Hesler & McCarthy Individual Champs, BE Girls, Cape Boys Win

Daniel McCarthy made the the two hour trip down from Bangor well worth it with his dominating performance on Saturday. The senior opened with a blistering 4:38 mile, and from there ran alone over the next 2.1 miles as he stopped the clock at 15:28, the second fastest time ever in meet history. Given that the fog had burned off and the temperatures rose from the low 60's to the upper 70's before the race, McCarthy's performance was eye opening.

"I just tried to keep the hammer down and keep the fast pace as long as could" McCarthy commented about the blistering pace

The hammer was down the whole race as the margin of victory for Dan was thirty-seven seconds over a field that featured four other harriers ranked in the MileSplit Maine top ten individual rankings.

Behind McCarthy, Biddeford senior Chris Walton used his kick to get by Calvin Cummings of Gorham to finish as the runner-up in a personal best with his 16:05 effort. Cummings set a course personal best of 16:08 in finishing third.

Cape Elizabeth senior Owen Patry had a breakthrough race to finish fourth, Patry set a personal best of 16:24.46 to finish just in front of Falmouth senior Logan Ross 16:24.90. Andrew Keene of Kennebunk had a solid race to place sixth in 16:35.21. Scarborough's Zach Barry who was the only one to go with McCarthy during the first mile, held on to finish seventh in 16:47 while Cape Elizabeth senior Vaughn Lindenau was eighth in 16:49. South Portland's Jacob Ramos used a strong kick to place ninth, while Poland senior Jake Twigg rounded out the top ten.

Delaney Hesler was the pre-race favorite and from the gun she ran like it throughout the junior/senior race at the Fleet Feet Classic

"I wanted to lead from the gun, and go as fast a could," Hesler said of her race plan.

Hesler led wire to wire as she finished in a strong 18:26. Given that the weather changed right before the race the conditions were not favorable to running a sub 18 minute time which she was aiming for.

"It was a good day, the team did really well," the senior said post-race.

Behind her teammate Emmaline Pendleton battled Bangor's Megan Randall pulling ahead with 300 meters left in the race. Pendleton ran the second fastest time of her career with a 18:54, while the trip down from Bangor for Randall proved to be worth it as well as she cracked the 19 minute barrier with her 18:59.55 effort.

Annabelle Brooks of Cheverus who ran with the second pack for most of the race was fourth in 19:28 while Thornton Academy senior Jaz Vanderhoof was fifth in 19:50. Marshwood junior Addie Fuller was sixth in 20:09 then came Bonny Eagle senior Hannah Stevens in 20:24 for seventh.

Elisabeth Loranger of Gorham ran 20:27 for eighth while Alana Nataluk of Fryeburg Academy finished ninth running 20:37. Rounding out the top ten was Marshwood senior Catie McClellan who clocked 20:43.

Noble sophomore Maddox Jordan produced a dominating performance as he crossed the line first in the freshman/sophomore boys race at the Fleet Feet Classic.

Jordan led from start to finish as he crossed the finish line in a time of 16:42.64, his time placed him seventh overall in the meet. His margin of victory was an impressive 45 seconds.

Portland's Nathan Blades had a strong run recording a personal best 17:27.34 to finish second, while Freeport's Will Spaulding had a solid day running 17:31.65 for third place. In fourth was Bonny Eagle sophomore Tyler Gilbert in 17:46 and rounding out the top five was Seb Hesser of Cape Elizabeth with a time of 18:06.

As expected the Scots of Bonny Eagle dominated the girls race as they scored just 34 points to win the team title. Led by the 1-3 finish from Delaney Hesler and Emmaline Pendleton, the Scots got a seventh place finish from Addy Thibodeau, an 12th place effort from Hannah Stevens plus a 15th pace finish from Meseret Day to round out their scoring five.

Marshwood ran very well to finish second with 73 points, while Gorham finished third with 107. Cape Elizabeth was next with 135 while Greely 161 rounded out the top five.

Cape Elizabeth the pre-meet favorite took the top team honors behind the 4-9 finish from seniors Owen Patry and Vaughn Lindenau as they tallied 108 points. Lucas Robinson added a 27th place finish along with a 31st effort from Seb Hesser. Carter Abrahamsen rounded out the scoring for the Capers in 42nd.

Portland High School earned runner-up honors with 142 while South Portland was third with 184 points. Freeport was fourth with 188 points with Greely rounding out the top five teams with 204 points.