ELLSWORTH — They’re finally off and running in the Penobscot Valley Conference after rain spoiled the MDI Relays.
Some of Eastern Maine’s top runners and teams opened their seasons at the Ellsworth Invitational Saturday afternoon, and there were some impressive races, in both the team and individual competitions.
The reigning Eastern Maine champion Caribou boys packed four runners in the top 10 to win the boys team crown while the Viking girls eked out a win over fellow Class B contender John Bapst.
Coach Thomas Beckum’s club edged the Crusaders 58 points to 62, followed by Ellsworth and Presque Isle with 80 apiece and MDI with 94.
Caribou’s boys piled up 35 points to easily outdistance Ellsworth’s 60, while Presque Isle took third with 107 points, followed by Sanford (109) and John Bapst (173).
Dacie Manion of Old Town and Gabe Stewart of John Bapst won the individual titles in different fashions.
Manion, a junior for coach Rod White’s Coyotes, covered the 2.75 miles in 18 minutes, 13 seconds, 
outdueling a talented field of some of the region’s top runners in the process.
The race started out somewhat pedestrian, with Brianne Dunn of Ellsworth leading the pack through a 6:29 first mile, with Manion, Chelsie Oldfield of Foxcroft Academy, Jill Porter of Sanford, Mary Jo Sheehan and Dayna Michaud of Caribou and Alecia Palmer of Presque Isle in hot pursuit.
As the runners started the second lap around a big, flat field, Oldfield had moved out in front with Palmer, Sheehan, Manion and Michaud close behind.
Manion, who said afterward that hills are her strong suits, used the only uphill on the course, a small climb in the woods, to her advantage, taking over the lead with Palmer still right there.
Manion would pull away gradually for the win, proving that the six weeks of hiking she did in Colorado with her family over the summer paid off.
Palmer wound up second while Porter was third.
Michaud and Sheehan finished 4-5 to help the Vikes take the win, with Kendra Stephens, Laura Collins and Katie Plourde running strong races out of the 3-4-5 holes.
John Bapst was led by Mary Carmack and Kim Spencer, who finished 6-7, but expect the Crusaders to get stronger throughout the year.
Sarah Dickens, one of coach Joe Capehart’s top runners, won the JV race going away, and Capehart elected to run her there as she has been battling an injury.
But Dickens ran 18:36, which would have placed her fourth in the varsity race, so she appears healthy and ready to go.
(Start of Ellsworth Invitational Varsity Boys race)
In the boys’ race, Stewart took the lead right from the word go and never let go of it, completing the 2.75-mile course in 14:54.
Stewart said after the race that he was surprised that Ellsworth’s Ben Chapman, running on his home course, and Finn Bondeson and Christian Sleeper of Caribou didn’t stay closer to him.
But Stewart got his sophomore year off to a fine start, serving notice he’ll be one of the runners to beat this fall.
In the team ranks, Caribou also made a statement, as Sleeper, Bondeson, Tim Freme and D.J. Flynn finished 2-3-5-6 while No. 5 man Jake Michaud was 19th among scoring runners.
Chapman earned fourth to lead Ellsworth, while Lyle Stephenson and Alex Keefe finished 10th and 11th, respectively, for the Eagles.
The next meet on the PVC slate is the Presque Isle Invitational, slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. at the University of Maine-Presque Isle course.