OLD TOWN — One of the oldest cross-country meets in the state was blessed with a picture-perfect day Saturday, and eight schools took advantage at the 60th annual Sectional Invitational at Old Town High School.
With the season reaching the halfway point and Festival of Champions on the horizon, the Caribou boys and John Bapst girls, two of the favorites in Eastern Maine Class B, took another big step towards championship glory as both squads walked away with team crowns on a day which featured temperatures in the 60s and not a cloud in the sky.
The Caribou boys won convincingly 34-76 over Aroostook County rival Presque Isle, while John Bapst was third with 103, MDI fourth with 106 and Orono fifth with 125.
Crusaders’ sophomore Gabe Stewart ran away with the individual crown, covering the 3.1-mile course in 16:46.74.
Stewart took the lead right from the gun and never let go of it, winning his second invitational race of the fall.
Caribou packed in perfectly in the team race, as Christian Sleeper, Tim Freme, Finn Bondeson and D.J. Flynn finished 3-4-5-6 while No. 5 man Jake Michaud was 16th.
Matt Guiod of Mattanawcook Academy finished second overall, while Alex Bulteel of Orono was seventh, Kiowa Vickrey of Old Town eighth and Chris Cawly and Matt Eager of Presque Isle in ninth and 10th, respectively.
While John Bapst packed all five of its scorers in the top 10 in the team race, Old Town’s Dacie Manion emerged victorious on her home course.
Manion, a junior, pulled away from the pack late in the race to win in 20:09.57.
Mary Carmack paced John Bapst’s pack with a second-place finish, while Adrienne Carmack was fifth among scoring runners and seventh overall, Laura Donovan seventh amongst scorers, Stesha Rudnicki ninth and Mandy Martin 10th.
Alecia Palmer of Presque Isle captured third overall, followed by Mackenzie Curtis of MDI in fourth, Dayna Michaud of Caribou fifth, Foxcroft Academy’s Chelsie Oldfield sixth, Caitlin Barrows of Hermon eighth, Elizabeth Wright of Presque Isle ninth and Dominique Hessert from MDI 10th.