Boys Preview
Nick Dall is at the High School Mile for a third consecutive year. He finished third in a ten man field in 2016 and ninth last year in a field of 15. But the rising senior had been working his way back into shape after an injury so his 2017 performance was likely an aberration.
Dall won a very competitive open 800 at the KVAC Championship this May in a personal best of 1:58.26, but was not entered in the State Championship this year. His 4:29.24 qualifying time, also a personal best, was put up this May at the Community Cup. Heading into the cross country season all eyes will be on Dall in the Northern Maine region. He will be the three time defending regional champion in the cross country 5K and have a chance to run the board as a senior.
Nick Dall of Waterville leads Matthew Pooler of Massabesic during the early stages of the 2017 Festival of Champions in Belfast. Dall will run in his third B2B High School Mile this Friday while Pooler runs his first.
Five other boys return for a second crack at the title. Among them, Alec Troxell, a rising senior at Deering may have the most to prove as he was edged out at the tape last season to finish second with a time of 4:43.2. Troxell's personal best in the 1600 is 4:26.96 set in the New England Championship this June, a week after he took 3rd in a very competitive Class A State Championship.
He's been a regular on the podium, both indoors and out, in the 1600, mile, 3200 and two mile. Troxell is the reigning Southern Maine Regional Champion in Cross Country 5K. After a 16:05 at the New England Cross Country Championships in 2017 look for Troxell to eye the 16 minute barrier this fall.
Alec Troxell pursues Connor Coffin heading into the final 400 at Twin Brook during the 2017 Class A Cross Country Championship.
Aiden Willey of Bonny Eagle, returns for a second year with a seed time of 4:28 which he earned while finishing fourth in the 2018 Maine State Class A 1600 Championship. He also notched fifth place medal in the 3200 at states this spring. In his first B2B High School Mile Willey finished this Fort WIlliams course in fourth place. The junior has been the top boys runner for the Scot's cross-country team the past two seasons.
Matthew Todd (4:32.59) placed third in the 2018 Class B Outdoor 1600 Championship. He is the current Class B State Champion in the indoor mile and took 5th in indoor 800 to help the Rangers win the 2018 State Indoor Team Championship. This is his second time at the B2B High School Mile.
Matthew Todd, running for Greely in the 2017 Class A Cross Country Championships
Griffin Allaire finished third in last year's High School Mile. He is the Class C 1600 Champion for 2018 and also took the final medal in the 3200 at States. A top ten finisher in cross country last season, look for Allaire to contend for the top spot for Wells next season in Class B Cross Country Championship.
Evan Merchant of Jonesport Beals qualified with a time of 4:48. He placed 8th in the State Class C cross-country final, after taking 4th in the Northern Regional. Merchant was one of just two members of the Jonesport Beals team to run in the regional meet, and the only member to advance to the state meet. It's a small school with just about 100 students in grades 9-12 the Royals offers only baseball and softball for the spring season.
Evan Merchant of Jonesport Beals hits the straightaway during the Northern Maine Regional Meet for Class C in 2017.
The last returner this year is Jack Bassett running in his home-town of Cape Elizabeth. His seed time 4:40. Bassett has placed in the 3200 in the State Class B Championship two years on a row. This past fall he took 4th in Southern Maine Regional cross country meet and followed that with a 3rd place finish at states. He was also the WMC conference champion for 2017.
Leading all runners with a seed time of 4:23 is first time entrant Lisandro Berry-Gaviria of Mt. Ararat.
Checking in with the rising junior he noted, "I actually heard about this event last year and thought about running in it, but I was coming off an injury so I decided it would be better to skip it. This year I decided to participate because it seems like a really fun event and hopefully it'll give me a sense of what my fitness is like heading into xc season. It's an appealing race to me because it's a low-pressure environment and only one mile long, so it won't really interfere with my training."
His sophomore campaign is one for the books: he claimed five state championships. He took the Cross Country 5K, the indoor mile, the indoor two mile, the outdoor 1600, and the outdoor 3200. For good measure in the spring KVAC championship he threw in the outdoor open 800 to give him six conference championships on the year. His seed time in the 1600 was earned in this spring's New England Championship where he took 9th.
Martin Horne from Freeport is coming off a freshman campaign that saw him finish 4th in Class B 1600, 5th in 3200 and 8th in State Cross Country Championship for Class B. His finish at the Cross Country Championship led the Falcons to earn the runner-up position in the fourteen team field.
Like Freeport, Scarborough earned the runner up position in the State meet. Their second place finish in the Class A Championship was a bit of a surprise as the Red Storm had finished fourth the week earlier at regionals. A big part of their success was the duo of Tristram and Connor Coffin. Connor finished 4th, while Tristram was 8th
Tristram's seed time is 4:34. He collected the third place medal in the two-mile at the State Indoor Championships this past winter. Brother Connor, with a seed time of 4:37, also collected hardware at the Indoor Championships for 2018 as he took 5th in the two-mile.
Massabesic's Jeffery Waters qualified with a 4:36 in the 1600. He has yet to place in any major championship but has catapulted into contention between his sophomore year, when he finished 114th in the State Cross Country Championships, and his junior year when he finished 20th. He was the consistent number one runner for the Mustangs cross country team in 2017.
Landon Heidrich, of Thornton Academy, has a qualifying time of 4:39. His second place medal in the 2018 State Indoor Championship for Class A (2:01.19) qualified him for the 1000 meter run in the New Englands. Heidrich, SMAA Champion for the indoor 800, is among the top performers on the Trojan's cross country team.
Sophomore year was something of come-back year for Brunswick's Will Shaughnessy. A foot injury at the end of his freshman spring season caused him to spend much of his sophomore cross country and indoor season working back toward fitness. It all came together for Shaughnessy this spring as notched state qualifying times in the 1600 and 3200. He took the final medal in the 2018 State Class A meet for the 3200 and the following weekend took 11 seconds off his best while running a 9:53.68 at New Englands, second fastest among Mainers. Shaughnessy's best 1600 time is 4:39.62.
With just one season of outdoor track on the books at Waynflete, Henry Spritz could provide some unexpected competition for the top of the field, He shows a seed time of 4:40, but he won the Class C boys cross country championship last fall on the challenging Twin Brooks course in 17:01. It was a remarkable run considering he clipped 42 seconds off his winning run on the same course a week earlier at the Southern Maine Regionals. Spritiz showed great closing speed on the cross country course with a great final 400 to win.
Henry Spritz of Waynflete shows us why it is called the pain cave.
Alfie Walker, a rising senior at Fryeburg Academy took the sixth place medal in the 1600 at this springs's Class B State meet. In addition he has led the Fryeburg's cross country team the past two seasons.
Matthew Pooler has two seasons of cross country under his belt at Massabesic High School but just added outdoor track this season. He ran everything from the 200 to the 3200 and qualified for the state meet in the triple jump. With just three 1600s behind him he managed to reduce his time by 22 seconds. His best, so far, is 4:45.91
Erik LoSacco, a rising sophomore at Scarborough had a strong freshman campaign that saw him finish the season with the first seven for Scarborough's state runner-up cross country program. He also qualified for the state meets in both the 3200 and the two mile. His seed time is 4:46.
Matt Shea of Ellsworth has a seed time 4:49. This past season Shea took 3rd in the Indoor State Class B Championship for the mile. In the outdoor season he earned the 7th medal for the 3200 at the State Championship meet.