and the Ellsworth Invitational (16:13.12), and recently won the Searsport Invitational covering the difficult 3-mile course in 17:36. He's the reigning Class C champion, and finished ninth at FOC last year running 16:27.48. With Hampden Academy's Paul Casavant not available for Saturday, Hassett is actually the fastest Maine returner, and will also shoot for a sub-16 time.
Wyatt Lord (Hampden Academy)
Lord won the Freshman race last fall running 17:12.38, which was the 30th fastest time of the day. He has transformed into arguably the top runner in Class A so far in 2016 and is undefeated on the season. He comes into Saturday with a PB of 16:29, which is the third fastest time in the state regardless of class.
Jeremiah Sands (Falmouth)
Sands has been arguably the top Class A South runner so far in 2016 and comes into Saturday with the sixth fastest time in the state with his SB of 16:30.40, which he ran at Freeport. Sands has lost just one race all year (last week to Laverdiere) and has broken 17:00 twice so far in the early going. He finished 10th at FOC last year running a PB of 16:29.90.
Ben Breton (Windham)
Breton is undefeated on the season highlighted by wins at the Lake Region Invitational (14:56, course record) and the SMAA Relays (7:47), and comes into Saturday with the third fastest 5k time in the state having run 16:22. He last competed at the Festival of Champions in 2014 where he finished 23rd running 16:44.97.
Tucker Barber (Mt. Blue)
Barber has been the surprise in Class A in 2016 and comes into FOC with a PB of 16:35, which he ran at Leavitt high school back on Sept. 16th. He picked up his second win of the season last Friday at Lawrence covering the 5k course in 17:09. Barber finished 37th overall last year running 17:17.89.
Nick Dall (Waterville)
Dall has been the top runner in Class B North this fall and comes into Saturday with the ninth fastest 5k time in the state having run 16:39.82. He's broken the 17:00 barrier twice this year, and has been one of the top sophomores in the state regardless of class. Dall finished third in the freshmen race in 2015 running 17:31.97.
Josh Lombardo (Westbrook)
Lombardo finished 19th at FOC last year running 16:55.70 and has won three of four races in 2016. His most impressive win came at the difficult Smiling Hill Farm course in Scarborough where he ran a season best of 16:58.28. The time ranks seventh in Class A.
Tucker Pierce (Maine Coast Waldorf)
Pierce has won three of four races this year and has been the top Class C runner in Southern Maine this year. He ran a season best on his home course running 16:54, which is currently the fastest time in Class C so far. Pierce finished 20th last year at FOC running 16:57.70.
Jacob Hickey (Winthrop)
Out of state individuals
Noah Eckstein (Harwood Union-VT)
Eckstein finished fifth overall last year running 16:21.14. He was fifth at the Vermont State Cross Country Championships last year, and recently finished ninth in the small schools race at the Manchester Invitational running 16:50.
Ryan Mardo (Cumberland, RI)
Mardo comes in with a seed time of 16:46 and recently won the Blackstone Valley Invitational in Rhod Island running 17:26. He finished 39th at FOC last year running 17:19.56.
Harry Travers (Cumberland, RI)
Travers finished 25th last year at FOC running 17:08.54, and recently finished second to Mardo at the Blackstone Valley Invitational running 17:32. He comes in with a seed time of 17:14.