Week 1 Preview- by Tim Even
The SMAA will take to the streets and parks of Portland this Friday for the opening of the regular season. There are a lot of intriguing match ups to watch out for so here is a preview of them all!
Biddeford, Massbesic, Portland, Scarborough@ Portland
The Boys contest in this meet proves to be a fun early season match up to watch. The Scarborough Boys hope to be the top team in Class A this fall and will get an early test by facing the defending state champion Massabesic Mustangs. Scarborough beat Massabesic last week at the SMAA Relays by placing 5 boys in the top 15. The individual battle could be a close one as Ben Allen of Portland, Jacob Terry of Scarborough, and Connor Bouffard of Biddeford were separated by just 3 seconds at the SMAA Relays.
The Girls meet will have one of the best teams in Class A with the Mustangs rolling into town. Massabesic will challenge for a Regional and State title this fall. Gabrielle Johnson, Maquila Dimanstrantonio and Angel Waters led the way for Massabesic last week as they ran to a second place team finish at the SMAA Relays behind Bonny Eagle. Look for those 3 to lead the way for Massabesic this week. This will be a good early season test for a young and improved Scarborough team led by Laura Volan, who will challenge the Massabesic pack for the individual win. Scarborough is hoping to make a return to the state meet this fall, and certainly have the talent to do so.
Cheverus, Marshwood, South Portland, Windham@ Cheverus
This boys meet will be a good team battle between Windham and South Portland. These two teams will look to climb the ladder this fall and improve on their finishes from last year. Windham has looked strong this pre-season after winning the Lake Region Invite and finishing fourth last Thursday at the SMAA Relays. Nate Skvorak leads the way for this strong Windham team as they hope to pull out a win against a strong South Portland team. Windham narrowly beat the Red Riots last week, and will probably battle down to the 5th man this Friday. The individual race could be won by Jack Letellier of Marshwood who finished second at the Relay meet.
The girls meet may be the race to watch out of all of the meets this weekend. The SMAA team battle for a state meet berth will be interesting to watch as the season unfolds and some early favorites to make it will meet right away. Cheverus, Windham and South Portland are three teams that were separated by a 41 second combined time spread from last week. It will come down to whoever has the best day and could come down to the 5th girl from each team. Look out for Marshwood, who was a State qualifier last year and hopes to repeat that action this season. Shannon Conley of SoPo will meet up with her former teammate Kierra Murray of Cheverus for a race that could be very fast, and very close. Look for South Portlands Casey Loring to challenge for the win as well.
Bonny Eagle, McAuley, Sanford, Thornton@ McAuley
Sanford and Thornton will begin their six week push to make the state meet by squaring off against each other. Sanford and Thornton both missed out on States last year but have returned strong cores and added new depth. Both teams have solid shots to make it, but will need big seasons out of their 5-7 runners, to guarantee a spot. This will be a solid matchup to watch for that reason. Thornton is led by a Western A Regional favorite in Ryan Cadorette who won the SMAA relay meet last Thursday. Watch for these two teams to battle out for the team win
On the girls side, We have Bonny Eagle, who is one of the favorites to be tops in Class A this fall. The Lady Scots won last week beating Massabesic. Kialeigh Marston and Mary Szatkowski give Bonny Eagle one of the best 1-2 punches in the state and those two will most likely run 1-2 this weekend. Sanford is a team that is in the mix to make the state meet this fall led by Catherine Ledue. They were the 8th team out of the West last fall and hope to improve on that finish this year. The will get a good team to chase in Bonny Eagle. Thornton is also in the mix to make the State Meet. They will have to rely heavily on the strong duo of Abby Runnells and Katie Leblanc but look for their 3-5 girls to climb the ladder this fall after 10th place finish at the SMAA Relays.
Deering, Gorham, Noble, Westbrook@ Deering
The Gorham boys team has been moving up the ladder over the past couple of years and proved last week, that they are a team that will challenge to be a top 5 Class A team this year. They will be the team to chase Friday at Deering as young and improved Westbrook and Deering teams look to prove that they belong in the state meet conversation. Yahya Hussein will lead the Deering Rams into this weeks contest, and will challenge Gorham’s Jesse Southard for the individual win.
The Girls contest will have 4 girls teams who did not make the state meet last year. Having said that, Westbrook, Gorham, and Deering all have new faces and had strong showings across the board last Thursday. This meet will mark the beginning of an uphill battle to get into states later next month. Jackie Turner of Gorham will continue to build off of what was a strong outdoor season last year and go for the win, but will get challenged by Halee Phelps of Westbrook who also had a strong year last year. Both ladies had top 15 performances last week with Turner getting the better of Phelps. Westbrook got the better of Gorham and Deering last week and hopes to repeat that feat for their first win in years.