Washburn makes history with girls team title, Hall-Dale first title since 1988. Pierce & Koch cruise to individual titles
Washburn captured the first girls xc state title in school history, & Hall-Dale won its first since 1988 on the boys side. Individually Merriconeag senior Jack Pierce ran away from Josef Holt-Andrews in the last mile to clock 15:57. On the girls side Carsyn Koch made it 3 state titles in a row!
Photos: Moosechili
Interviews Carsyn Koch
Boys Recap
Jack Pierce & Josef Holt-Andrews ran stride for stride for the first 2 miles on the Class C boys state championships.
Then, the senior Pierce switched to another gear and pulled away for a dominating victory. Pierce would be only the 3rd individual to break 16:00 minutes on the day as he clocked 15:57. Not only did Jack accomplish his goal of winning the individual state champion, he accomplished his goal of breaking 16:00 for 5k.
Holt-Andrews would fade a bit over the final mile but still ran a strong 16:20, the 4th fastest time of the day.
After the mile Holt-Andrews & Pierce increased the temp significantly opening up a gap over the chase pack led by Marc Hachey of Winthrop, it included Sam Stahnke & Dylan Merchant of Bangor Christian
Hachey would open up the gap over the pack just before the 2 mile, Merchant, Stahnke & Tyler White were now in the second chase pack.
Hachey had a very strong run to finish 3rd, his time of 16:45 was the 9th
fastest time of the day. Hachey ran a strong race putting himself in the lead pack at the mile.
George Stevens Academy’s Sam Stahnke was the top EM runner with his 4th place finish (17:06), he got by EM regional champion Tyler White of Orono who closed well to nab 5th (17:11)
The Bangor Christian duo of Sam Proctor 6th & Dylan Merchant 7th were the next to cross the line.
Hall-Dale’s Josh Ringer had a big day with his 8th place effort (17:34)
Waynflete’s Josh Espy ran well for 9th (17:43), NYA's Matt Malcolm rounded out the top 10.
NYA’s Matt Malcolm rounded out the top 10.
WM Regional champion Hall-Dale came out victorious on the team side. The Bulldogs got a big day for #1 runner Josh Ringer who finished 8th. A 15-16-18 finish from James McAuliffe, Chris Pomerleau, & Matt Plourde. Thomas Plourde rounded out the scoring in 43rd.
The EM championship Orono gave it their best effort as the walked away with the runner-up plaque. They ended up 29 points behind the champions.
Winthrop edged Waynflete by 1 points 130-131 for 3rd place
Relive the action...
Top 20 Individuals
1 Jack Pierce SR Merriconeag 15:57.41 2 Josef Holt-Andrews JR Telstar 16:20.43 1 3 Marc Hachey SR Winthrop 16:45.52 2 4 Sam Stahnke SR George Stevens 17:06.39 3 5 Tyler White SR Orono High School 17:11.02 4 6 Samuel Proctor SR Bangor Christian 17:23.01 5 7 Dylan Merchant SR Bangor Christian 17:30.35 6 8 Josh Ringer SR Hall-Dale 17:34.80 7 9 Josh Espy SR Waynflete School 17:43.54 8 10 Matt Malcom SO NYA 17:45.81 9 11 Ben Allen SO Winthrop 17:47.97 10 12 Nicholas Harriman FR Lisbon High School 17:50.72 11 13 Alex Owen SR Boothbay 17:56.24 12 14 Zach Neveu SO Merriconeag 17:56.59 15 James McAuliffe JR Hall-Dale 17:59.44 13 16 Chris Pomerleau SO Hall-Dale 18:03.82 14 17 Zack Palmeter JR Bangor Christian 18:16.20 15 18 Matt Plourde SR Hall-Dale 18:19.59 16 19 Matthew Toussaint SO Fort Kent 18:20.25 17 20 Samuel Ouellette SO Fort Kent 18:22.72 18
Top 5 Teams
1 Hall-Dale High School 86 7 13 14 16 36 48 67
Total Time: 1:30:57.82
Average: 18:11.57
2 Orono High School 115 4 21 27 31 32 44 51
Total Time: 1:32:00.02
Average: 18:24.01
3 Winthrop High School 130 2 10 20 43 55 58 66
Total Time: 1:31:57.99
Average: 18:23.60
4 Waynflete School 131 8 19 26 38 40 53 61
Total Time: 1:33:00.35
Average: 18:36.07
5 Bangor Christian Schools 137 5 6 15 49 62 78
Total Time: 1:32:48.85
Average: 18:33.77
Girls Recap
Like the last 2 Class C girls state championship races, Washburn’s Carsyn Koch took the lead early and never looked back.
