Class A Boys Heading into the Western Regional, the Scarborough Red Storm were undefeated and the pre-race favorites, but a full strength Cheverus team surprised everyone with ever so close victory. The difference the 6th man, as both teams were tied with 40. Add in Eastern Maine Champion and defending State Champion Lewiston into the mix and you have what looks to be a three team race for the title. Lewiston has cruised through their season in the KVAC and hasn't been pushed in a race since the Festival of Champions, where they were 3rd behind Scarborough and Class B power Greely. Scarborough and Lewisto have run on the Belfast course this season while Cheverus hasn't will this be a factor in the outcome? It should be a great race with the outcome in doubt all the way to the line, every place and second will count, who will become th Class A champion this year?
| Scarborough Red Storm |
ME #2 |
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Top Runners Craig Robinson 5k-16:41 Nate Hathaway 5k- 16:46 Sam Chick 5k-17:00 |
Scarborough comes into the State meet after suffering their only loss of the season at the Western Maine Regional, after tying Cheverus 40-40, the tie breaker was the 6th man. Scarborough had strong perfromances across the board at th regional meet, with several of the top 7 setting lifetime best. Can they rebound this week? They have the fire power up front, led by Western Regional champion, Nate Hathaway, along with Craig Robinson (8th) & Sam Chick (4th). The Red Storm have solid depth too with Sean Griffin (11th) and Brad Nakanishi (16th). Scarborough has always un well on the Belfast course evidence by their win at the Festival of Champions meet earlier in the year. Look for the Red Storm to be ready to avenge their only loss of the season.| Cheverus Stags |
ME #3 |
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Top Runners Jack Terwilliger 5k- 16:49 Andrew Synder 5k- 16:52 Taylor Dundas 5k- 17:02 |
Cheverus had a great day winning Western Regional meet last weekend. The Stags were surprise winners over previously undefeated Scarborough, witha 40-4 tie that was decided by 6th runner Mark Beahm who finished (25th). Cheverus got strong races out of Sophmore standout Jack Terwilliger (2nd) and the surprise of the day Andrew Synder (3rd) at the front of the pack. Taylor undas (6th) & Tim Woods (10th) gave the Stags 4 in the top 10. It has been reported that Woods has a hip avulsion and a IS Strain, but look for him to gut it out. Josh Reali (19th) rounded out the scoring 5 for the Stags. Can Cheverus ride the wave of emotion from their win last weekend to capture that elusive state title?| Lewiston Blue Devils |
ME #4 |
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Top Runners Robbie Leeman 5k- 16:36 Matt Driscoll 5k-16:43 Hussain Ibrahim 5k-16:54 |
Lewiston comes into the State Meet on a roll. winning the KVAC & Eastern Maine titles with relative ease. Last weekend they showed great strength up front with 3 runners in the top 7 & 4 in the top 11, they were led by Senior Robbie Leeman (5th) with fellow senior Matt Driscoll (6th) & Sophomore Hussain Ibrahim (7th), overall the Blue Devils won the meet by 41 points and averaged 17:07 for 5k. Lewiston is the defending state champions and knows the Belfast course very well, they will not go down without a fight.Other Teams to watch (Possible Top 5 finishers)
Massabesic: The Mustangs finished 3rd in the Western Regional, they are led by Junior Ben Morrison who finished (7th) 17:04, Sophomore Peter LePage (15th) 17:32 & Junior Ryan Morrison (17th) 17:51. Massabesic comes in ranked 10th in MTCCCA poll
Brunswick: Brunswick is coming off a 2nd place finish at the Eastern Maine Regional. The Dragons have a lot of fire power at the front of their lineup, led by Eastern Maine Champion Will Geoghegan (16:13) & classmate Liam Cassidy (4th) 16:37. As a team they averaged 17:33 for 5k. The Dragons were 9th in the last MTCCCA poll
Thornton Academy: The Golden Trojans are coming off a 4th place showing at the Western Regional. They are led by senior Tom Letourneau (14th) 17:28.
Mt. Blue: The Cougars eeeked out a 3rd place finish a the Eastern Maine Regional last weekend. They are led by standout junior Kelton Cullenberg (3rd) 16:26
Mt. Ararat: The Eagles narrowly missed a top 3 finish at the Eastern Regional coming up just 1 point shy of Mt. Blue. They are led by senior Tyler Toothaker (18th) 17:40
Top 30 Individual 5k Performances
Class B Boys: Greely comes into the state meet as the favorite to capture the Class B title, the Rangers showed they were the top team from Western Maine with their great run at the regional meet. The Rangers defeated runner-up Cape by 36 points. Caribou was the Eastern Maine Champion winning by 32 points over Ellsworth. Cape was within 9 points of Greely at the WMC championship, the closest any Class B team has been all year, can they close the gap and surprise the Rangers or can the Vikings of Caribou mount a challenge? It will take close to a perfect day from the competition, and a sub par day for Greely for an upset to happen.
