Tyler Patterson set a new Maine high school 5k record (photo Allie Hesler)
A few of Maine's top high school runners traveled over the border to Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Sunday to compete in the New Hampshire Postal 5k. On the boys' side, Maine MileSplit #1 Ben Greene of Falmouth and #2 Tyler Patterson of Brunswick competed, while the top four ranked on the girls' side Sofie Matson and Karley Piers of Falmouth as well as Delaney Hesler and Emmaline Pendleton of Bonny Eagle raced.
In the boys' race, the Cornell bound Patterson was very consistent throughout the 3.1-mile race as he clicked off laps between seventy and seventy-three seconds before closing out the final lap in a strong sixty-four seconds to finish in a personal-best 14:51.66 good for second overall. The winner of the race was New Hampshire cross-country state champion Aidan Cox of Coe-Brown academy with his 14:39.60 effort.
Record-Breaking splits
2 Patterson, Tyler 12 Unattached 14:51.66
35.552 (35.552) 1:47.179 (1:11.627) 3:00.845 (1:13.667)
4:11.756 (1:10.912) 5:22.471 (1:10.715) 6:34.710 (1:12.239)
7:48.164 (1:13.454) 9:00.635 (1:12.472) 10:12.391 (1:11.757)
11:24.544 (1:12.153) 12:35.857 (1:11.314) 13:47.187 (1:11.330)
14:51.650 (1:04.463) With his sub-fifteen-minute performance, Patterson broke Josef Holt-Andrews Maine state outdoor 5k record of 14:57.76 from 2013.
"I thought I would be close (breaking 15) but honestly I was surprised by how good I felt," Patterson told Maine MileSplit.
With the Maine cross-country state championship canceled two weeks ago, Patterson took this opportunity to get in a fast race.
"I was looking to do something to test my fitness and this just kind of worked out."
Also in the race was Ben Greene who finished ninth with a 15:53.36 effort.
Sofie Matson won the girls 5k race (photo Allie Hesler)
In the girls' race, Falmouth senior and Columbia University-bound Sofie Matson set the pace and led the entire race as she stopped the clock at 17:31.74. After a conservative first 1000 meters, Matson stepped on the gas pedal for the next four laps clocking a 5:32 mile pace to pull ahead from the field.
Bonny Eagle junior Delaney Hesler finished strong over the last 400m to finish fourth with a 17:46.18, next was Falmouth senior Karley Piers in fifth with a 17:48.33 effort. Emmaline Pendleton clocked a personal best 18:39.82 to finish seventh.