Saturday was a historic day for Maine XC runners at the 74th New England Championships held at Derryfield Park in Manchester, NH. Freshman Abbey Leonardi became the first Maine girl to win the New England’s, with her 18:12.7 clocking to beat runner-up, fellow mainer and freshman, Emily Durgin. Not to be lost in the success of the 1-2 finish was the outstanding finishes of two more freshmen from Maine, Abby Mace of Maranacook (6th) and Fiona Hendry of Cheverus (9th). To add to the historic day, Cape Elizabeth scored a 6th place finish in the team competition, the highest finish for any girl’s team since Maine has been running in the New England’s. (pictured left -Leonardi-Durgin finishing- picture by Dave Flewelling)
On the boys side, Class A State champion Will Geoghegan of Brunswick was the top boy finisher with his 24th place finish. Geoghegan along with Class C State Champion Wade Davis, both earned All New England honors for placing in the top 25. Also with strong performances were James LePage (Greely) 26th, Matt Rand (Cape) 27th, Alex Moser (York) 28th & Luke Fontaine (Cony) 30th. Greely, the Class B Team champions was the top Maine team; they finished in 12th, just 5 points away from a top 10 finish. Greely’s 12th place finish is the 4th best since Maine teams started running in the New England’s again in 2005. Cape Elizabeth’s 3rd place in 2006 has been the best finish for any Maine team, Falmouth’s 9th place in 2005 has been the only other Maine team in the top 10.
(First loop girls leaders photo by Dave Flewelling)
The girl’s stole the show this year, as they had 4 girls in the top 9, and 5 in the top 16. The girl’s race was a battle between the two star freshmen, as just after the mile Durgin moved into the lead. She would control the pace during mile 2, and only Leonardi was able to keep with it. Just after the 2 mile mark, Leonardi surged to the lead on the downhill portions. The move proved to be enough as Leonardi held on for a 2.6 second win over Durgin. Abby Mace finished strong passing 3 girls in the final 150m of the race to nab 6th, while Fiona Hendry was good enough for 9th. Also earning All-New England honors with her 16th place finish was two-time Class C State champion Adele Espy of Waynflete. Additionally Emily Attwood (Cape) 28th & Vickie Hewey (Sanford) 29th were in the top 30 finishers. On the team side of things, top ranked Maine team Cape Elizabeth had a strong showing with their 6th place finish. Cape was just 13 points away from a top 4 finish. Leading the way for Cape was Emily Attwood with her 28th place finish; other scorers were Kelsey Barton (74th), Marita Stressenger (83rd), Catherine Tierney (103rd), & Rachel Nichols (117th).
Top 15 Boys Maine Individuals
24 Geoghegan, Will 11 ME-Brunswick 16:13.3
25 Davis, Wade 12 ME-Hall-Dale 16:14.3
26 LePage, James 12 ME-Greely 16:16.1 13
27 Rand, Matthew 12 ME-Cape Eliz 16:16.5 14
28 Moser, Alex 11 ME-York High School 16:18.8
30 Fontaine, Luke 11 ME-Cony High School 16:21.5
35 Kaake, Jason 11 ME-Morse 16:25.8
41 Price, Logan 11 ME-Greely 16:28.8 21
50 Cullenberg, Kelton 11 ME-Mt. Blue 16:34.0
54 Terwilliger, Jack 10 ME-Cheverus 16:35.3 28
61 Hathaway, Nate 11 ME-Scarborou 16:39.4 33
67 Cassidy, Liam 11 ME-Brunswick 16:44.1
82 Seekins, Sam 11 ME-Erskine Academy 16:52.3
101 Robinson, Craig 12 ME-Scarborou 17:04.3 60
103 McCauley, Mark 11 ME-Greely 17:05.6 62
Top 15 Girls Maine Individuals
1 Leonardi, Abbey 9 ME-Kennebunk 18:12.7
2 Durgin, Emily 9 ME-Bonny Eagle 18:15.3
6 Mace, Abby 9 ME-Maranacoo 18:43.2
9 Hendry, Fiona 9 ME-Cheverus 18:49.4
16 Espy, Adele 12 ME-Waynflete School 19:01.0 7
28 Atwood, Emily 11 ME-Cape Eliz 19:22.3 12
29 Hewey, Victoria 12 ME-Sanford 19:25.6
34 MacKenzie, Olivia 12 ME-Catherine 19:33.5
51 Lam, Melody 11 ME-Mt. Blue 19:47.0
62 Spies, Kate 10 ME-Mt. Ararat 19:57.4
66 Susla, Molly 12 ME-Freeport 20:01.1 32
72 Chamberlain, Whitney 12 ME-Scarborou 20:08.1 36
73 Dunn, Brianne 12 ME-Ellsworth 20:09.8
74 Barton, Kelsey 10 ME-Cape Eliz 20:10.8 37
83 Stressenger, Marita 12 ME-Cape Eliz 20:17.6 42