Class A Girls Photos | Results
The highly anticipated matchup between Defending Western Maine Regional Champion Abbey Leonardi (Kennebunk) and Emily Durgin (Cheverus) was the race of the day. The two young and talented harriers showed the rest of Western Maine they are top notch. Leonardi controlled the early pace, sprinting out like a mile in the first 400 tae the elad, Durgin played the role of pursuer.
At the mile Leonardi passed in a quick 5:32, with Durgin about 4 seconds back, biding her time and keeping the gap manageable. "My plan was just to keep it close", Durgin said. Leonradi was just trying to stick to her plan to run well and feel good. The rest of the pack came through 25 seconds later with Fiona Hendry (Cheverus) in 3rd, while Hannah Pierce (Massabesic) & Cheverus's #3 runner Liana Rubinoff next to come through.
By two miles Leonardi held a small lead over Durgin, around 4 seconds, as they cruised through two miles in just under 12 minutes, both runners looking strong. Heading into the woods on the A loop, Durgin made her first move to close the gap, on the downhill "I sprinted to catch up to Abbey, I wanted to let her know I was still there". Leonardi responded to the move and opened up another small gap, but Durgin would have the answer. "She surged once I caught up, but I didn't panic, I made another move to catch back up, and I think she was surprised I was able to do that.." Durgin would say post race.
Durgin would make her final move as she was able to get by Leonardi coming out of the woods after the steep hill. Emily would continue to pull away as she emerged on top of the hill, and the throngs of supporters were a bit surprise to see her in first. She would cross the finish line with the fastest time of the day, 18:25, one of the top times on the tough and challenging Twin Brook course. Leonardi ran very well in second, crossing in 18:31, 2nd fastest time of the day. This was the first time Abbey has been beaten in a XC race by in state competition in her career. After the race, Abbey talked about her run "I tried to run my race according to plan, I just didn't feel good out there today." "I just want to run well and feel good doing it." Abbey responded about next week's rematch.
Fiona Hendry was next while teammate Rubinoff gave the Stags 3 of the top 4 finishers and a strangehold on the team title. While Massabesic's Hannah Pierce rounded out the top 5, and broke 20 minutes in the process (19:55). Grace Glynn (TA) had a strong run as she moved up to 6th, while Rcahel Wilkinson (Gorham) was 7th. Victoria Hurlburt (Massabesic) was 8th, Talia McKay (Windham) finished 9th, and using a strong finishing kick Mia Rapolla (Gorham) was 10th.
Teamwise Cheverus showed they are the top team in Class A and in the combined meet, they were 15 point better than Class B regional champ Cape Elizabeth. For the Stags they had 4 of the the top 14, while also placing all 5 scorers in the top 21. Massabesic running against most of the top teams for the first time this season captured the regional runner-up plaque, while placing 3 in the top 13. Gorham rounded out the top 3 teams had two runners in the top 10.
Top 20 finishers qualify for the state meet (athletes in red individual qualifiers as teams didn't make it)
1 Emily Durgin SO Cheverus 18:25.40 1 2 Abbey Leonardi Kennebunk 18:31.40 2 3 Fiona Hendry SO Cheverus 19:32.10 3 4 Liana Rubinoff SR Cheverus 19:44.50 4 5 Hannah Pierce SR Massabesic 19:55.40 5 6 Grace Glynn SR Thornton 20:04.20 6 7 Rachel Wilkinson SR Gorham 20:16.50 7 8 Victoria Hurlburt JR Massabesic 20:23.40 8 9 Talia McKay SO Windham 20:25.60 9 10 Mia Rapolla JR Gorham 20:26.10 10 11 Melissa DellaTorre SR Scarboro 20:27.00 11 12 Erin Flatley JR Windham 20:34.40 12 13 Charlotte Pierce FR Massabesic 20:46.60 13 14 Amelia Lundkvist SR Cheverus 20:51.60 14 15 Ella Ramonas Deering 21:08.40 15 16 Kayla White JR Thornton 21:14.40 16 17 Annelise Donahue JR South Portland 21:19.10 17 18 Brenda McCarthy JR Thornton 21:30.90 18 19 Lauren Fecteau SR McAuley 21:37.10 19 20 Amber Dostie Bonny Eagle 21:45.50 20
Top 8 Teams qualify for states
1 Cheverus
2 Massabesic
3 Gorham
4 Thornton
5 Scarborough
6 Windham
7 South Portland
8 Deering
In a repeat of the 2008 regional championship, Cheverus claimed their 2nd straight title, behind the a strong 1,2,3 finish from Jack Terwilliger, Taylor Dundas, & Andrew Snyder. The Stags will be looking to come out on top at next week's state meet on the same course, they finished 3rd in 2008. Massabesic had a strong showing claiming the regional runner up plaque by placing 3 in the top 14. #1 ranked Scarborough finished 3rd depsite it's top runner being DQ'd.
