9th Annual Jack Wilkinson Memorial XC Race Recap

Aug 28, 2008

8/28/08-

The 9th annual Jack Wilkinson Memorial XC race was held at Cheverus HS, Porltand ME. The race is held in memory of the legendary coach Jack Wilkinson, who used to coach at Bonny Eagle. Wilkinson back in 1961 hosted the first athletic event at Bonny Eagle, which happened to be a XC dual meet between Cheverus & Bonny Eagle. Add in his connection to all three schools, his sons are John Wilkinson, the coach of Gorham & Greg Wilkinson, the coach of Bonny Eagle and you have a great meet to start the season that honors one of the legends.

The boys race was first, Taylor Dundas (Jr. Cheverus) led the race from the gun, hitting the mile in a quick 5:05 and coming through the 2 mile in 11:00, he finished strong in 17:21, 12 seconds ahead of the next finisher, Jeremy Earl (So. Gorham) 17:33 who ran a very strong race throughout always trailing Dundas but not letting any else get in front of him. Tim Woods (Jr. Cheverus) 17:41 edged out Tim Belanger (Jr. Bonny Eagle) 17:43 down the home stretch, those two battled it out the last 800 surging back and forth. Rounding out the the top 5 was Josh Reali (Sr. Cheverus) 18:02. Cheverus one of the top teams in the state won the meet with 31 points, followed closely by Gorham 39, while Bonny Eagle had 58 points. Cheverus ran without two of their top 5 guys today, Jack Terwlliger & Andrew Synder, both out with injury. Gorham was also missing one of their top runners in Alex Graves.

(Taylor Dundas runs to victory at the Jack Wilkinson Memorial race)

Top 10 Individuals

1. Taylor Dundas Chev 17:21

2. Jeremy Earl Gor 17:32

3. Tim Woods Chev 17:41

4. Tim Belanger BE 17:43

5. Josh Reali Chev 18:02

6. Logan Marshall Gor 18:54

7. Max Bulger Chev 19:19

8. Rob Marean Gor 19:21

9. Dalton Groeger BE 19:24

10. Colton Tinker BE 19:30

Team Scores

Cheverus 31

Gorham 39

Bonny Eagle 58

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The girls race featured three of the better teams in Western Maine Class A, along with several of the top runners in the region. The race didn't disappoint as Emily Durgin (Fr. Bonny Eagle) sprinted out to the lead early and never looked back. Durgin hit the mile in 5:55, a 14 second advantage of Rachel Wilkinson (Jr. Gorham) who happens to be the grandaughter of Jack Wilkinson. Durgin would stretch her lead as the race went on, she passed through two miles at 12:25, an then picked it up over the last 1.1 miles, as she cruised to a new course time with a 19:09! Behind her Wilkinson held on to 2nd with a great opening season 20:05, following closely behind was Bonny Eagle's #2 girl. Lauren Dudley (Jr. ) 20:10. Coming in 4th was another standout for Bonny Eagle, Amber Dostie (So.) 20:52, while rounding out the top 5 was Cheverus standout, Amelia Lundkvist (Jr.) 21:18. The strength of Bonny Eagle's top 3 carried them to a victory as the finished with 35, closely followed by Gorham 40, and Cheverus rounded out the field with 46. For Cheveus they ran without one of their top freshman. If this race was any indication of how tight the West is going to be this year, XC fans are in for a treat this season. Durgin wowed everyone, and the matchup against Abby Leonardi from Kennebunk will take place next Thursday at the SMAA Relays over 1.5 miles.