Steelman & Toussaint best in Class C, Orono girls & Merriconeag boys win titles

Class C State XC Championship
Darryl Wilkinson

Steelman & Toussaint best in Class C, Orono girls & Merriconeag boys win titles

Boys Results | Girls Results

Photos  Boys | Girls

Race Videos  coming soon..

Interviews  Matt Toussaint | Ellie Chidsey | Hannah Austin | Ben Allen | Hannah Steelman | Kassidy Dill | John Hassett

 

 

            The opening race of the day was a good one, where we saw the top 3 runners in the race break 17 minutes. Getting the Class C state title was senior Matt Toussaint of Fort Kent with a time of 16:28.79, which was a PR for Toussaint by over 20 seconds. Toussaint began to break away from the pack about 1.5 miles into the race and never looked back. Sophomore John Hassett of George Stevens Academy chose the right time to have his career best race as well, running a 16:44.10. Ben Allen (16:56.98) of Winthrop High School was 3rd place and the final runner under 17 minutes in the race. Rounding out the top 5 were Tucker Pierce (17:10.49) of Merriconeag High School and Luke Thombs (17:14.57) of Monmouth Academy.

            Merriconeag took home the Class C state title in a close one over Orono. They were led by Pierce’s 4th place finish and freshman Nick Neveu (17:30.50), who placed 7th. His older brother Zach Neveu (17:45.07) played a key role as well, finishing in 9th. Orono finished just 6 points back from Merriconeag, led by junior Tristian Butterfield (17:17.96), who was 6th in the race. His teammate Matt Keresey (17:57.92) who is only a freshman, ran well coming in 12th. Boothbay High School finished just 2 points off of Orono, led by Joey Paolillo (17:38.96) and his 8th place finish.

 

            As many expected from watching her compete this season, sophomore Hannah Steelman of Orono High School took the girls Class C state title. Her time of 19:16.99 was enough to win by 37 seconds. Steelman took out the lead from the beginning and lost the sound of the other runners’ footsteps quickly. Her teammate, also a sophomore, Kassidy Dill (19:53.59) was runner up despite being seeded for 4th. Hannah Austin (19:58.21) of North Yarmouth Academy was 3rd place and the final girl in the race to break 20 minutes. Running through an injury and placing 4th was Tia Tardy (20:02.36) of Mattanawcook. Ellie Chidsey (20:08.74) of Waynflete was 5th place in the race.

            When you put your top 5 all within the first 11 places, it’s not hard to win. That’s exactly what the Orono High School girls did in this meet, taking 1st and 2nd with Steelman and Dill’s performances, along with Olivia Fandel (20:29.86) in 7th, freshman Liza Gallandt (20:36.40) in 10th, and Lily Koffman (20:44.88) in 11th. This was a blowout, as Orono High beat runner up Waynflete by 40 points. Waynflete was led by Chidsey’s 5th place finish and got help from 6th place finisher Phoebe Colvin-Oehmig (20:29.46). 

 

 

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights