Top Teams & Athletes Highlight Southern Maine XC Classic

Sep 13, 2019

Top Teams & Athletes Highlight Southern Maine XC Classic

In it's third year the Southern Maine XC Classic has produced numerous personal bests in its first two years, and more are expected this Saturday as 26 teams mostly from Southern Maine will toe the line at Naragansett course.

There will be four different races throughout the day starting with the girls freshman/sophomore race starting at 10am, which will be followed by the freshman/sophomore boys at 10:45, next will come the junior/senior girls at 11:30am, with the racing closing out with the junior/senior boys race at 12:05

The course has been slightly altered due to construction so won't be exactly the same as the previous two years. Ten of the top fifteen runners in the state will compete.

Falmouth senior Ben Potter (MileSplit #3) leads the field this year, Potter is the fastest returner from 2018, and is off to a fast start so far in 2019. A year ago Potter ran 16:01.59 finishing sixth overall. So far in 20198 he has won the SMAA Relays, and clocked an impressive 16:34 over three miles at Falmouth last Friday. He is running with confidence, and this flat fast course suits his running style well so a sub 16 is within reach.

Ethan Eickmann of Kennebunk comes in ranked MileSplit #6 and will be one with a chance to win the junior/senior race on Saturday. Eickmann ran very well a year ago finishing 7th in a personal best 16:04.88. He was just a stride behind Potter at the SMAA Relays, and showed his fitness carries over well to 5k with his 16:11 win at TA last Friday.

MileSplit #7 Jarrett Gulden of Lincoln Academy ran to a 14th place effort in 2018 with his 16:37.46 effort. Gulden is off to a strong start in 2019 running 17:15 for 5k on the tough Maranacook course that is filled with hills. This will be a chance for Gulden to face stiff competition, and matchup against Griffin Allaire & Martin Horne both individual favorites in Class B.

Senior Aiden Willey of Bonny Eagle missed the 2018 Southern Maine Classic due to injury. Willey is healthy heading into the 2019 race and primed for a fast time. Willey opened with a 17:25 for 5k at Massabesic last Friday a strong showing on a tough course. He has shown in the past he's not afraid to push the pace so expect him to be near the front on Saturday.

Scarborough sophomore Zach Barry will be one of the favorites to win the freshman/sophomore race, a year ago he was the top freshman in the race and was the runner-up in F/S race running 16:56.61. Barry with a year under his belt looks much stronger this fall. He matched the third best time at the SMAA Relays, and was the runner-up at Falmouth last week running 16:49 for 3 miles on a tough course.

MileSplit #11 Sam Wilson of Greely figures to be in the mix of the top runners on Saturday. Wilson finished 27th overall a year ago running 17:03.56, he placed 4th in the freshman/sophomore race. He opened his season with a win over Martin Horne at Poland last Friday running 17:50 for 5k.

Speaking of Martin Horne, the junior from Freeport was the winner of the freshman/sophomore race last year running 16:39. Horne ranks MileSplit #12 in the early season, he was one second back of Sam Wilson at Poland last week. A year ago he was the Class B state runner-up and is the top returner this fall from the state meet.

Griffin Allaire of Wells is a threat for the win on Saturday. Allaire finished 11th overall last fall clocking 16:20.20 before going on to finish third in the Class B state meet. Allaire will get to race head to head with two other Class B potential champions in Gulden & Horne.

Boothbay's Will Perkins is off to a hot start in 2019 that has him ranked MileSplit #14. Perkins didn't run in the meet a year ago so this will be the first time on the speedy course. He opened with a 16:50.88 at Medomak last week, and showed he is one of the favorites for the Class C individual title this fall.

Junior Erik LoSacco of Scarborough was 5th in the freshman/sophomore race in 2018. LoSacco has continued to improve from last fall, and should be looking at a sub 17 clocking in the race on Saturday. He had a strong run at Falmouth last week running 17:03 for 3 miles.

There are plenty of other runners that could have a shot at the win as well. Falmouth junior Ben Greene hasn't raced a 5k in his first season of XC but his 9:41 for 3200m on the track is a good indicator that he should be right in the mix if healthy, he had to miss last Friday's meet. Scarborough seniors Connor & Tristram Coffin were 8th & 10th a year ago. Tristram returned to action last week after dealing with a brief illness, with a week under his belt he should improve on his run from Falmouth. Connor missed Falmouth and is likely to miss the race this weekend due to an injury. Greely's Riley Franklin 29th a year ago is one to watch for, he was just behind Wilson & Horne at Poland running 17:53 last week. Another one to watch for is Justin Tomison of Bonny Eagle, a year ago he was 28th overall and has improved significantly from a year ago.

The team race is wide open depending on injuries. Greely is the defending champion, and returns a strong nucleus from 2018. Scarborough ranked #2 in latest MileSplit coaches poll will be one of their top runners so for them to win they will need to have a couple of runners emerge. Kennebunk showed the quality they have last week at TA, they surged to #3 in the coaches poll. Falmouth #4, Lincoln Academy #7, Bonny Eagle (receiving votes) have strong teams capable of winning.