Mt. Ararat sweeptsthe KVAC Class A titles & Hampden Academy repeated the feat in KVAC Class B. Mt. Ararat boys behind Andy Reifman-Packett's 3rd place finish and 3 of the top 10 finisers, tallied 56 points to edge Mt. Blue by 14 points. Edward Little was 3rd with 75 points. Individually Harlow Ladd (Messalonskee) ran away from the field, clocking 17:13 to win by 25 seconds. Faisal Noor (EL) was the runner-up. In Class B boys action Eben Hodgkins took the title in 17:31, the 2nd fastest time on the day as he held off a challenge from Evan Piccirrillo (Hampden) 17:42. In Boys team action in Class B went to Hampden who had 5 of the top 14, tallying 42 to hold off a challenge from Winslow who had 60 points.
Harlow Ladd (Class A Champion) Interview
What was your goal coming into the race?
HLTo have fun and see how I placed among the other class A runners.
Did the race go according to plan?
HL It went out a little slow but besides that it went pretty smooth.
At what point did you know you had the race won?
HL Once i got onto the football field and started sprinting. I heard people telling me i had about 50 meters on them and i knew i had it then.
After winning today, what's your mindset heading into next weekend, where you'll race the same guys again?
HL I'm going into the next race with caution. I know that the people that I beat today are the real deal and next race could be anybody's win.
Eben Hodgkins (Class B Champion) Interview
What was your race plan heading in with two different races going in one race?
EH Running with Class A was definitely a help. My strategy was to just stick with the front runners for as long as i could and hope for the best.
How did you feel throughout the race, at what point in the race did you make your final push?
EH The race was pretty tiring due to the course conditions and hills, so i felt pretty taxed throughout the race. with about a 200 meters to go, i kicked it in after being right next to Faisal Noor for most of the last mile.
With this win under your belt, what does this do for your confidence heading into the Regional meet next weekend?
EH Everybody is pretty close in the front pack time wise, so it should be a toss up. it should make for an exciting race.
What are your goals for the rest of the season?
EH I'd like to say healthy and hopefully put up good preformances at regionals and states
On the girls side Mt. Ararat dominated the girls team race with 5 of the top 5 and 6 in the top 12 to steamroll the competition. The Eagles tallied just 27 points to runner-up Brunswick's 75. Indiividually Katie McMahon (Brunswick) showed she's on another level this fall, winning the title 47 seconds, and clocking the only sub 20 minute performance on the day with her 19:55. In Class B action, Freshman Brittany Bowman claimed the title, as standout Abby Mace didn't compete because of a calf issue, Bowman clocked 20:46, to win by over a minute. Hampden Academy took the team title with just 1 runner in the top 10 but packed together runners 2-5 (in the 16th-19th spots). The Broncos scored 61 to runner-up Winslow's 77.
Katie McMahon (Class A winner) Interview
Coming into the race what was your race plan & did the race go exactly how you planned?
KM Going into the race I knew it was going to be a tough race considering how difficult the course is and how muddy and slippery some parts of it were. I was hoping to try to stay with Abby Mace for a little while to push myself to go faster, but once we started I realized she wasn't there so I had to adjust my plan. I ended up just trying to focus on staying strong and not wearing myself out too early so that if someone came from behind I would have something left.
What was going through your mind during the race, did you know you had a commanding lead?
KM I never really knew how far ahead I was because I could hear people cheering some girls that were behind me. I just tried to focus on running my own race rather than worry too much about the other girls. I find that I'm able to run much better if I just focus on my own pace and my plan, rather than worry about the possibility of people catching me.
Where you satisfied with your time?
KM I was really happy with my time considering how tough the course is, and the course conditions during the race. I wasn't focusing on time when I was running because I didn't expect it to be that great, but I was really proud of myself for being able to go sub-20 once I finished and saw my time.
Looking ahead what are your goals for the next two weeks?
KM So at regionals I'll go in with the same approach and focus on running the best race that I can. For states I want to focus more on ust qualifying for New Englands. I'm really excited for states because I'll have the opprotunity to run with all of the girls I don't usually get to run against, which should be fun and hopefully will help me run faster too.
I'm also really excited to see how my team does at these next few meets because we keep getting stronger and have continued to suprise ourselves with what we've been able to do all season. I really love our post season meets. We always have a lot of fun.
Boys Top 14 Class A
1 Harlow Ladd JR Messaslonskee 17:14.0 1 2 Faisal Noor SR Edward Little 17:39.6 2 3 Andy Reifman-Packett JR Mt. Ararat 17:39.8 3 4 Hussein Ibrahim SR Lewiston 17:50.3 4 5 Hussein Mohamed SR Edward Little 17:57.4 5 6 Will Lundquist SR Cony High School 18:01.5 6 7 Alex Smith SR Cony High School 18:08.0 7 8 Nick Parsons SR Mt. Ararat 18:16.4 8 9 Jaron Jones SR Mt. Blue 18:19.7 9 10 Jake Letourneau SR Mt. Ararat 18:20.8 10 11 Kevin Lavertu JR Lewiston 18:23.0 11 12 Brody Hines SR Mt. Blue 18:28.3 12 13 Jimmie Pershken SR Lawrence 18:40.8 13 14 Jonah Jones JR Mt. Blue 18:44.0 14
Girls Top 14 Class A
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1 Kathleen McMahon JR Brunswick 19:55.9 1 2 Emma Wood JR Mt. Ararat 20:43.4 2 3 Kate Spies SR Mt. Ararat 21:15.8 3 4 Emilia McGrath JR Mt. Ararat 21:22.1 4 5 Teresa Murphy FR Brunswick 21:22.2 5 6 Gwen Beacham SR Mt. Blue 21:28.7 6 7 Meg Collier SR Messaslonskee 21:42.3 7 8 Lauren McNett SO Mt. Ararat 21:55.4 8 9 Michelle Haluska SR Brewer High School 21:57.8 9 10 Chloe Emerson SR Mt. Ararat 22:09.3 10 11 Abby Hart SR Edward Little 22:27.7 11 12 Emmie Cox FR Mt. Ararat 22:28.0 12 13 Erin Bolduc SO Cony High School 22:40.5 13 14 Addie Cullenberg JR Mt. Blue 22:43.9 14