SMAA Preview Week 2
Now that Week 1 is finally in the books, it is time to take a look at the Week 2 matchups for the SMAA. The weather has tentatively agreed to cooperate this time around, with sunny skies forecasted through to the weekend…a huge improvement from Week 1. Lets see if it holds!
Cheverus, Sanford, Scarborough @Westbrook
The Scarborough boys come rolling over to Smiling Hill Farm on Friday, coming off an impressive performance last week. The Red Storm had 8 boys under 18 minutes in less than favorable conditions including Colin Tardiff and Jacob Terry who went 1-2 running 16:46 and 16:47 respectively. Sanford is also coming off an impressive win from last week, running 3-7 to pull out the win @ McAuley. The young squads from Westbrook and Cheverus hope to continue to improve, as they are both coming off of solid performances from last week. Look for Scarborough to run away with this one…literally.
On the girls side we have Kierra Murray and Co. coming in after having a race on Monday. Cheverus narrowly pulled out the win over Windham, getting a strong 19:32 performance out of Murray. Scarborough, Sanford, and Westbrook all had solid weeks last Friday. Scarborough, led by Laura Volan, competed well against a very strong Massabesic team while Sanford, led by Cathrine Ledue, hung for 2nd against Bonney Eagle. Halee Phelps led Westbrook in a close contest with Gorham and Deering and hopes to do so again this week. Cheverus probably has the edge in this match-up (2-3 runners Dostie and Caso being the big different makers), but expect the other 3 improving teams to battle.
Gorham, Marshwood, McAuley@ Biddeford
The Gorham boys are coming off of a strong win at Deering. Jesse Southard was first across the line, running a tactical and smart race from the front of the pack. Gorham took 3 of the top 5 spots to edge Deering and hope to use a similar formula to win here this weekend. Jack Letellier of Marshwood will challenge Southard for the win. Letellier is coming off of a win on Monday at Cheverus where he ran 17:32.
The Gorham girls hope to make it two in a row this weekend, as they are coming off a win from Friday. Jackie Turner will lead a solid contingent into this meet. Look for her to come out on top as the individual winner.
Bonny Eagle, Deering, Massabesic@ South Portland
The boys meet will feature a strong South Portland team who had a solid meet last week and a talented Deering team, who narrowly lost out to Gorham at home. South Portland competed well against a strong Windham team, finishing second to them at Portland. Westbrook Transfer Saad Zacharia, led the solid SoPo crew with a 4th place finish running under 18 minutes in his first XC race. They will need another solid race out of Zackaria, and another solid performance from their 2-5 (34 second spread last week) to beat Deering. Look out for Yahya Hussein in this matchup as well, as he will be in contention for individual win.
This girls Matchup features two of the top teams in Class A with Bonny Eagle and Massabesic. A few weeks back, these 2 teams were separated by less than a minute at the SMAA relays. Last week, They both ran to convincing wins. Kialeigh Marston of BE has had a strong early season along with Mary Szatkowski. They provide a strong 1-2 punch which will be hard for Massebesic to break up. Gabby Johnson (who ran to a strong win last week) and company will give them a good fight and this meet could come down to the #5 girl. South Portland, who has two of the best runners in the state in Shannon Conley and Casey Loring, will try to close the gap on the Scots and Mustangs. They certainly have the talent to compete, but the depth of Bonny Eagle and Massabesic may be too much for them on Friday. Look for Deering, led by Mel McClue-Chute, to build off of their strong performance from last week as well.
Noble, Portland, Windham @Thornton
The Windham boys team continues to roll this season winning 2 of the 3 meets they have run. They will look for another win Friday when they head out to Thornton. Nate Skvorak has had a good start to his season. He has led the Eagles in all of their races thus far and hopes to do so again on Friday. He will have a Class A West favorite in Ryan Cadorette to chase. Portland's Ben Allen, will compete well and most likely be at the front of the pack competing for a top 3 spot in the race.
On the girls side, we have more Windham. Windham had 3 girls covering a 42 second spread with their 4-5 close behind. That spread was almost enough to be a strong Cheverus team last week. In this matchup they are probably the favorite to win. Their top pack will get a strong challenge from Katie LeBlanc and Abby Runnells from Thornton. These two continue to improve and hope to bring their rising team along to a good overall performance on Friday.