Class A Girls Team
The team competition for the Class A girls' South Regional should be very competitive with three teams ranked in the top-10 in the most recent Saucony Flo50 team poll. Bonny Eagle, ranked fourth in the state, comes in as the favorite. They have a potent trio in sophomores Ami Beaumier, Kayla Raymond and Christine Toy, who have been their anchor this season. Beaumier and Raymond were expected to do big things this season, which they have, but the emergence of Toy has been as important to the success of the Scots as anything. Beaumier will likely contend for the individual title on Saturday, but if the Scots are to come out victorious, they will need a standout performance from no. 5 runner Madeline Thompson. After Bonny Eagle, there are a number of teams that will be fighting for the runner up spot if things go accordingly. The Falmouth Yachtsmen, currently ranked seventh, come into the regional after finishing third at the WMC Championships. Expected to lead the way for the Yachtsmen on Saturday is sophomore Malaika Pasch who comes in as the individual favorite after winning the WMC Championships in a course-record time of 19:14. With Pasch likely getting a low stick, Falmouth will need Mira Wyman, Hannah Berzinis, and Antionette Lambert to have big races to contend with Bonny Eagle. The Westbrook Blue Blazes will look to mix it up and are led by freshmen Quincy Lyden, who was quickly emerged as one of the top runners in the region. They've averaged a 1:51 1-5 split in 2016 and will need to improve that on Saturday to contend. The Marshwood Hawks are another team to watch. They were ranked ninth in the Saucony Flo 50 poll and are led by Natalie Dubois and Mackenzie Young who will both contend for top-10 finishes. The Gorham Rams could be a sleeper pick for the runner up on Saturday. The comeback of standout Anna Slager gives Gorham a formidable trio with freshmen Iris Kitchen and Kate Tugman. All three could contend for top-10 finishes which will be vital for the Rams success on Saturday.
Class A Girls Individual
Falmouth sophomore Malaika Pasch recently won the WMC Championships in a course record time of 19:12 and is peaking at the exact right time. Pasch surprised the field in Belfast at the Festival of Champions with a breakout race, finishing second overall running a PB of 18:36.49. This will be Pasch's first time running at Twin Brooks. Expected to challenge Pasch is Ami Beaumier of Bonny Eagle. Beaumier recently beat Gorham's Anna Slager and Scarborough's Bethany Sholl running an impressive time of 19:30 at Smiling Hill Farm in Scarborough. She finished ninth at the Festival of Champions running a PB of 19:16.13, and finished fourth in the region in 2015. Slager missed a chunk of the season due to injury but is rounding into form. She was two seconds behind Beaumier at Smiling Hill running 19:32. She's the defending regional champion, and is very familiar with the Twin Brooks course. Sholl finished 13th in the region in 2015 and has had a very strong season in 2016. She finished 11th at the Festival of Champions running a PB of 19:30.06, and was two seconds behind Slager last week at Scarborough running 19:34. Another athlete to watch is freshman Quincey Lyden of Westbrook. Lyden has won three of four 5k races this fall, and had her best race at Festival of Champions as she won the Freshman race running a PB of 19:35.60. She followed that performance with a pair of impressive victories at South Portland and at Maine Girls' Academy. Kennebunk's Louise Holway has a had a great senior season highlighted by her 19:34 runner-up performance at the WMC Championship at St Joe's last weekend. On the season Holway has won three times, and has been second three other times this fall. This will be her first time running at Twin Brooks. Other runners to watch on Saturday are Kayla Raymond of Bonny Eagle and Kylie Johnson of Massabesic.
Class A Boys' Team
Falmouth, ranked first in the Saucony Flo 50 poll, comes in as the favorite after its statement win at FOC and conference championship, but expect it to be a three-way battle between them, Scarborough and Deering on Saturday. The Yachtsmen, who were the regional runner up a year ago, looked great at the WMC Championships getting an individual conference title from Jeremiah Sands, and putting three in the top six in D1. Sands is going to challenge for the win on Saturday, but for the Yachtsmen to win Connor Piers, John Auer and Ben Wyman will all need to work together to stay with Scarborough's formidable trio and Deering's duo of Yahya Nure and Alex Troxell. They were able to do it at Belfast, and will look to do the same on Saturday. The Red Storm, who are the defending regional champions, have had a tremendous 2016 after losing three vital seniors from last years team. It's trio of Shamus Malia, Connor Coffin and Andrew Goodwin is as good as any trio in the state and will all work together on Saturday in an attempt to keep the Regional title in Scarborough. The lost to Deering 23-39 on Deering's home course back on Oct, 6th, but looked very impressive on their home course last week as their trio all went sub-17 at Smiling Hill Farm in Scarborough, which is a very difficult course. Harrison Osborne and Luke Grover have been solid as the Red Storm's 4-5 runners this year, and will need to perform well for Scarborough to win on Saturday. The Rams have the tightest 1-5 pack in the state regardless of class, which gives them an advantage on Saturday. In defeating Scarborough on their home course, the Rams impressively had just a 34 second 1-5 split. Yahya Nure and Alex Troxell have been running in each others slipstreams all year and have given the Rams the front-running they need. Getting top-10 finishes from both runners will help the Rams chances on Saturday. After those three, look for Massabesic, Windham, Westbrook and Bonny Eagle to fight for that fourth spot.
Class A Boys Individuals
Falmouth senior Jeremiah Sands comes into Saturday as the favorite after winning the WMC Championships at St. Joe's running 16:37 - the seventh fastest time in course history. He's the only runner in the region to have gone sub-16 this fall when he ran 15:58.15 at the Festival of Champions to finish third. Sands finished seventh at the Regional in 2015. Expected to challenge Sands is senior Josh Lombardo of Westbrook. Lombardo has had an excellent 2016 season as he comes in with a PB of 16:12, which he ran at Festival of Champions to finish fourth overall. Lombardo was sixth in 2015. Junior Alexander Swett of Massabesic has been the surprise of 2016 and will look to mix it up with Sands and Lombardo. Swett's breakout race this season came at the Manchester Invitational in the large school race back on Sept. 24th where he finished 10th running 16:28 to break 17:00 for the first time. He followed that up by lowering his PB to 16:17.25 at the Festival of Champions to finish seventh overall. Windham senior Ben Breton is another athlete to watch on Saturday. He's been out for a few weeks with an injury so he may not be at 100-percent (or even race), but he had one of the more impressive starts to a season than any runner in the class. He won the SMAA Relays covering the 1.5-mile course in 7:47, and set the course record at Lake Region covering the 2.8-mile course in 14:56. If he's healthy and ready to go, Breton will challenge for a top five finish. Shamus Malia and Connor Coffin of Scarborough will both look to break into the top five on Saturday. Malia's hard work over the summer helped him become one of the top runners in the SMAA and comes into Saturday with a PB of 16:34. Coffin, a freshman, is having a spectacular first season and will get his first experience of running in the postseason with the Red Storm. He was the top freshman at the Festival of Champions running 16:42. Their teammate Andrew Goodwin is another one to watch. He ran 16:37 at FOC to finish 15th. Deering's tandem of Yahya Nure and Alec Troxell will also contend for a high finish on Saturday.