Class B State XC Championship Preview
Meet Page | Virtual Meet
The individual titles are up for grabs, and the boys team race is expected to be tight in the Class B races. The girls race goes off at 11:00pm followed by the boys race at 11:45pm. Who should you keep an eye on? Check out our individual & team preview.
Boys Individual
Dan Curts of Ellsworth edged Silas Eastman to win the 2012 Class B State title, Curts will look to repeat as champion on Saturday
Dan Curts (Ellsworth)
Curts is the defending state champion who has been battling a hamstring injury for a month. Dan successfully returned to action last weekend winning the EM title by 3 seconds over his cousin and teammate Brayden Beardsley. Curts clocked 16:00 in the win. Earlier this fall, Dan ran a 15:23 at the Manchester Invitational to win the small school race. Curts has the talent to repeat as champion, and enters as the favorite.
Liam Simpson (Cape Elizabeth)
Simpson is coming off perhaps his finest race of his career as he ran 16:15 at Twin Brook to win the WM Regional race by 21 seconds. Liam who placed 6th last year has had 5 consecutive races well below 17 minutes, including his seasonal best of 16:00 at FOC.
Brayden Beardsley (Ellsworth)
Its been a breakthrough fall for senior Brayden Beardsley who was the EM runner-up last week, running a personal best 16:03. Beardsley who entered the season with a 17:34 5k best has exploded this fall. With Ellsworth's top runner Dan Curts sidelined for awhile, Brayden has stepped up his absence to lead Ellsworth. He won the PVC individual title 2 weeks ago.
Will Shafer (GNG)
Shafer was the WM Regional runner-up last week with close to a minute personal best on the Twin Brook course (16:36). Will has had his most consisent and successful xc season this fall, as he won the WMC individual title by 8 seconds over Liam Simpson 2 weeks ago.
Ben Trapani (Camden Hills)
Trapani is coming off a 3rd place finish at the EM Regional where he ran the second fastest 5k of his HS career, 16:25. Ben finished 3rd in the state meet a year ago, will be out to match or better that mark on Saturday.
Peter Doane (Cape)
Doane, a senior finished a step behind Shafer at the WM Regional race last weekend to finish 3rd with a strong 16:37 effort (4th fastest of all WM runners). Doane has finished in the top 10 the last 2 years will be looking to record his highest finish on Saturday. He has been consisently strong the last 4 races, all under 17 minutes, including his personal best of 16:29 at FOC.
Others to Watch
Ben Decker (Yarmouth) - Decker was 4th at WM Regional, he's battling an IT band injury, and might not compete as he also has a soccer game on Saturday night
Braden Becker (Yarmouth)- Becker was 5th in the WM Regional clocking 16:48.90, a year ago he placed 5th in the state meet.
Chris Cote (Waterville) - Cote a junior was 4th in the EM Regional running 16:28.23
Boys Team
Cape Elizabeth will look to repeat as team champions,will duel with Ellsworth for the team title on Saturday.
Cape Elizabeth
The Capers have been one of the top ranked teams in the state this fall and comes in looking to defend the state title they won last year. Cape has been paced up front by Liam Simpson & Peter Doane who have provided the Capers two low sticks in the championship meets. Cape won the WMC meet over Falmouth, and took the WM Regional title last weekend with a score of 45 points. The X factor for Cape could be the return of senior Will Britton who has been out with an injury.
Ellsworth
The Eagles have had a great fall that has included wins at the PVC & EM Regional meets. Last weekend, Ellsworth placed all 5 scorers in the top 9 for a ridicously low score of 23 points. The Eagles have Dan Curts & Brayden Beardsley who went 1-2 at the EM Regional last weekend leading the way. The Eagles will look for a big race out of senior Robert Looker who placed 7th a year ago. The last time Ellsworth won a state xc title was 1996.
Girls Individual
Kirstin Sandreuter will be looking to win her first individual xc title on Saturday, she's the favroite running on her home course.
Kirstin Sandreuter (Greely)
Kirstin Sandreuter a senior from Greely returned from an achilles injury in impressive fashion at the WM Regional last week. Sandreuter running in spikes for the first time since late September showed the cross-training she has been doing kept her in top form as she cruised to win. Her winning time of 19:01 was the fastest of the day an 1:20 ahead of second place. A year ago Kirstin finished second, she will looking to win her first individual xc title on Saturday.
Aleta Looker (Ellsworth)
Looker broke 19 minutes for 5k for the first time last weekend at Belfast en route to her dominating win at the EM Regional. Aleta clocked a personal best 18:54.85, good for a 26 second victory. Looker placed 9th a year ago will be looking to challenge Kirstin for the individual title on Saturday.
Heather Evans (York)
Evans, a senior from York has had a strong year for the Wildcats. Heather won the WMC title 2 weeks ago, and was the runner-up at the WM Regional to Sandreuter. Evans showed she's not afraid to challenge herself as she went with Kirstin for as long as she could last week, she may opt for a different strategy this weekend. Last year she finished 14th in the state meet.
Isabel Erickson (MDI)
Erickson was the EM runner-up running a personal best of 19:20.76. Isabel was also the runner-up at the PVC meet 2 weeks ago, again behind Looker of Ellsworth. A year she placed 19th in the state meet, she's well on pace to surpass that mark on Saturday.
Others to Watch
Abby Hersom (Oceanside)- Hersom finished 4th in the EM Regional meet running a personal best 19:34.03. A hilly course might play to Abby's strengths, she won the Class B KVAC title on the tough Cony course running 20:49.
Waylon Henggeler (MDI)- Henggeler has emerged this fall as one of the top individual in Class B. A 3rd place finish at the EM Regional last week running a personal best 19:31, she also placed 3rd in the large school PVC race.
Girls Team
MDI will be looking to win their 3rd straight Class B title, they are the heavy favorites, in fact they could score below 30 points!
MDI
The Trojans have been the dominate team in the state once again this year. MDI has won the last 2 Class B state titles in dominating fashion, and this year should be no exception. Last weekend, MDI tallied 21 points to win the EM Regional title with 5 of the top 8 finishers, this was all without top runner Maggie Painter who has been sidelined. Painter is going to give it a go on Saturday making the Trojans even better.
Freeport
The Falcons won the WM Regional title last week 61-71 over Cape. Freeport has come on the strong the last two weeks that included a runner-up finish at the WMC championship to Class A Falmouth. Leading the way is senior Sydney Ambrose (3rd) & Elly Bengtsson (9th).
Cape
Cape Elizabeth rebounded last week at the WM Regional with a runner-up finish, a week prior they were well back at the WMC Championship in 5th. The Capers got strong efforts from Rhoen Fiutak (5th) & freshman Emma Shedd (11th) last week. Eva Brydson's return from injury has been a big boost.