Class B State XC Championship Preview: Unreal girls individual race expected


Class B State XC Championship Preview: Unreal girls individual race expected




Class B Girls Team      Virtual Meet

After winning the Southern Regional title last weekend, the top-ranked Greely Rangers come in as the favorite after finishing second to Yarmouth at last year's state meet. Their duo of Carolyn Todd and Katherine Leggat-Barr finished second and third at the regional (which they were expected to do), but it was the Rangers' 3-5 performance last weekend that gives them the edge going into Saturday. Overall, they put five in the top-14 to score 41 points as they got great finishes from Kate Curran (9th), Chloe Smith (13th) and Chloe Waldrep (14th). More importantly, the Rangers put their five ahead of Yarmouth's no. 4 runner. If they can do that again on Saturday expect Greely to take home its second title in three years.

The Yarmouth Clippers are looking to defend their Class B championship but will need better races from its 4-5 runners. Abby Hamilton and Anneka Murrin give them a tremendous low scoring option, and Grace Cowles is a top-10 threat, but Georgia Giese and Greta Elder will need to have better races on Saturday for Yarmouth to win its second straight title.

After Yarmouth and Greely, look for the York Wildcats to likely take the third spot. They were third at the regional last weekend on the strength of two top-10 performances from Kathryn Miller (6th) and Grace Reynolds (8th). York impressively had six runners in the top-31 overall, but for the Wildcats to contend with Greely and Yarmouth, they will need to tighten its 1-5 pack -- they had a 1:57 1-5 split last weekend.

The battle for fourth will likely be a close race as Cape Elizabeth, Marancook and MDI all look to make an appearance in the top five. Maranacook was fourth in the south last weekend as they got two top-15 finishes from Molly McGrail (11th) and Laura Parent (12th). They don't possess the front-of-the-pack type runner that the other teams have, but they have a tight 1-4 which will help. They'll need a great race from its no. 5 runner Lily Welch to secure a top five finish. Cape Elizabeth was fifth at the regional as they were led by Camilla Grosso (14th) and Kelsey Kennedy (15th) . Like Maranacook, they have a tight 1-4 group but fall off after that.

MDI took the Northern Regional title last weekend with Tia Tardy leading the way for the. Getting a first place finish from her on Saturday will help, but they'll need season best races from the rest of its top five to get into the top 5. Other teams to watch for on Saturday are Camden Hills, Caribou and Fryeburg Academy.


Girls Individual  Top 200 Class B State Meet Times @ Belfast

She won the Class C individual title competing as a Red Riot for Orono last year, and is the favorite to take the Class B title this year. MDI senior Tia Tardy will look to culminate her Maine XC career with another cross country state title and comes in as the favorite in what is expected to be a very competitive race. If there was any doubt she wasn't the odds-on favorite, she proved it on Oct. 1 when she used her devastating kick to win the Festival of Champions against the best runners in the state running a PB of 18:32.71. She won the Northern Regional by more than 45 seconds running 19:02.41, which was the fastest time of all classes on the day. While she's the favorite, the front of the pack features many talented runners with different skillsets who, on any given day, can take a top spot.

At the Southern Regional last week, it was Yarmouth senior Abby Hamilton taking the individual title crossing the line in a fantastic time of 18:53. She was the one of two runners statewide to break 19:00 last week, which is remarkably impressive considering the course she was running at (Twin Brook) and the conditions last Saturday. She's had a tremendous 2016 and will look to challenge Tardy. Hamilton was sixth in 2015.

The Greely tandem of Carolyn Todd and Katherine Leggat-Barr will mix it up in the front pack as well. The went 1-2 at last year's state meet (Leggat-Barr 1st, Todd 2nd) and have both had fantastic seasons in 2016. Todd finished second at the regional last weekend running 19:16.44 and comes in having run a PB of 18:45 which she did at FOC placing fifth. Leggat-Barr, who had finished ahead of Todd in every race up to the regional, has been outstanding as well. She's broken 19:00 twice this year (18:58 at Manchester for 2nd, 18:37.74 at FOC for 4th) and has plenty of championship racing experience to contend for a top three finish.

Hamilton's teammate Anneka Murrin was fourth at the regional last week running 19:34 and will look to contend for a top five finish. She finished ahead of Leggat-Barr & Todd at Festival of Champions where she clocked a 18:36. She's had a great 2016 season and was fourth at the state meet in 2015.


