Harris & McKee take early season wins at Laliberte Invitational
The top ten boys finishers in the Laliberte Invitational (photo by Walt McKee)
Isaiah Harris has speed, the senior from Lewiston got a chance to show it on the cross-country trails this afternoon at the 15th annual Scott Laliberte Invitational at Cony High School as he kicked down race leader Aaron Willingham of Mt Blue in the final 100m to take the victory by the narrowest of margins, 13:17.76 to 13:18.29.
If this race was any indication of the what is to come in the postseason between Harris & Willingham, this is going to be an exciting season. Coming into the 2014 XC season, Willingham had the fastest returning 5k performance by over 30 seconds in the entire state, the runner directly behind him, Isaiah Harris.
With the win Harris makes it known he is going to be in the mix when it comes to winning the Class A ttile in November. A year ago, Aaron finished 2nd as well behind his former teammate Josh Horne, throughout the race today Willingham set the pace, and was pushing the pace trying to open his season with a win. While he came up just short of the win, the times were both faster than Josh Horne's winning effort of 13:22 from 2013, Horne went on to win the Class A individual title last fall.
Morse junior Chris Walfield was the third runner across the line covering the 2.4 mile course on 13:31, a whopping 55 seconds faster than a year ago. Walfield has had a strong summer, and is one of the early favorites to win the Class B title. Mt Blue's Dan Lesko worked his way up to a 4th place finish, Lesko's time was 13:37.21, 27 seconds better than a year ago. Rounding out the top 5 individuals was Lewiston's Osman Doorow (13:37.59).
In the boys team scoring Mt Blue was top the boys team with 90 points, while the defending Class A champions Lewiston were second with 107, in third was Brunswick with 115. The Eagles of Meesalonskee were 4th with 130 with Winthrop 192 rounding out the top 5.
Here's a look at the top 10 boys finishers
1 Harris, Isaiah SR Lewiston B 13:17.76 1 2 Willingham, Aaron SR Mt Blue B 13:18.29 2 3 Walfield, Christopher JR Morse XC B 13:31.15 3 4 Lesko, Dan SR Mt Blue B 13:37.21 4 5 Doorow, Osman JR Lewiston B 13:37.59 5 6 Knowlton, Harrison SR Leavitt B 13:41.69 6 7 Allen, Ben SR Winthrop B 13:51.38 7 8 Laverdiere, Luke FR Yarmouth B 13:53.75 8 9 Harriman, Ethan SR Maranacook B 14:18.79 9 10 Concaugh, Owen SO Messalonskee High B 14:27.15 10
The top ten girls finishers in the Laliberte Invitational (photo by Walt McKee)
Kent's Hill junior Anne McKee was the only girl in the field to run under 16 minutes for the 2.4 mile layout at Cony. McKee who was the runner-up a season ago, clocked a 15:58.23, close to 27 seconds faster than a season ago. Anne held off a strong run from Brunwick's Tessa Cassidy as she won by a little less than 4 seconds as Cassidy clocked a 16:02.06.
While McKee isn't a threat to win a MPA State title as Kent's Hill isn't a sanctioned team ,she is one of the top prep school runners in New England. She will also compete in the Manchester Invitational & Festival of Champions this fall.
Cony sophomore Anne Guadalupi was the best finisher across in 16:12.80, good for 3rd place. While Guadalupi had an outstanding freshman campaign a year ago that saw her finish 10th in the Class A state meet, her time today was 1:05 faster than a year ago.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the day was Sophia Oliveri of Gardiner who was the fourth girl across the line and 53rd overall. Oliveri who a year ago had a 5k best of 23:11.92, showed that she has improved.
Mt Blue's Maggie Hickie rounded out the top five girls as she covered the course in 16:41.5, she was 23rd in the race a year ago.
Overall the Yarmouth girls were the top girls squad with 498 points, Brunswick 593 was the second best team, while host team Cony was 3rd with 641, next was Morse 644, followed by Marancook 662.
Here's a look at the top 10 girls finishers
44 McKee, Anne JR Kents Hill School G 15:58.23 44
45 Cassidy, Tessa JR BRG 16:02.06 45
50 Guadalupi, Anne SO Cony High School G 16:12.80 50
53 Oliveri, Sophia SR Gardiner G 16:18.82 53
69 Hickey, Maggie SO Mt Blue G 16:41.56 69
77 Despres, Hannah SR Maranacook G 16:56.65 77
78 Bourgoin, JoAnn SR Winslow G 16:57.03 78
80 Cowles, Grace SO Yarmouth G 17:04.14 80
83 Teare, Caitlin SR Yarmouth G 17:24.07 83
90 Kinkade, Colette FR Mount Ararat G 17:32.40 90
The top overall program after combining the scores of the boys & girls teams seperately was Brunswick with a tally of 706, while Mt Blue was the second best program with 766. Yarmouth was a close third with 781
Watch the Race Video by MTASPORTS (Greg Emerson)