Class B Girls' Team
After resting their respective top five at the WMC Championships last Friday both Greely and Yarmouth should be ready to roll at the Regional on Saturday. The Clippers are the defending regional champions but will be pushed by the Rangers, who will be looking for their first regional title in five years. The front-running ability of both team's top two will be a factor, but the race between the Clippers and Rangers will be won based on the performances of its 3-5 runners. At the Festival of Champions Chloe Waldrep, the Ranger's no. 3 runner finished 34th, while Grace Cowles, who was running as Yarmouth's no. 2 runner that day finished ten spots ahead in 24th. If a situation like that holds up with a healthy Hamilton, look for Yarmouth to upend the Rangers on Saturday.
The York Wildcats won the WMC Championships last Friday and are thirsty to challenge Greely and Yarmouth on Saturday. Kathryn Miller has been their no. 1 runner this year, and finished third last Friday running 19:48. York finished third at the regional a year ago and is currently ranked third in the Saucony Flo50 poll. The Wildcats finished fourth at the Festival of Champions and were the third Maine team. Grace Reynolds and Malia Cryan have had solid seasons in 2016. Both finished in the top-10 at WMC's (Reynolds 5th, Cryan 9th) and for York to contend with Greely and Yarmouth, Reynolds and Cryan will likely need similar finishes.
The Capers of Cape Elizabeth will likely challenge for a top five finish on Saturday. Leading the way for Cape in 2016 has been sophomore Kelsey Kennedy, who recently finished sixth at WMC's. She's expected to contend for a top-10 finish. Emma Shedd and Camilla Grosso give Cape a very solid trio, and both will likely contend for top-20 finishes, but for the Capers to compete with York, they'll need Liv Palma and Alicia Lawrence to close the gap on its 2-3 runners. Also watch for Maranacook and Fryeburg Academy to contend for a top five finish.
Class B Grls Individual
Katherine Leggat-Barr (Greely) enters Saturday's regional as the favorite to defend her 2015 regional title. Leggat-Barr has been outstanding in 2016 having run a PB of 18:37.74, which she ran at FOC placing fourth. She ran 19:45 on her home course two weeks ago for the win, and is poised to defend her title. Her teammate Carolyn Todd has been running in Leggat-Barr's slipstream in 2016. Todd goes into Saturday with a PB of 18:45.84, which she ran at FOC finishing right behind her teammate in fourth. Todd was the regional runner up in 2015. Yarmouth's Abby Hamilton will look to challenge the Greely tandem for the individual title on Saturday. Hamilton had a minor set-back with an injury, but has returned to full strength. She comes in with a PB of 18:51, which she ran on her home course. She also became the second girl in Cape Elizabeth course history to break 18:00 on the 3-mile course running 17:59. Hamilton was less than a second behind Todd finishing third at the regional in 2015. Hamilton's teammate Anneka Murrin will likely mix it up in the front pack as well. Murrin had her best race of 2016 at FOC finishing third in 18:37. Murrin finished fourth in 2015 running 19:57.27. Kathryn Miller of York was seventh a year ago and will look to break into the top five this year. She was third last week at the WMC Championships.
The Greely Rangers rested their entire top five at the WMC Championships and will be ready to defend its home course as they look for the Class B Southern Regional title. Greely, ranked fourth in the most recent Saucony Flo 50 ranking, has been the top Class B team in 2016 thanks to an emerging Luke Marsanskis, and a tight 1-5 spread. They have averaged a 57.7 second 1-5 split in 2016. Max Stickney and Matthew Todd compile to give the Rangers a very strong top three and both have SBs under 17:20 this season. Both runners will likely contend for top-10 finishes. It will be a very close battle between the Rangers, Wells and Lincoln Academy, but Greely's front-of-the-pack runners give them the edge going into Saturday.
The Wells Warriors have emerged as one of the top teams in Class B thanks to the front-running ability of Mitch Libby and a very solid 2-5 pack. Libby was the runner up in D2 at the WMC Championships last Friday at St. Joe's and will likely challenge for a top five finish on Saturday. Wesley Moody has been a very stable no. 2 runner for Wells and will need another solid performance from the Warriors to contend with Greely. The key for Wells winning on Saturday will come down to the performances of Griffin Alaire, Mitch Stapleton and Brian McMahon. They will need to work together to stay close with the Greely pack to claim a regional title. Wells finished sixth in 2015.
Lincoln Academy has been the surprise team in 2016 and will look to challenge Greely and Wells for the regional title on Saturday. While they don't have a front-of-the-pack runner, Lincoln Academy has a tight 1-5 spread and they showed it at the KVAC Championships placing five runners in the top-11 overall to win the Class B conference title. Sophomore Sam Russ has led the way for Lincoln in 2016 and finished second last week at Cony High School covering the challenging 5k course in 17:51. A high finish from him will certainly help their chances against the Rangers and Wells, but they will need their 2-5 to close the gap between Russ to stay competitive. Lincoln Academy finished ninth in 2015 and were ranked sixth in the most recent Saucony Flo 50 team rankings. The Yarmouth Clippers are another team to watch on Saturday. Luke Laverdiere is the individual favorite, which will give the Clippers a low stick, but they'll need season best races from its 2-5 to contend for a top three finish. Watch for Freeport as well with Henry Jaques leading the way for them.
Class B Boys Individual
Undefeated on the season, Yarmouth sophomore Luke Laverdiere comes into the Class B South Regional as the favorite. Laverdiere didn't race last Friday at the WMC Championships, so expect him to be fresh and ready to run a fast time. Laverdiere last raced at the Festival of Champions where he overwhelmed the competition running 15:33.84 -- the fourth fastest time in course history. Expected to try and challenge Laverdiere is Freeport senior Henry Jaques. Jaques has had a very solid 2016: he finished second at the WMC Championships running 16:44, and was third in the small schools race at the Manchester Invitational running 16:14. Jaques finished third in the region in 2015. Mitch Libby of Wells is another runner to watch. Last week at the WMC Championships Libby was the second fastest D2 runner, and finished fourth overall running 17:15. Max Stickney of Greely will be another contender to watch. He ran 17:44 at Twin Brook two weeks ago and finished 39th at FOC in a PB of 17:09.42. His teammate Luke Marsanskis could be a sleeper for a top five finish. His breakout performance came at the Festival of Champions where he went sub-17 for the first time running 16:41.78 placing 21st. He ran 17:46 at Twin Brook two weeks ago. Also watch for Wesley Moody of Wells and Sam Russ of Lincoln Academy.