Faith Blethon from Boothbay has started off her high school career on the right foot. She won every race up to FOC where she finished as the runner up in the Freshman Race and clocked a PR of 19:32. After that race she got back onto the winning track and finished off her MVC season with a win in the conference championship. She crossed the line in a 20:36, a 43 second win over the runner up. Look for her lead the field through Twin Brook's hills. Also in the front and going to track her teammate down is Hannah Morley. Morley has made some big changes this year and has cut more than 1 minute off her time from last year. She was 2nd last week with a 21:19. She's been in the front of the pack in each race this year and will continue to do it into this weekend. Looking to track her down and lead the chase pack is Fiona Ahearne from Maine Costal Waldorf. Ahearne has been consistently in the 20:40's this season with a PR of 20:43 at NYA. Last year she was 6th with a 21:50, look for her to Challenge Morley. St. Doms #1 and #2 runners will look to break into the top 10. Ella Brown and Sydney Sirois go back and forth each race. Last year they were 12th and 15th going 22:46 and 23:01. They've shown that they can go with Morley and will attempt to do that this weekend. The Waynflete trio will look to lead their team to another regional title. In that trio is Abby Pipkin, Ellie Chidsey, and Gail Johnson. It's an interchangeable trio. Last year Chidsey lead the way for her team and finished 3rd with a 21:41. Johnson was 7th, 22:05, and Pipkin was 16th 23:14. They will look to all be in the top 10 and challenge everyone coming down from the MVC.
When the teams are matched up, it looks like Waynflete could run away with yet, another Regional title and make it 3 in a row. Waynflete was matched up in the tough WMC conference this year and has always been in the middle of the pack, but like always, they shine bright at the regional meet. In the Division 2 race last week, they finished 3rd as a team. They've got a tight pack time and last week it was under a minute. Unless if someone gets hurt during the race or someone doesn't race at all, they should be able to get the win. If MCW's Olivia Skillings runs like she did earlier this year, they can defiantly get the runner up spot. But, as of now, Boothbay is threatening and could get the hardware. Boothbay won their conference championship last week Their pack time is wide open but their average is still strong and that's what will help them beat MCW. MCW has only one strong front runner, If they can get Skillings up there, that will be just enough to help them. Their pack time isn't the strongest either but that average can come down more if Skillings runs with confidence.
It's going to be a close finish in the boys race. The fastest returner, Tucker Pierce from MCW, comes into this race looking for the win. Pierce has a PR of 16:56 form running on his home course. He was beat by Winthrop's #1 and #2 at FOC but Pierce as the upper hand of being able to run around Twin Brook all season and construct a race plan. Last year he finished 3rd with a 17:42. If conditions are right, he should be in the 17:20's this weekend. Talking about Winthrop's duo before, Jacob Hickey, and William Vance, will try to go toe to toe with Pierce again and run away from him like they did once this year. The two finished 2nd and 3rd at the MVC championship going 17:32 and 17:44 as Hickey lead Vance. The two were in the top 20 at FOC as they were 16:55 and 16:49. They've got the ability to run fast, it's about who's got the brains to run Twin Brook right and where to break away. Coming into Class C as a new team is Lisbon and leading the way is Nick Harriman. Harriman has won every race except for one in the MVC. He started off the season in the in the 18's and has worked his way down to the low 17's, last week he won the conference championship in a 17:17. He'll look to be in the mix and run with the front pack. Looking to be in the top 10 is Waynflete's, Wilson Moore. Moore was 8th last year with an 18:22. He has been in the mid to low 18's this year with a seasonal best of 18:13. He'll be pushed by Monmouth's Luke Thombs, who's got an 18:24 average just like Moore. Thombs has gotten down as low as 17:29. He's been mid 18's all season.
As it looks now, Boothbay has the better team and will look to run away from Winthrop. They beat Winthrop last week 55-81. They did lose to them earlier this year at the MVC Preview, but that was in the past and we're looking ahead now. Boothbay has a decent split, a key component to helping them win over everyone else. Their #1 runner, Kyle Ames, was 7th with a 18:18 last week at MVC's. Winthrop was beat also by Lisbon. Lisbon has the strong front runner, Nick Harriman, but they also have Jordan Cole, Who is strong #2, but their #4 and #5 runners is what hurt them, but they were able to snag 2nd. They can run hard like they did last week and have the better #5 runner, like they did last week, they'll be able to go home with a 2nd place finish. Though Winthrop has a strong #1, #2 and #3 lost because of their back two runners. They've got a broad split of over 4 minutes.