Koch went wire to wire to win her 3rd consecutive class c individual title. The junior clocked 19:30 for 5k. “I hit my split right one the first two miles, but couldn’t maintain it” Koch commented. Either way her winning margin was 54 seconds
She will have a chance to win her 4th individual title next fall, only one other girl in Maine history has accomplished the feat, Abbey Leonardi of Kennebunk (2008-2011).
Orono’s Lily Koffman the EM runner-up ran well to earn the state runner-up finish(20:26). She was chased by NYA’s Hannah Austin for the entire race. Austin clocked 20:34 to finish 3rd
Dirigo's Natalie Bolduc had a bounce back race as she was up front with Koffman & Austin for much of the race. she finished 4th in 20:51. Waynflete's Martha Veroneau ran her typical race where she starts in the middle of pack and passes people all the way to the finish. The senior who won the state title as a freshman ended up 5th today (21:03)
Washburn's Mackenzie Worcester ran 21:06 to finish 6th, behind her was WM Regional champion Sophia Thayer of Boothbay (21:09), and following her a few strides behind was Jordan Richards of Orono (21:11) in 8th
Camern Bragg of Washbrun gave the Lady Beavers 3 runners in the top 9. Calais sophomore Madison McVicar rounded out the top 10 (21:13)
In the team race Washburn showed its quality up front as they had 3 girls in the top 9, and 4 in the top 13. It has been a quick rise to the top for Washburn as the XC program is only in it’s 3rd year of existence. They dominated the field scoring 58 points which was 24 points in front of the runner-up Orono
The battle for 2nd place was close but in the end Orono pull it out finished a single point in front of Waynflete, and two points in front of two time defending champion Merriconeag. The Riots had 2 in the top 8 then packed in it at 35, 37, & 41.
Missed the race, watch it again...
Top 20 Individuals
1 Carsyn Koch JR Washburn 19:30.56 1 2 Lily Koffman SO Orono High School 20:26.28 2 3 Hannah Austin SO NYA 20:34.30 4 Natalie Bolduc Dirigo High School 20:51.22 3 5 Martha Veroneau SO Waynflete School 21:03.11 4 6 Mackenzie Worcester SO Washburn 21:06.42 5 7 Sophia Thayer JR Boothbay 21:09.86 6 8 Jordan Richards JR Orono High School 21:11.77 7 9 Carmen Bragg JR Washburn 21:13.88 8 10 Madison McVicar SO Calais High School 21:14.66 11 Natalie Coleman FR Bucksport 21:25.39 12 Samantha Pierce SO Merriconeag 21:26.30 9 13 Ella Millard JR Waynflete School 21:40.80 10 14 Emilia Churchill FR Washburn 21:52.90 11 15 Jocelyn Lorrey JR RW Traip Academy 21:56.17 16 Emma Wilson SO Hall-Dale 21:56.94 17 Hannah Morley FR Boothbay 22:00.37 12 18 Teagan Wu SR Merriconeag 22:01.75 13 19 Bronte Elias SO Madison High School 22:03.18 20 Gabi Stone SO Telstar 22:03.45
Top 5 Teams
1 Washburn District High Sc 58 1 5 8 11 33 36 38
Total Time: 1:47:27.48
Average: 21:29.50
2 Orono High School 82 2 7 22 24 27 41 44
Total Time: 1:50:56.32
Average: 22:11.27
3 Waynflete School 83 4 10 19 21 29 31 39
Total Time: 1:51:40.53
Average: 22:20.11
4 Merriconeag Waldorf High 84 9 13 14 20 28 32 50
Total Time: 1:51:44.06
Average: 22:20.82
5 Dirigo High School 98 3 15 16 30 34
Total Time: 1:52:42.96
Average: 22:32.60