| Greely Rangers |
ME #1 |
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Top Runners James LePage 5k-16:25 Mark McCauley 5k-16:31 Logan Price 5k- 16:39 |
Greely is coming of its finest performance of the year a dominating win to capture the Western Maine title, the Rangers showed both front running power as well as quality depth, as they had 3 out the top 5 finishers, along with 5 of the first 11 finishers. They averaged an impressive 17:03 on the Twinbrook course, where they were led by first year XC standout Mark McCauley (3rd) who clocked a personal best 16:31, behind him was senior James LePage (4th) 16:43, & junior Logan Price (5th) 16:57. Greely looks ready to defend the state title they won last year.| Cape Elizabeth Capers |
ME #5 |
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Top Runners Matt Rand 5k-16:20 Chris Flathers 5k- 17:06 Peter Brigham 5k-17:36 |
Cape Elizabeth finished a strong 2nd in the Western Maine Regional, but couldn't match Greely's power. The Capers will look to get close at the State meet. They are led by individual favorite Matt Rand, who won the Western Regional title with the fastest time of the day 16:20. Behind Rand, fellow senior Chris Flathers (6th) 17:06 & Peter Brigham (16th) 17:36 round out the top three for the Capers. Cape has been the closest to Greely this year with a 9 point loss at the WMC Championship, they'll need to be at their best to challenge Greely on Saturday.
| Falmouth Yachtsmen |
ME #6 |
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Falmouth is coming off a 3rd place finish at the Western Regional meet, they were 14 points behind runner-up Cape. They were led by standout freshman Tim Follo (7th) 17:06 & senior Scott Gardner (9th) 17:26. Falmouth has a strong squad with a pack time of 54 seconds 1-5. Can Falmouth move up from a 3rd at the Western Regional?
Top Runners Tim Follo 5k- 17:06 Jamey Esptein 5k- 17:24 Scott Gardner 5k- 17:26 |
| Caribou Vikings |
ME #7 |
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Top Runners Jesse Stephens 5k-17:24 Stephen Melbourne 5k- 17:29 Christian Sleeper 5k-17:41 |
Caribou is coming off a strong win at the Eastern Maine Regional meet as they finally got by nemisis Ellsowrth to capture the title. The Vikings were led by senior Jesse Stephens (7th) 17:24 & Stephen Melbourne (9th) 17:29 but also had 5 guys in the top 16. Caribou has a 34 second pack 1-5 which bodes well during a championship race.
| Yarmouth Clippers |
ME #8 |
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Top Runners Andrew George 5k-17:32 Ben Nickerson 5k- 17:33 Ben Woodbury 5k- 17:37
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Yarmouth finished 4th in the Western Maine Regional 8 points in front of York while 27 behind 3rd place Falmouth. Yarmouth is a young team that is gaining experience with every race. They were led by a trio at the regional, Andrew George led the way (12th) 17:32, with Ben Nickerson (14th) 17:33 & Ben Woodbury (19th) 17:37. The Clippers have a top 5 pack time of 1:17.Other Teams to watch (Possible Top 5 finishers)
York: The Wildcats were 5th at the Western Maine regional only 8 points behind #8 ranked Yarmouth. They are led by junior Alex Moser who was the runner-up in 16:28 at the Western Regional
Ellsworth: Ellsworth is coming off a runner-up finish to Caribou at the Eastern Regional, and is also a threat to move up in the big meets. They are led by junior Ben Chapman who was the Eastern Maine runner-up with a 16:51 clocking
Top 30 Individual 5k Performances
Class C Boys : Boothbay comes in the favorite fresh off a dominating win at the Western Regional were they scored a 34 win over runner-up Winthrop & 3rd place Monmouth Academy. Foxcroft Academy the Eastern Maine Champ looks to challenge Boothbay. The Ponies won by 44 points over the rest of the competition in Eastern C last weekend. Can a young Boothbay team capture the state title? or will it be defending champ Winthrop repeating, or will Foxcroft put together a strong day to win?
| Boothbay |
Unranked |
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Top Runners Zach Campbell 5k-17:48 Nate Schwem 5k-17:56 Matt Forgues 5k- 17:58
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Boothbay showed it was the team to beat last week with a dominating performance over the rest of Western Class C. A 34 point win over defending state champ Winthrop certainly gives them confidence heading into the state meet. Plus with a top 5 pack time of just 55 seconds including just 17 seconds between runners 1 & 4, they have plenty of quality and depth. They were led by senior Zach Campbell (6th) 17:48 & Nate Schwem (10th) 17:56 at the regional meet.| Winthrop Ramblers |
Unranked |
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Top Runners Pat Romar 5k- 17:48 Kevin Leavitt 5k- 17:51 Alex Cottrell 5k- 18:10 |
Winthrop the defending state champions, were 2nd to Boothbay in the Western Regional. They were led by the senior duo of Pat Romar (7th) 17:48 & Kevin Leavitt (8th) 17:51. It will take a great race from all 5 Ramblers to challenge Boothbay but with an experienced group anything is possible.| Foxcroft Academy Ponies |
Unranked |
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Top Runners Graham Pearsell 5k-16:37 Kaleb Mann 5k- 18:08 Chris Bridges 5k-18:13 |
Foxcroft is coming off a dominating performance at the Eastern Maine Regionals. The Ponies were led by senior individual champion Graham Pearsell (17:29), Kaleb Mann (6th) 18:08 & Chris Bridges (7th) 18:13 The Ponies should give Boothbay & Winthrop a strong challenge.Other Teams to watch (Possible Top 5 finishers)
Monmouth Academy: Monmouth is coming of a strong showng at the Western Maine Regionals were they tied Winthrop for 2nd, but lost out of the tiebreaker.They are led by Matt McCollett (5th) 17:46 last weekend
Lisbon: You can never count out the Greyhounds, the responded last week with one of their best runs of the season gaining them 4th in the Western Regioal just 5 points back of 2nd place Winthrop & Monmouth. They were led by the duo of Alex Branson (3rd) 17:35 & Ethan Masselli (4th) 17:41
Top 30 Individual 5k Performances