Let us take a look SMAA Preview Week 4
Bonny Eagle, Marshwood, Portland, Westbrook @ Bonny Eagle
The Westbrook boys look to build off of their great week last week and hope to pull out another win. The Blazes won the Dog Days Invite Tuesday and the Gorham JV Intive Friday. They were led by Tyler Jack on both races. This young team has made a lot of improvement over the year and hope to come away with their first league win of the season. Jack Letellier and Ben Allen are the top individuals coming into this meet and could push each other for the win.
On the girls side we have Bonny Eagle. The Scots will be running on their home course and will most likely defend it well. Kialeigh Marson has been a force this year, as has teammate Mary Szatkowski. Both ladies have run under 19 mins and have traded off wins every other meet. Marston was the top girl at FOC and Szatkowski was taking SAT’s…lucky her. Marshwood and Westbrook, who are two teams hoping snag one of the last few spots for the State Meet, should battle each other pretty closely in the team race for 2nd. Marshwood had a solid showing at FOC placing 20th led by a Junior Maddy Doyle who ran 20:31 and finished 43rd. The Hawks have been solid all year and continue to improve. The Blazes had a breakout week last week winning the Dog Days invite and Gorham JV Invite. Halee Phelps continues to lead this young improving team that is getting healthy at the right time. Look for both teams to have strong showings on Friday
McAuley Noble, Scarborough, South Portland @ Scarborough
The Scarborough boys are coming off of a 4th place performance at FOC. The Red Storm will try and pick up where they left off from last week and take the win on their shared home course which they have already run this year. South Portland will keep their great season going as they hit Smiling Hill for the first time this year. Saad Zackaria continues to have a great rookie XC campaign and hopes to give SoPo another good finish this weekend. Top individuals could be the 1-2 duo of Colin Tardiff and Jacob Terry who have been a solid force for the Storm all year.
On the girls side we have two of the best harriers in the state in Shannon Conley (2nd at FOC in 18:59) and Casey Loring (7th at FOC in 19:15). These two will get to push each other as they hope to go 1-2 and help give South Portland the team win. The Red Riots had a 7th place finish on Saturday and are the top team coming into this meet. Scarborough hopes to build off of what was a strong week last week where they finished 18th at the FOC. Laura Volan and Marissa Carbone are peaking at the right time and will help Scarborough to a solid team finish this week.
Cheverus, Gorham, Massabesic, Thornton @ Gorham
Ryan Cadorette will get a chance to keep his monster season going as he takes to another runner friendly course on Friday. Jesse Southard will try and give him a push as he hopes to lead his Gorham friends to a top finish. They will have to contend with Massabesic who had a great showing on Saturday finishing as the 7th place team in Belfast.
The Massabesic Girls have been on fire as of late and finished 4th this weekend at the Festival of Champions. They have had 2 big meets a row in Manchester and Belfast, and have performed well in both contests. Cheverus will get their number one in Murray back this week. She was taking SAT’s according to her coaches on Saturday and could not race at the FOC. Look for Cheverus to give Massabesic a little bit of a challenge on Friday. Gorham and Thornton could have a good battle as well. Leblanc and Runnells will lead the way for TA who had a solid showing at their home meet last Tuesday. Gorham has quietly had a solid year and hopes to have a good showing against 3 solid teams in TA, Chev, and Massabesic this weekend.
Biddo, Deering, Sanford, Windham @ Windham
The Windham boys and girls will most likely continue their great seasons on their home course and pull out the double wins. Both teams finished well at the FOC and are for sure the top teams coming into this contest. Connor Bouffard will try to go for the win but will be challenged by Nate Skvorak from Windham. The Eagle boys were 13th on Saturday and the #4 Class A West team.
On the Girls side, Cathrine Ledue had a sub 20 performance at the FOC running 19:59 which is a PR for her. She will challenge for the win but will be chased by several Windham girl including Julia Rand, Laura Linevitich, and Mackenzie Joy. The Eagle girls finished 8th at the Festival and were the #4 Class A West team.