Alec Troxell (Deering) Troxell had a excellent junior campaign that saw him win 5 races including the Southern Maine Regional Class A title. He ran seven 5k races and broke 17 each time. Alec got his season of on the right foot winning the SMAA relays. He then added wins at Bonny Eagle followed by a personal best 16:34.77 at Westbrook. A 13th place effort at the Manchester Invitational came next before breaking the course record on his home course. He added a win at the Southern Maine Regional running 16:51.44 at Twin Brook. The next week he ran even faster at the Class A state meet (16:43.02) to finish sixth. In perhaps his best race of the season he earned All-New England honors with an 18th place finish at Belfast running a personal best 16:05.64. Troxell will be one of the top returners in Class A next fall.
The Best of the Rest
Gabe Coffey (Bangor) Coffey turned himself into one of the top runners in the state this fall improving his fastest 5k 39 seconds. On the season the junior won four races. He opened his year with a then personal best 16:41.49 on his home course. Gabe lowered his best to 16:36 win his win at Hampden Academy. After winning a KVAC meet at MCI, he finished 12th at the Festival of Champions running a time of 16:08.93. After that he won the Mt Blue Relays. In the postseason Coffey was very good as well. He opened with a runner-up effort in the Class A KVAC race then was the Northern Maine Regional runner-up in a personal best time of 16:05.51. He would go on to finish 5th in the Class A state meet, running 16:40.53 at Twinbrook. He closed his season out with a strong 34th place finish at the New England Championship. He will be one of top returners in Class A next fall.
Wyatt Lord (Hampden Academy) Lord had a consistently strong 2017 XC season that saw him finish in the top three in seven of the the nine races he competed in. He opened with back to back runner-up finishes at Bangor & on his home course. Lord added his first win on the year at Cony followed up by a 15th place effort at Festival of Champions where he ran 16:14. Wyatt followed that up with a win at the Pendale Invitational priming himself for the post season. At the Class A KVAC Championship meet, Lord finished third running 17:37.90 on the tough course at Cony. He matched that effort at the Northern Maine Class A regional running 16:15 at Belfast. He saved his best race for the Class A state meet at Twin Brook where he ran to a state runner-up finish clocking 16:35.43 on the rolling hills. Lord will be one of the top Class A returners next fall.
John Auer (Falmouth) Auer had a strong fall leading the Yachtsmen to a second straight Class A team title. He started off with a runner-up finish at the SMAA relays, then clocked a 16:19.72 to place 7th in the junior-senior race at the Southern Maine Classic. That was followed up with a 16:50 three mile effort on his home course where he placed second, then he won his only meet at Kennebunk. At the Festival of Champions John ran a personal best 16:02.72 finishing 7th. Next up for Auer was the Southern Maine Regional where he ran 16:58 to place 6th, then a week later at the Class A state meet he ran 16:44 finishing in 7th. He closed out his season placing 100th at the New England Championships. Auer will look to lead his Yachtsmen to a third straight team title next fall.
Luke Marsanskis (Greely) Marsanskis took his running to another level this fall. He got off to a strong start clocking a personal best 16:11.93 to finish 4th in the junior-senior race at the Southern Maine Classic. A week later he added a win at Gray New Gloucester on the tough Libby Hill course. Luke just missed his PR at the Festival of Champions as he ran to a 14th place effort in 16:13. At the Class A Southern Maine Regional he was the runner-up clocking 16:53 on his home course. A week later at the Class A state meet Marsanskis finished 10th overall. He would run to a 118th place finish at the New England Championship meet at Belfast.
