Sofie Matson (Falmouth) Matson had an unbelievable fall running undefeated in throughout the regular season and postseason. She clocked the fastest 5k time in the state at the New England Championship with her 18:17.30 10th place All-New England effort. Highlights on the year were the 18:20.70 win at the Southern Maine XC Classic in early September, followed up a few weeks later with a win at the Maine Festival of Champions (18:17.33). Matson ran solo in every race this season often starting out in the front and stretching her lead throughout. That continued at the Southern Maine Class A regional as she won by 53 seconds clocking 19:03 in her first race on the tough Twin Brook course. She crossed the finish line looking like she had just completed an easy run. A week later at the Class A State Championship it was a repeat effort this time yielding a faster time 18:41.60, an a 37 second margin of victory. Matson with the win as freshman will be the favorite next fall to repeat.
The best of the rest
Karley Piers (Falmouth) Piers had to run in the shadows of her teammate Sofie Matson this fall but the freshman had an outstanding fall on the trails as well. She got off to a fast start clocking 19:11 at the Southern Maine XC Classic earning a runner-up finish in the freshman-sophomore race. At the Maine Festival of Champions Piers won the freshman race in a fast 18:57.76, her time was the 8th fastest overall on the day. At the Southern Maine Class A regional Karley ran to a third place finish in a time of 19:56. A week later at the Class A State meet she ran 15 seconds faster to nab a seventh place finish. She closed out her freshman campaign with a strong 72nd place effort at the New England Championship. Next fall expect Piers to be one of the best in Class A she is the 7th fastest returner.
Lila Gaudrault (Cape Elizabeth) Gaudrault had a tremendous first season starting out with a win in her first race at the Paul Brogan Invitational. She ran a 19:14.27 at the Southern Maine XC Classic in the freshman-sophomore race to finish third. At the Maine Festival of Champions, Gaudrault ran a personal best 19:09 to finish second in the freshman race. She opened up the championship season with a runner-up finish at the WMC Championship, followed up by a third place finish at the Southern Maine Class B regional. At the Class B state meet Lila ran 19:44 to finish third. She closed out her year placing 63rd at the New England Championship. Looking ahead to next fall she will be one of the favorites in Class B as the second fastest returner.
Olivia Reynolds (Maine Coast Waldorf) It's not how you start it's how you finish. That is a good way to describe the diminutive Olivia Reynolds freshman season. Reynolds started the year off placing no better than 4th in any race in September. She ran a 20:53 at the Southern Maine XC Classic to finish 8th in the freshman-sophomore race. At the Maine Festival of Champions she broke 20 minutes for the first time as she clocked 19:50 to finish 6th in the freshman race. After that race Reynolds took her running to another level placing second in the WMC Division 2 championship race. At the Southern Maine Class C regional she broke away from the pack over the final mile to win in a time of 20:26. The next week at the Class C state meet she repeated that performance this time lowering her time to 20:13 to capture the state title. Reynolds will be the favorite to repeat in 2018.
Karlie Leighton (Mt Ararat) Leighton closed out her year on a high note during the championship season. To start the year out she finished 6th on the Scot Laliberte Invitational. Karlie got her first win at the Quabacook Relays winning the third race, clocking the third best time overall. In her first postseason race at the KVAC Championship she ran to a 4th place finish in the Class A race running 20:39 on the tough Cony course. The week after on the fast Belfast course at the Northern Maine Class A regional Leighton placed third in a then personal best 19:36. The following week at the Class A state meet at Twin Brook she took the pace out hard, and ran very well to place 9th in a time of 19:50. Closing out her season at the New England Championship she ran her fastest time of the season 19:29 to finish 66th - the ninth best Maine finisher.
