In a six-way meet at Gray-New Gloucester, Falmouth, Freeport, Greely,
NYA and Yarmouth came to mix it up on a cool, dry day with dark clouds
threatening.
Girls Recap
The girls were first, Falmouth's Erin Morris and Maggie Parrish and
Freeport's Keira Berkemeyer leading the way at the first mile, a
challenging start with a huge net uphill to start. All three hit the
mile in just over seven minutes. Freeport's Lindsey Merrill,
Yarmouth's Chloe Sarapas and Falmouth's Molly Ryan were giving chase.
Morris led through two miles before the leaders charged into the
downhill last mile. Berkemeyer was the first to make a move, surging
strongly with about 1/2 mile to go. She gapped Morris and Parrish, but
Parrish gave chase, gaining the lead in the final woods stretch. As
they entered the 200 yard finishing stretch, Parrish had a lead of 10
yards, but Berkemeyer steadily closed before running out of time,
finishing a second behind, 21:46 to 21:47, with Morris at 22:01.
Merrill of Freeport and Sarapas of Yarmouth filled out the top 5. In
the team race, Falmouth packed Parrish, Morris, Ryan, Francesca
D'Alfonso and Meg Palombo in the top 10 overall to total 28 points to
win over Greely (74), Freeport (86), Yarmouth (92), NYA and host
Gray-New Gloucester.
Freeport and Greely will head to Manchester next week while other
teams will be facing off in the first ever SMAA-WMC crossover meets
including top-10 ranked teams Cheverus, Falmouth, and Scarborough
facing off at Falmouth's Community Park course.
Boys Recap
In the boys race, it was a showdown of ranked teams Greely (2),
Falmouth (6) and Yarmouth (10). For the second week in a row, it was
the Rangers prevailing without Mark Macauley in another great race.
Logan Price led from the start chased by Freeport's Henry Loughlin,
returning from injury. Price hit the mile in just under 6:00, chased
by Loughlin, Ben Nickerson of Yarmouth and Sam Johnston of Greely.
Falmouth's Tim Follo lurked in a pack of Yarmouth, Greely and Falmouth
runners as Yarmouth was looking to upset their Class B rivals. Price
steadily pulled away while Follo gave chase after cresting the long
climb up Libby Hill. With a half mile to go, Price led handily with
Loughlin looking to hold off Follo and Johnston. Follo caught Loughlin
heading into the last woods and chased Price to the line, with the
Greely senior taking another solid win in 16:59. Follo followed, so to
speak, in 17:17 with Loughlin and Johnston close behind. Yarmouth's
Ben's, Nickerson and Woodbury put them in contention. Greely's pack
was too strong, however. Sam Humphries, Connor Regan and Stefan
Sandreuter all finished in the top 20 to overcome Falmouth and
Yarmouth. Yarmouth looks to have their best team since their Class C
championship team of 1995, led by Footlocker Finalist Matt Lane. Final
scores for the boys, Greely (40), Falmouth (47) missing #4 runner,
Swerdlow, Yarmouth (59). Freeport showed they are a challenger in the
C race, finishing with 85, followed by NYA and host Gray-New
Gloucester.
Next week Falmouth will host Class A powers Scarborough and Cheverus,
while NYA and Yarmouth will venture to South Portland in the crossover
meets. Freeport and Greely will head for Manchester and Gray-NG will
visit rising A challenger, Windham.