Hermon Boys and MDI Girls Claim Northern Maine B XC Titles


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Hermon repeated as Class B Northern Maine Regional Champion for 2018. No surprise as the team that took the title last season by four points lost no one to graduation. Hermon stormed the course as Ian Meserve (3rd, 17:20.80, PR) Kyle Byram (5th), Ben Zapsky (7th), Braedon Stevens (also 7th, but assigned 8 points) and Zachary Beaton (11th), clogged the finish chute will blue shirts.

With three time Champion Nick Dall of Waterville sidelined by injury, the race for the championships was between Dylan Marrero  of Caribou and Matyas Nachtiagall of Washington Academy. Marrero, last year's runner-up, took that position again (17:13.30), while Nachtiagall claimed the title with a new personal best mark of 17:00.70.

Hermon ended with just 34 points while Marrero's Caribou team finished second with 61. Rounding out the top ten were Caribou's Kyle Boucher (4th), Matt Shea of Ellsworth (6th), Eamon Goscinksi from Belfast (9th), and Ellsworth's Nicholas Cormier (10th).

Following Hermon and Caribou in qualifying for next week's state meet were Ellsworth, MDI, Presque Isle, Old Town, and John Bapst.


On the girl's side Mount Desert Island (MDI)  and Ellsworth also both qualified as teams, but it was difficult to determine which team took the Championship plaque and which finished second. Whereas in the boys class A race, Brunswick and Hampden ended in a tie by score and had to rely on the 6th runner to settle the title, a tie on the race course complicated scoring in the team results.

MDI's Rachelle Swanson finished third for her team in an apparent tie for 9th overall with Caribou's Ashely Violette; each had identical times of  21:05.70. MDI's Swanson was credited with nine points while Violette received ten, presumably by photo finish. The difference made a Champion as MDI finished with 51 points while second place Ellsworth totaled 52. Had the 9th spot points been assigned to Violette, Ellsworth and MDI would have ended in a tie at 52.

Katelyn Osborne led the MDI effort with a 4th place finish; she was joined in scoring by Grace Munger (8th), Swanson (9th),  Olivia Watson (15th), and Olivia Johnson (17th).

With a new personal best of 20:09.30 junior Caitlin Macpherson of Ellsworth claimed the individual title and her first championship win. Also scoring for Ellsworth were Abby Mazgaj (5th),  Sarah Shea (12th), Trinity Montigny (13th), and Emma Mckechnie (23rd).

Completing the top ten finishers were Jamie Sidaway (2nd) and Aliah Coltart (3rd) of John Bapst, Serena Blasius (6th) of Medomak, and Madison Jandreau (7th) of Presque Isle.

John Bapst, Caribou, Medomak Valley, and Presque Isle join MDI and Ellsworth in qualifying for next week's state championship.