Chris Walfield (Morse) & Luke Laverdiere (Yarmouth) lead the pack with Zachariah Hoyle (Messalonskee) running close behind. (Photo by Harrison Knowlton)
Clippers open in impressive fashion at Laliberte Invitational
Results: Varsity | JV | Team Scores | Boys Varsity only
Interviews: Luke Laverdiere | Abigail Hamilton | Anne McKee | Zachariah Hoyle
Videos: Varsity Finish | JV Race
The 16th Scott Laliberte Invitational took place on Friday at Cony HS, and the Yarmouth Clippers showed they will be one of the teams to watch this fall.
In the unique coed race that features the varsity runners from both the boys & girls teams, former Augusta resident Luke Laverdiere now living in Yarmouth pulled away from Morse's Chris Walfield to take the win in 13:19.60, his margin of victory was 14 seconds. The time was the fastest time on the 4k course in meet history for the sophomore.
Laverdiere & Walfield figure to be two of the top runners in Class B this fall, Walfield is the fastest runner from 2014, but missed the post-season with a stress fracture while Laverdiere finished 8th in states as a freshman. Round one went to Laverdiere who said after the race "My goal is to win states".
Messalonskee's Zachariah Hoyle had a strong race to finish third (14:10.73) as he held off Gorham's Jesse Southard (14:17.03), while Cony's Andrew Levesque rounded out the top 5 running 14:27.
On the girls side Yarmouth's Abigail Hamilton was the top female, as she finished 33rd overall covering the 2.4 mile course in 15:51.38 to win over a strong field that included 2014 Laliberte champion Anne McKee of Kent's Hill.
Hamilton, a junior who placed 9th in the Class B state meet a year ago winning margin was 16 seconds over the defending champion McKee. Following McKee across the line was one of the top runners in Class A in Brunswick senior Tessa Cassidy. Cassidy's time was 16:14.46. Next across the line was Cony's Anne Guadalupi clocking 16:18.03 while Gorham's Anna Slager rounded out the top 5 female finishers.
"The start was good, I ran with my teammate Grace Cowles, but then it got tough" race winner Hamilton said after the race. "I have a goal of placing top 5 in the state this fall, and our team wants win Class B states."
Overall adding the boys & girls points together Yarmouth was the top team as the boys tallied 121 with the girls scoring 486 for an overall total of 609. Brunswick last year's champion placed second with 684, while Mt Blue was third in 746.
| Teams | Boys | Girls | Total Score |
| Yarmouth | 121 | 488 | 609 |
| BHS | 148 | 536 | 684 |
| Mt. Blue | 162 | 584 | 746 |
| CHS | 208 | 578 | 786 |
| Gorham | 137 | 693 | 830 |
| Brewer | 207 | 676 | 883 |
| Mt. Ararat | 211 | 701 | 912 |
| Marancook | 194 | 736 | 930 |
| Morse | 361 | 663 | 1024 |
| Messalonskee | 256 | 868 | 1124 |