The race unfolded slowly as there was a large pack of runners close together as they hit the mile in 5:15, pre-race favorite Nate Hathaway (Scarborough) had worked his way up to assume the lead, with Taylor Dundas (cheverus) right on his heels. Logan Marshall (Gorham), Ben Morrison (Massabesic) & Tim Belanger (Bonny Eagle) were about 3 seconds back.
By the time the runners had hit the 1 1/2 mile mark, Hathaway had extended his lead over Dundas to 
around 10 seconds. Cheverus's Jack Terwilliger had moved up to 3rd, and looked like he was out for a stroll as he gave a wave to the camera. Terwilliger would say after the race "I started off slower today, and worked my way up, I felt amazing out there." Behind those three there was chase pack that had 5 guys in it (Morrison, Belanger, Marshall, Snyder, Nick Morris).
Hathaway was on cruise control as he hit the 2 mile in 10:28, running very close to even splits. Terwilliger had moved up to 2nd ahead of his teammate Dundas. Nick Morris (Scarborough) moved up to 5th with Morrison and Snyder in tow, as they crossed in 11:00 minutes.
As Hathaway crested the hill, he cruised in taking a peek back to see where the field was, and crossed the finish line with what appeared to be his 2nd straight Western Maine title. That is when he was approached by a finish line official wondering what was on his wrist. The officials saw a hemp bracelet, and this violated the no jewelry rule, and as a result he was DQ'd. Nate acted with great sportsmanship through the whole ordeal, and his competitors weren't happy that he was disqulaified. After the race Nate would say of his disqaulification "I am a little embarassed, I'll be motivated for next week's race, and I on't be wearing a bracelet." Lesson learned. Thankfully for him, his Scarborough teammates showed great depth as they placed there top 5 guys in the top 26 to qualify easily for the state meet, so Hathaway will get another chance. "We'll be looking to win the state title, things didn't go well for us today, our #3 runner had trouble with his asthma, and we didn't want run all out and have nothing left for the states." Hathaway would say looking ahead to next week.
With Hathaway's DQ, Jack Terwilliger (Cheverus) took over the top spot. He led two of Cheverus teammates across the line, as they went 1-2-3. Terwilliger would say of the win "Nate deserved to win, I can't believe they DQ'd him." For Terwilliger this season has had it's ups and downs, he has battled a case of mono, but feels he is back on track now. "I started off slow today, because I had to take a couple days off after our workout on tuesday because I didn't recover fast enough, I figured if I went out slower, things might go better for me." Terwilliger would say of his race strategy.
Nick Morris was 4th as he kicked hard down the stretch to hold off Ben Morrison. Jonathan Clement led South Portland with his 6th place finish, Logan Marshall was 7th, while Tim Woods (Cheverus) moved up over the final mile to nab 8th and was the 4th Cheverus runner across the line. Tim Belanger earned a trip to the state meet with his 9th place finish, and Adam Hawkes (Gorham) continue his strong season rounding out the top 10.
Top 20 finishers qualify for the state meet (athletes in red individual qualifiers as teams didn't make it)
1 Jack Terwilliger JR Cheverus 16:50.00 1 2 Taylor Dundas SR Cheverus 16:51.50 2 3 Andrew Snyder SR Cheverus 16:53.40 3 4 Nick Morris SO Scarboro 16:59.30 4 5 Benjamin Morrison SR Massabesic 17:00.90 5 6 Jonathan Clement SR South Portland 17:09.20 6 7 Logan Marshall JR Gorham High School 17:11.20 7 8 Tim Woods SR Cheverus 17:15.40 8 9 Timothy Belanger Bonny Eable HS 17:15.80 9 10 Adam Hawkes SR Gorham High School 17:24.00 10 11 Julian Gazzelloni SR Windham 17:28.20 11 12 Tucker Nixon JR Marshwood 17:30.00 12 13 Jacob Brooks JR Massabesic 17:35.50 13 14 Peter LePage JR Massabesic 17:38.40 14 15 Cole Hutchison SR Portland High 17:39.20 15 16 Matt Clement JR South Portland 17:44.50 16 17 Garrett Clemmer SR Windham 17:45.10 17 18 Bryant Perkins Sanford 17:46.20 18
19 Chris Dunn Kennebunk 17:49.80 19 20 Jeremy Earl JR Gorham High School 17:56.30 20
Top 8 Teams qualify for states
1 Cheverus 2 Massabesic 3 Scarborough 4 Gorham High School 5 Windham 6 Marshwood 7 South Portland 8 Deering High School