Let us take a look SMAA Preview Week 2
"Even's Insight" is our latest feature at MaineTrackXC. Each week Westbrook girls coach Tim Even will preview each meet in the SMAA, be sure to check it out.
Time to head south to York County! Here are the 4 meet previews going into week 2.
Cheverus, Scarborough, Westbrook @ Sanford
This meet will have one of Class A's elites and several teams who are fighting to be one of the squads moving on to the State Meet in November. Scarborough is coming off of an impressive week 1 win over Massabesic, which saw them put 5 boys in the top 7. Jacob Terry cruised to a 16:10 victory over a tough 3 mile course to lead the Red Storm to a 25-36 win over the Mustangs. Cheverus also looked good in week 1 as they edged a very good Windham team, 36-37. There was just over a minute between the 1 and 5 of Cheverus which will help their cause in holding off a Westbrook team that narrowly lost to Gorham last week at home. Watch for senior Drew Cyr of Sanford to race well on his home course after his second place finish at TA.
The girls race will have a few of the top teams in the SMAA as Scarborough, Westbrook, and Cheverus face off in a key matchup. Scarborough narrowly missed out on beating Massabesic last week which makes it the second week in a row they have run with one of the Class A favorites. Laura Volan and Bethany Sholl have provided Scarborough with one of the better 1-2 duos in the state. Look for them to lead the Red Storm effort to hold off a surging Westbrook team and a Cheverus team that has improved steadily over the first 3 weeks. Westbrook, who is coming off a dominating win last week, will need big races from their 1-2 punch of Gabbi Pabst and Halee Phelps and strong races from their pack if they are going to be able to beat Scarborough, who holds the edge in this matchup. Look for Cheverus to make a push for the win as well with Dostie and Caso leading the way and Sarah Terrano and Sarah Mount showing steady early season improvment.
Biddeford, Gorham, McAuley @ Marshwood
The Gorham boys have had a good start to their season and they hope to keep that ball rolling this week in Marshwood. Ben Foster and Jesse Southard led the way last week in Westbrook as they held of the Blue Blazes for the win. Keep an eye on Connor Bouffard of Biddeford as well to be one of the top individuals in this race
On the girls side Anna Slager of Gorham will try to keep her unbeaten streak going. Slager has been as impressive as advertised with her latest performance being a 6 second win last week at Westbrook over Pabst and Phelps of the Blue Blazes. Slager will get another challenge this week from yet another tough opponent when she faces of with Maddy Doyle of Marshwood. Doyle got outkicked last week by Casey Loring of South Portland on Loring’s home course. Look for her to use her knowledge of her home course to her advantage in her effort to beat Anna Slager. Look for Marshwood to push for the win with a solid Gorham team coming after them that will hopefully include Bridget Rossignol. Rossignol was out last week for precautionary reasons, but with her back in the lineup, Gorham is that much stronger.
Bonny Eagle, Deering, South Portland @ Massabesic
The Massabesic boys have been one of the states top teams early on this season, and they hope to come away with a team win this week on their home course. Massabesic has arguably the toughest course in the SMAA and one of the toughest in Maine. This is about as much of a “home course advantage” as you can get. Michael Aboud has been outstanding so far and will challenge Yahye Hussein for the individual victory. Deering had a good first meet last week and look to build off of that performance to break into Massabesic’s strong pack.
The Massabesic girls have survived two weeks of Scarborough knocking on their door, but have had different people step up every week. After a preseason loss to Falmouth, the Mustangs have gone unbeaten and look to keep that streak going here at the Apple Orchard. Some of the top individuals in the SMAA will also be in attendance with Kaileigh Marston of Bonny Eagle and Casey Loring of South Portland coming to town. Marston raced for the first time last week at TA and cruised to an easy win. Loring was also a winner last week on her home course. This should be a fun race to watch up front with Johnson, Wasina, Ducharme, and Dimanstratonio of Massabesic entering the mix.
Portland, Thornton, Windham @ Noble
Ben Breton will lead a tough Windham team into Noble this week as they try to pick up a win after dropping a close one to Cheverus last week. Windham is one of the top 5 teams in the SMAA and are a heavy favorite entering this weekend. Cam Mondor of Thornton ran to a win last week and hopes to challenge Ben Breton on Friday.
On the girls side, Windham will look to pick up their first win of the season. Coach Riddle’s squad has been competitive in every meet they have run this year, and are the favorite going into Noble this weekend. Kathleen Leblanc of TA has had a fantastic start to her year and will challenge for the win and look for Abby Runnells of TA to also run well and try to close the gap on her teammate.