Class B Boys Team    Virtual Meet

The Greely Rangers (4th in the Saucony Flo 50) are the prohibited favorites to win its first Class B title since 2009. They cruised to the Southern Regional title last weekend scoring just 47 points. Greely put its five in the top-14 overall, and were led by Luke Marsanskis (5th) and Max Stickney (6th). They are the most complete team in the class as they possess two top-10 candidates (Marsanskis and Stickney) and have a tight 1-5 pack, which they used last weekend -- its entire top seven ran 18:01 or better. The Rangers finished third in 2015.

Freeport, the two-time defending Class B champions, will look to make an appearance in the top three on Saturday. They have an individual title threat in Henry Jaques, and also have Yacob Olins and Alex Les, who both finished in the top-15 last weekend (Olins 7th, Les 11th). They edged Wells via the sixth-runner tiebreaker as the teams both scored 86 points, and will likely need Olins and Les to break into the top-15 once again for the Falcons to contend.

Wells was ranked 5th in the latest Saucony Flo 50 poll, and were third at the southern regional on a tiebreaker. Mitch Libby finished third individually and will likely contend for a top five finish. Wesley Moody (10th) and Griffin Allaire (12th) give them a solid top three, but the Warriors fall off after that. If the D2 WMC Champs hope to contend for second, they'll need Mitch Stapleton and Brian McMahon to have great races on Saturday. Wells finished eighth in 2015.

Lincoln Academy will look to contend for a top five finish. Sam Russ has been their no. 1 runner this year and was fourth at the regional. He's expected to contend for a top-10 finish. David Barnum has been solid as their no. 2 runner this year (he was 15th at the regional) but they will need Jarret Gulden, Benji Pugh and Noah Jordan to have great races for Lincoln Academy to make an appearance in the top five.

The Yarmouth Clippers hope to look for a top five finish on Saturday. Luke Laverdiere is the favorite to win his first cross country individual title, but for Yarmouth to hang with the best they'll need Sammy Potter, Ben Cox-Faxon and Lazre Merchi-Rossini to have good races.

Out of the Northern region, look for Caribou to contend for a high finish. They won the regional scoring 71 points behind Evan Desmond's fourth place finish.


Boys Individual     Top 200 Class B State Meet Times @ Belfast


All eyes will be on Yarmouth junior Luke Laverdiere as he hopes to win his first cross country state title.The last time he ran on the Belfast course Laverdiere won the Festival of Champions running 15:33.84, the fourth fastest time in course history. Last week at the Southern Regional he traversed the muddy Twin Brook course in a time of 16:13,34, despite falling nearly 400 meters from the finish. The time was the fastest of all classes. Depending on conditions, look for Laverdiere to dip well under the 16:00 barrier once again.

Trying to gun down Laverdiere on Saturday is Freeport's Henry Jaques. Jaques finished second to Laverdiere at the regional running a fast time of 16:35.47 and has had a great 2016 season. He comes in with a PB of 16:14 which he ran at the Manchester Invitational back in September, and will look for a sub-16:00 clocking.

Waterville sophomore Nick Dall won the Northern Regional running 16:26.81 and will look to contend for a top three finish on Saturday. He won the Class B KVAC Championships at Cony High School running 17:14.5 and looks poised to run in the low 16:00 range on Saturday. As a freshmen, Dall finished 14th at last year's state meet.

Mitch Libby of Wells had his best race of the season at the Southern Regional finishing third and will hope to keep that momentum going into the weekend. He completed the course running 17:11.12, which was the ninth fastest time of all classes on the day. He's had a very steady season in 2016 and finished second in D2 at the WMC Championships running 17:15. He's run in the low-17:00 range all year, and will hope to dip under that barrier for the first time on the fast Belfast course this Saturday. Libby finished 16th a year ago.

Lincoln Academy sophomore Sam Russ hopes to make an appearance in the front of the pack. He's had a great second season on the trails and finished fourth last weekend in the South running 17:21.37. He also finished second at the Class B KVAC Championships to Dall running 17:51.3.

Camden Hill senior Caleb Love-Webb had his best race of the season last weekend finishing second at the Northern Regional running 16:47.10. He'll look to end his career on a high note on Saturday as he hopes to finish in the top-10 for the second straight year (he was eighth last year).

The Greely tandem of Luke Marsanskis and Max Stickney are two other runners to watch on Saturday. They finished fifth and sixth at the Southern Regional running 17:28.01 and 17:39.74, respectively. This will be Marsanski's first state championship race. Stickney finished 17th in 2015.