WMC Championship Moser course record 16:08/Attwood wins girls/Greely Boys & Cape Girls team titles

Girls Recap    

Runners were treated to a great fall day for the WMC championship held at Falmouth Community Park in Falmouth this afternoon. The course was soaked from the pounding rains that have been falling in the lead up to the meet, but the sun was out and the temperatures just right for racing.

      The varsity girl’s race was first up, the race favorite Emily Attwood sprinted out to the early lead, covering the first 800m minutes in 2:52. Poland’s Kendra Lobely was just a few strides behind. York’s Michaela Swiatek was out well, running comfortably in the third position early on. By the one mile mark things started to string out a bit. Attwood had seized control of the pace, passing the mile in 5:54 in the process opening up a 40 yard lead over Lobely who was 6:09 at the mile. Swiatek was next coming through in 6:15. Cape’s Rachel Nichols and Kelsey Barton rounded out the top 5 at mile, giving the Capers 3 of the first five, and a commanding lead in the team competition. Hannah Doss (Cape) was 6^th, with Freeport’s Kiera Berkemeyer next, Mariah Staires (Fryeburg) was in a pack with York’s Monique Boutin & Reaha Goyetche as they rounded out the top 10.

    The lead would continue to grow for Attwood as she hit the two mile in 12:53, covering the tough 2^nd mile in 5:59. Lobely held down the 2^nd  spot (13:18), with the top 5 remaining the same as it was at the mile. Swiatek was 13:32; while the Cape girls were just 6 ticks back (13:38).  Cape’s Doss remained 6^th, while Boutin had moved up to 7^th. Waynflete had moved up nicely after a conservative first mile, freshman Martha Veroneau and Amy Allen were in 8^th and 9th for the Flyers. While Berkemeyer rounded out the top 10.

    Attwood would slow a bit in the last mile, but would win comfortably, crossing the line in 19:38. This was Emily’s 2^nd WMC title of her career, the last one coming when she was just a freshman. Lobely would be the runner-up (20:05), while Swiatek finished 3^rd (20:17), Nichols 4^th (20:36), Barton 5th (20:44), while Boutin (21:03) moved up one spot to 6^th over the final mile, to give York two girls in the top 6. Doss (21:10) would hold off Veroneau (21:13) for 7^th, while teammate Allen wound up 9th (21:32). Greely’s Melissa Jacques (21:40) had a strong last mile to move from 13^th at the two mile up to a top ten finish.

    Teamwise, Cape Elizabeth claimed their third straight conference title, winning with just 30 points. The Capers remain undefeated in the State of Maine this year. The #6 ranked York Wildcats earned the runner-up trophy scoring 64, while Poland (124) rounded out the top 3.

Top 5 finishers above (Emily Attwood, Kendra Lobely, Michaela Swiatek, Rachel Nichols, Kelsey Barton)

Finishers 6-10 (Monique Boutin, Hannah Doss Martha Veroneau & Amy Allen, Melissa Jacques)

Boys Recap

(Boys Top 5 finishers - from left to right Alex Moser, Silas Eastmasn, Logan Price, Sam Johnston, Mark McCauley)

  Next on the line were the varsity boys, this was expected to be a very good team competition with 4 of the top 9 ranked teams in the state. The individual race had a lot of firepower with the 2008 Class B state champion Alex Moser, the top freshman in the state Silas Freeman (Fryeburg) and the top Maine finisher at the Manchester Invitational Logan Price (Greely).

     As the runners sprinted off the starting line and made there away around the soccer field, a front pack had developed with all of the contenders for the individual title running within a few strides of each other. Assuming the pacing duties up front was York ’s Alex Moser; he was followed by the Greely duo of Logan Price & Mark McCauley, & Falmouth ’s Tim Follo. About 5 meters back was a group of two that included Greely’s #3 runner Sam Johnston, and Freeport ’s Henry Loughlin. Not much would change as the runners headed around the outer fields, with the exception of Fryeburg freshman Silas Eastman moving up to the 5^th spot before they entered the woods, Eastman had fallen during the beginning of the race and showed savy working his way through the pack to rejoin the leaders. Teamwise, Greely was in good shape, but Falmouth and Cape both had strong packs near the front as well.

   The pack hit the mile in 5:11 with Moser still leading the way, Price & Follo followed closely behind. Eastman (5:15) moved to 4^th, while McCauley & Johnston were running together in 5^th and 6^th (5:17), next was Loughlin, and pack of three Cape runners Reid Douty, Thomas Bottomley, & Peter Brigham (5:24) to round out the top 10.

 Coming out of the woods and up the steep climb, Moser continued to lead but the freshman Eastman was inching closer. Price and Follo held down the 3^rd and 4^th spots, with Johnston moving up to 5^th.

 At the two mile it was Moser crossing first (10:56), his 2^nd mile was 5:45 which goes to show you just how difficult the 2^nd mile is at Falmouth . Eastman, Price & Follo would follow. McCauley was next giving Greely 3 runners in the top 7, and then it was Loughlin & Douty, followed by Bottomley to round out the top 10.

   Moser would have a great last mile, as his long stride carried him the finish. He could see the finish line clock as he powered down the home stretch, as it hit 16:00, he knew he had a chance at the course record of 16:09, that was set two weeks ago by Scarborough’s Nate Hathaway. Alex pushed all the way to the line, to take one second off the course record, clocking 16:08; his last mile was 5:12. Eastman would run to an impressive runner-up finish, clocking 16:37, the fastest time for a freshman on the course and equaling the 14^th fastest time in course history. Price would rally to finish 3^rd, cracking the 17 minute barrier (16:57) two of his teammates Sam Johnston 4^th (17:10) & McCauley (5^th (17:15) would follow to give The Rangers 3 in the top 5, and an easy team victory.  Loughlin of Freeport had a strong day for 6^th (17:21), while Cape’s top runner was Reid Douty 7^th (17:29), following him was teammate Thomas Bottomley 8^th (17:33), while Freeport’s #2 guy Griffin Day used a strong last mile to move up to 9^th (17:35). Kennedi Hall (Fryeburg) also used a string kick to round out the top 10 (17:43).

Greely the #2 ranked team in latest MaineTrackXC poll showed they are the team to beat in Class B with an easy victory over rivals #4 ranked Cape Elizabeth , #8 Falmouth , & #9 York . The Rangers scored (41) to take their 3^rd straight WMC title over Cape (70) points. York held off Falmouth (86-87) for 3^rd place.

Finishers 6-10 from left to right (Henry Loughlin, Reid Douty, Thomas Bottomley, Griffin Day, & Kennedi Hall)