KVAC XC Championship Preview
Class A Boys
Sophomore Wyatt Lord of Hampden Academy has been unbeatable so far in 2016 in the KVAC, Lord who placed 5th as a freshman has taken his running to another level this fall. He has clocked a best of 15:51 on the season, the second fastest 5k time in the state. Lord will be the favorite entering Saturday, his best time on the Cony course came three week ago when he ran 17:16.03
Looking to challenge Lord will be his teammate senior Paul Casavant who returned to action for the first time this fall last week. Casavant showed little rust as he opened up with a 16:36.77 effort. He is the fastest returner from a season ago where he was the runner-up in 16:55.4. Don't count Casavant out despite the lack of racing, he's shown over his career he's up for a challenge.
Zachariah Hoyle of Messalonskee is another top athlete that looks to make some noise in the individual race. Hoyle placed 8th at the Festival of Champions where he finished as the second best KVAC runner behind Lord. Hoyle has a best of 16:17 on the year, and last time out he had the 4th fastest time at the Mt Blue relays. A year ago he placed third.
Edward Little senior Jacob Gamache won't be afraid to mix it up with the top runners, Gamache is known for his front running style. This year he has a 16:36 5k best to his credit, and has had some close racing with other top contenders, losing to Lord by 2 seconds at Cony, and by 1 second to Mt Blue's Tucker Barber at Leavitt. Gamache has raced sparingly this fall, so his legs should be full of run.
Mt Blue's Tucker Barber has had a strong fall, and he'll look to continue that on Saturday. Barber who placed 6th a year ago has a best of 16:30.01 for 5k this fall. He was the third best KVAC runner at Festival of Champions where he placed 10th overall. Last time out he has the top time overall at the Mt Blue Relays helping his squad to the title.
Others to watch for are Isse Tawane of Lewiston & William Webb of Hampden Academy. Tawane has a best of 16:49.91 while Webb's best time for 5k this fall is 16:53.08.
Teams
Defending champion Hampden Academy enters as a slight underdog, but with the return of Paul Casavant to the lineup the Broncos are in a strong position to repeat. Mt Blue has beaten Lewiston at every meet except the Festival of Champions, so it appears the Cougars have the edge of the Blue Devils, but not a whole lot separates the two. Lewiston has the best 1-5 split of the three teams at 1:49, but Hampden potentially has the two lowest sticks. Mt Blue has had a great year so far, so don't be surprised if they rise to the challenge on Saturday.
Top 10 Last Year
1 Osman Doorow SR Lewiston 5:21.3 16:38.1 1 2 Paul Casavant JR Hampden Academy 5:26.9 16:55.4 2 3 Zachariah Hoyle JR Messalonskee High 5:38.1 17:30.2 3 4 Jacob Gamache JR Edward Little 5:39.4 17:34.5 4 5 Wyatt Lord FR Hampden Academy 5:41.6 17:41.1 5 6 Tucker Barber JR Mt.Blue 5:45.6 17:53.5 6 7 Jason Higginbotham SR Brunswick 5:47.5 17:59.6 7 8 Will Webb JR Hampden Academy 5:53.1 18:17.1 8 9 Cameron Meier JR Mt. Ararat 5:53.4 18:18.0 9 10 Mathieu Ract JR Bangor High School 5:53.5 18:18.3 10
1 Hampden Academy 77 2 5 8 20 42 45 55
Total Time: 1:31:41.60
Average: 18:20.32
2 Bangor High School 102 10 12 17 27 36 41 62
Total Time: 1:34:31.80
Average: 18:54.36
3 Lewiston High School 110 1 13 31 32 33 52 60
Total Time: 1:33:28.20
Average: 18:41.64
Class A Girls
Individuals
8 of the top 10 individuals from a year ago are back so the pack at the front should have several contenders. Cony senior Anne Guadalupi is the defending champion, and has the fastest 5k of the field 20:09.21 in 2016. This is Guadalupi's home course so that will be an advantage to the senior.
Looking to challenge her for the top spot will be 2015 runner-up Katherine Leckbee who has a best of 20:21 this fall, and has won the last 5 races she's toed the line in, including last Friday's Mt Blue Relays where she was 8 seconds better than Guadalupi.
Messalonskee's Peyton Arbour has the third fastest time in the field this fall, Arbour's best is a 20:25 at the Festival of Champions. Last time out at the Mt Blue Relays she has the 9th fastest time with a 13:59.
Cony's Talia Jorgensen is hitting stride at the right time, last year as a freshman she placed 6th. On the season her best effort is a 20:29 from FOC, and followed that up with a excellent 3rd place finish at Mt Blue Relays.
Edward Little's Jillian Richardson had a strong freshman campaign a year ago placing 10th, she's poised to make a run at a top 5 finish on Saturday. Richardson's best effort this fall is a 20:27.
Mt Blue's Maggie Hickey placed 5th a year ago, she's ready to move up in this field. Hickey has a seasonal best of 20:30, she was 7th fastest at the Mt Blue Relays a week ago.
Lawrence's Jaden Gray has dealt with injury this fall, and returned at FOC clocking a seasonal best 20:43.86, she was 18th at the Mt Blue Relays.
Others runners to watch are Simone Withers of Hampden Academy, Cony freshman Cecelia Gaudalupi & another freshman Micaela Ashby of Brunswick
Teams
A year ago it was a tight finish as Mt Blue edged Brunswick by a single point, 71-72 with Cony just 13 back in third. This year looks like it could be another close one between Messalonskee, Cony & defending champion Mt Blue.
On the season Messalonskee has the best 1-5 team split, and the fastest team average of 21:18.11. Mt. Blue has the faster 1-5 split, but Cony has a better overall 5k team average.
Cony also was the better team at FOC between the other two, and is running on its home course, no doubt an advantage. Mt Blue was also better than Messalonskee at FOC but the Eagles were without Avery who has been out with an injury for almost a month.
1 Anne Guadalupi JR Cony High School 6:33.7 20:23.2 1 2 Katherine Leckbee SO Mt. Ararat 6:35.5 20:28.7 2 3 Tessa Cassidy SR Brunswick 6:43.3 20:52.9 3 4 Tiffany Tanner SR Brunswick 6:49.6 21:12.4 4 5 Maggie Hickey JR Mt.Blue 6:51.1 21:17.2 5 6 Talia Jorgensen FR Cony High School 6:53.4 21:24.3 6 7 Avery Brennan JR Messalonskee High 6:56.2 21:33.0 7 8 Simone Withers JR Hampden Academy 6:57.1 21:35.9 8 9 Jaden Gray JR Lawrence 6:58.7 21:40.9 10 Jillian Richardson FR Edward Little 6:58.9 21:41.3
1 Mt. Blue High School 71 5 9 10 17 30 32 55
Total Time: 1:52:54.90
Average: 22:34.98
2 Brunswick High School 72 3 4 15 16 34 37 47
Total Time: 1:52:02.70
Average: 22:24.54
3 Cony High School 84 1 6 11 25 41 56 58
Total Time: 1:52:09.70
Average: 22:25.94