"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.
Biddeford, South Portland, Westbrook @TA
South Portland has continued to climb the ranks over the past few weeks, and head into this week with a great chance to throw down some fast times and come away with a big win heading into the Regional Meet. After not competing since Sept 11th, Casey Loring returned to the lineup with a strong 2nd place performance down at Noble last week. With the return of Loring, South Portland gets their strong 1-2 back, which will be huge for this stretch run. With the great progress of underclassmen Delphi Bourassa and Eileen Porterfield, the Red Riots have more than enough to go toe-to-toe with the #12 ranked Blue Blazes. Westbrook was off last week, but will return to the runner friendly course at TA here on Friday. After recording many season bests at FOC, Westbrook could be primed for a collective breakout race, and will need it if they are going to hold off the surging Red Riots. The battle of the day will be between cross-town rivals Biddeford and TA who have both had strong years and are fighting for a State Meet spot.
Last year, Westbrook and Biddeford finished 9th and 10th at the Regional Meet and were spectators at the State Meet. Fast-forward to 2015, and we are looking at two teams who have been among the top 5 in Class A West. This will be a battle of two resurgent programs, coached by two ex-USM teammates (Claton Conrad and Will Fulford). The Blue Blazes have received excellent running out of their #1 Josh Lombardo who will go head to head with Biddeford #1 Jordan Cook. This should be an exciting individual race to watch, with both runners having PR's between 16:55 and 17:05. The team race will be won at the 3-5 runner level of the lineups, so expect an exciting and close competition.
• Although there will be two races run…the most important battle of the day could be the anticipated "Dance-Off" between The South Portland Girls and Westbrook Boys…get your popcorn ready.
Cheverus, Deering, Portland @McAuley
So much Portland.
Deering High School has had a sensational fall, which has seen their team of underclassmen bring the Rams back into the State Meet conversation. For the first time in recent memory, Deering is the overwhelming favorite to win this matchup. Grace and Lucy Tumavicus along with Nicole Whipkey have provided The Lady Rams with a great trio of front runners, and Julia Lancia has come a long way from being a 25:00 5k runner. After finishing 14th last year at Regionals, Deering is ranked among the top 8 schools predicted to make the State Meet on Oct. 31st. Also keep an eye on Rosie Train from Cheverus who has been having a great season thus far, and figures to be one of the top 30 individuals potentially headed to states as well.
The Deering boys have been on a tear this year, and will look to fend off Portland and Cheverus, in what should be a great City Meet matchup. Deering has been strong all fall, with 6 of their boys recording sub 19:00 performances thus far. Josh Veroneau should give Abdi Hassan (Deerings#1) a strong push after coming off of a victory at Massabesic last week, and Brad Ravenelle of Portland High School has quietly been one of the top runners in the west this fall. This should be a fun a competitve matchup on Thursday over at McAuley.
Marshwood, Massabesic, Sanford @Noble
Massabesic has really started to come around the last few weeks, and will get to run on a fairly quick course over at Noble heading into the Regional Championships. The emergence of freshman Kylie Johnson has been key for the Mustangs, as has the fact that Maquila Dimasrantonio has been running her best cross country at a time when her team needs it most. Massabesic will be in the thick of it over the next few weeks, and should roll here on Friday at Noble. Another runner to watch is Kelly Dube of Marshwood, who has not raced in a few weeks. Dube has been an excellent #1 for The Hawks, and will challenge the top 3 of Massabesic for the individual win.
Brody Bate and the Marshwood Hawks are sitting pretty going into the final week of the season. After a strong showing at FOC, they were rained out last week at home, thus getting the week off from racing. Bate has had several excellent races in a row, including a 16:50.00 performance at Thornton Academy, and a 17:14 performance at Belfast. Look for him to run out front this week, and potentially chase another sub17:00 performance which would be a great confidence boost going into next weekends big meet. His teammates have continued to improve as well, and as of now they are ranked #7 in Class A West based off of 5k times run this year. Look for Bate and Co. to have a good day, but to get a challenge from a surging Massabesic squad who came away with a win last week at home.
Bonny Eagle, Scarborough, Windham @Gorham
This girls meet will have the most fire power of all the meets this week. IF everyone races, this will be a great preview to a potential 1-2 showdown between Scarborough and Bonny Eagle. Both teams are hoping to get some of their front runners back in time for the big meets, so it would not be crazy to expect for Christine Toy and Bethany Sholl to sit this one out. Both runners dropped out of FOC with injuries, but are keys to both of the teams success. Hoping for a speedy recovery for both! Marston of Bonny Eagle got the weekend off last week when her meet got canceled, giving her plenty of time to recover from her 19:03 effort at FOC. She will get her first regular season chance to go head to head with Anna Slager of Gorham on her home course, which could be a quick and exciting race to watch. While those two girls are battling out up front, look for Laura Volan, Sam Saraceno, and Marissa Carboneof Scarborough to chase them, along with Kayla Raymond of Bonny Eagle.
We all read Jesse Southard's blog from this week (if you haven't you should) citing his injury, which will make him a 50-50 for race day on Friday. If he can go, he will try and improve on his 16:23 performance from Week #1 on the same course. He will get a strong challenge and great push from the top 3 of Scarborough and Ben Breton of Windham. If all race, it should yield some very strong times. As for the team competition, the Red Storm will be going for yet another undefeated regular season, as they get ready to defend their Class A crown.