Class B Boys
Individuals
Defending champion Nick Dall of Waterville is back to defend his KVAC Class B individual title, Dall who won last year as a freshman will be looking to make it two in a row on Saturday. So far in 2016 Dall has the top 5k time in the KVAC Class B with his 16:39 effort.
Last time out Dall had the second fastest individual time at the Mt Blue Relays, avenging a 41st place finish at Festival of Champions.
Another sophomore Sam Russ of Lincoln Academy will be a challenger as well, a year ago he placed 9th, and he has improved leaps and bounds this fall. Russ was the top KVAC Class B finisher at FOC where he clocked a lifetime best 16:54. Last week he clocked the 5th fastest effort at the Mt Blue Relays.
Camden Hills senior Caleb Love-Webb missed the 2015 KVAC Championship due to injury, he's back healthy this time, and is coming off back to back strong races. At FOC Love-Webb was the #2 KVAC Class B finisher with a seasonal best 17:10, he won the Camden Hills Invitational last week.
Ruslan Reiter of Maranacook placed 4th a year ago, and enters the meet with a best of 17:42.40 this time. Reiter missed sometime in the middle of the season but came back with a strong effort at FOC where he hit his seasonal best, he followed that up with the 12th fastest time at Mt Blue Relays.
Other individuals to keep an eye on are Noah Jordan of Lincoln Academy who was 8th a year ago, he has run 17:18 this fall, his freshman teammates Jarret Gulden & Benji Pugh will look for top 10 finishes as well, they have run 17:26 & 17:30 respectively this fall. David Barnum also of Lincoln Academy has the 6th fastest time in the field this fall, he clocked 17:29 at FOC.
Teams
Last year Waterville ran away with the team title, and this year it looks like Lincoln Academy is the heavy favorite as they have 5 of the top 7 5k times this fall. They have been impressive this fall including a 5th place finish at the Festival of Champions. A year ago they finished 3rd overall with 103 points, the real question is can they score under 30 points to win this fall.
The battle for the runner-up trophy should be a competitive one between Camden Hills & Maranacook. The Windjammers got the best of the Maranacook at FOC by 34 points.
1 Nick Dall FR Waterville 5:43.2 17:46.1 1 2 Christopher Wallfield SR Morse High School 5:44.3 17:49.7 2 3 Jarod Farrar SR Leavitt 5:55.7 18:25.2 3 4 Ruslan Reiter JR Maranacook 5:58.3 18:33.0 4 5 Billy Chambers SR Waterville 6:01.3 18:42.4 5 6 Ricky Smith SO Belfast 6:01.3 18:42.6 6 7 Luca DeAngelis SR Maranacook 6:02.3 18:45.6 7 8 Noah Jordan SO Lincoln Academy 6:03.4 18:49.1 8 9 Sam Russ FR Lincoln Academy 6:03.5 18:49.1 9 10 Soren Nyhus SO Waterville 6:04.3 18:51.6 10
1 Waterville Senior High Sc 55 1 5 10 15 24 27 69
Total Time: 1:34:37.90
Average: 18:55.58
2 Belfast Area High School 90 6 16 19 23 26 34 37
Total Time: 1:37:27.90
Average: 19:29.58
3 Lincoln Academy 103 8 9 25 29 32 45
Total Time: 1:37:49.50
Average: 19:33.90
Class B Girls
Individuals
Augusta Stockman missed the 2015 KVAC Championship with a stress fracture, this came after she dominated the FOC freshman race with a 19:03.57. Since that race Stockman has battled a slew of injuries, putting in jeopardy her 2016 XC. Stockman has battled back, and had a huge run at Festival of champions where she placed 8th overall running 19:04.
Her run at FOC ranks her easily the #1 KVAC Class B runner in the field. Teammate Emma Trapani also has come back to the xc trails this fall with plenty of success. Trapani who started as a freshman for the Windjammers before having her season end due to injury, hasn't competed on the trails the last two falls. This year however she enters the Championship season running very well, a 19:50 15th place effort at FOC, followed up by a win at the Camden Hills Invitational.
Last year's runner-up Cecilia Morin of Waterville figures to be in the mix once again, the senior has a 20:21 best to her name so far this fall. Morin placed 6th at the Mt Blue Relays last week.
Julia Labbe of Leavitt has four victories this fall, and will look to continue that success on Saturday. Labbe who a year ago finished 5th, has run a best of 20:26 this fall, and placed 8th at the Mt Blue Relays.
Morse's Sydney McCarren is coming off a seasonal best of 20:21 last weekend at the Camden Hills Invitational where she placed 2nd to Trapani. McCarren placed third overall as a freshman last year
Don't sleep on Maranacook's Laura Parent who is running at a high level entering the championship season. Parent who was 4th a year ago clocked a 20:27 at FOC, followed up by a 4th place finish at Mt Blue where she beat a couple of the girls ranked just ahead of her.
Others to key an eye on are Maddie Taylor & Molly McGrail of Maranacook, Taylor was 6th a year ago and has run 20:33 this fall, while McGrail has a 20:27 best. Grace Iltis of Camden Hills a freshman has had a strong year with a 20:30 personal best. Emily Jolliffe (Belfast) & Emma Allen (Lincoln Academy) are two others back from the top 10 a year ago.
Teams
Camden Hills finished out of the top three a year ago due to a rash of injuries, the Windjammers are back with another strong team as they look to take the top spot in KVAC Class B action.
Maranacook looks like the only team that could beat Camden Hills based on how things have gone so far in 2016.
Waterville the defending champion looks to beat Morse for the third spot.
1 Lauren Brown SR Waterville 6:23.8 19:52.4 1
2 Cecilia Morin JR Waterville 6:45.1 20:58.5 2
3 Sydney McCarren FR Morse High School 6:54.8 21:28.6 3
4 Laura Parent SO Maranacook 7:08.4 22:11.0 4
5 Julia Labbe JR Leavitt 7:08.6 22:11.6 5
6 Maddie Taylor SO Maranacook 7:09.4 22:14.0 6
7 Emily Jolliffe SO Belfast 7:13.4 22:26.3 7
8 Emma Allen SO Lincoln Academy 7:20.6 22:48.8 8
9 Kayleigh Cote JR Leavitt 7:20.7 22:49.1 9
10 Ella Ruehsen FR Waterville 7:23.4 22:57.6 10 1 Waterville Senior High Sc 52 1 2 10 14 25 32 43
Total Time: 1:51:03.70
Average: 22:12.74
2 Maranacook Community Scho 75 4 6 18 20 27 35 38
Total Time: 1:55:50.60
Average: 23:10.12
3 Morse High School 82 3 12 17 24 26 39
Total Time: 1:56:21.00
Average: 23:16.20