Ruth White broke the FOC meet record and the Troy Howard MS course record with her win.
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Ruth White of Orono set a new Troy Howard Middle School course record and a new Maine XC Festival of Champions record of 17:28.46. The sophomore ran impressively on a course that saw some less than ideal conditions. After the first 400m, the diminutive White struck to the lead and never was challenged after that as she chased the meet record of Sofie Matson (17:35.91) and course record Julie Robitaille of Manchester, NH (17:31.65). White's older sister Nora was the runner-up in a huge personal best of 18:09.53 effort.
"It was a good race, everything came together," White said of her record-breaking race.
Ruth said she didn't come in expecting to break the meet or course records, but every time she looked back seeing her sister and hearing the crowd telling her how she was doing keep her pushing the pace throughout the race.
Her performance left the crowd buzzing with excitement as meet director Glendon Rand came over the loudspeaker letting them know about the record. After crossing the finish line White turned around to watch her sister Nora cross the line in second with a huge personal best. The sisters embraced with a hug
"I told her I was proud of her," Ruth said to her sister Nora during the post-race hug.
The breakthrough of the day came from senior Nora White who entered the race with a 20:10 5k personal best from 2019. White not only broke twenty minutes for the first time she skipped right over 19 minutes as well, taking off an unheard-of two minutes from her previous best.
Defending Vermont D2 state champion Ava Thurston continued her strong fall as she finished third. Thurston entered the meet with the sixth-fastest time in meet history (18:16.72), she bettered that with her 18:15.40 effort.
Cape Elizabeth sophomore Hadley Mahoney hopped on the PR train with her 18:22.70 fourth-place effort. She was followed to the line by Bonny Eagle senior Delaney Hesler who clocked 18:29.01.
George Stevens junior Thea Crowley had her best race of her career as she cracked the 19-minute barrier with an 18:50.67 effort for sixth place. She was the fastest junior in the field. York sophomore Cary Drake made a strong statement with her 18:55.96 seventh-place finish, while Bangor senior Megan Randall set a personal best 18:59.24 for eighth. Another sophomore Sarah McClellan of Marshwood was ninth in 19:17.67, and she was followed by Bonny Eagle sophomore Addy Thibodeau 19:22.04 in tenth.
In the girls' freshman race Kiley DeFusco of Cumberland, RI ran to the win in a strong 19:25.28 effort. While in the unseeded race Hyde's Angel Lutes scored a win in 21:49.11, her time was a minute faster than second place.
In 2019 Harwood Union of Vermont edged Bonny Eagle 151-153 to win the team title. The Scots of Bonny Eagle got a little revenge with a 91-92 victory on Saturday. Bonny Eagle behind three of the top twelve finishers has a 19:38 average for the top five as the top-ranked Maine team showed they will be the favorites to win the Class A title once again. Harwood was right there with a 19:46.48 team average, they had five runners finish in the top 31 overall, and seven girls in the top 46.
Cumberland of Rhode Island had a successful trip north as they were third with 148 points. Class B MDI put together a great race to finish fourth with 192 as they edged Class A Marshwood by four points.
Top 20 Girls Individual Overall
Results - Women 1 Ruth White SO Orono High School 5:37.5 17:28.46* 3 1 2 Nora White SR Orono High School 5:50.7 18:09.53 3 2 3 Ava Thurston SR Harwood 5:52.6 18:15.40 3 3 4 Hadley Mahoney SO Cape Elizabeth 5:55.0 18:22.70 3 4 5 Delaney Hesler SR Bonny Eagle 5:57.0 18:29.01 3 5 6 Thea Crowley JR George Stevens 6:04.0 18:50.67 3 6 7 Cary Drake SO York High School 6:05.7 18:55.96 3 7 8 Megan Randall SR Bangor High School 6:06.7 18:59.24 3 8 9 Sarah McClellan SO Marshwood 6:12.7 19:17.67 3 9 10 Addy Thibodeau SO Bonny Eagle 6:14.1 19:22.04 3 10 11 Kiley DeFusco FR Cumberland 6:15.1 19:25.28 2 11 12 Emmaline Pendleton SR Bonny Eagle 6:15.5 19:26.64 3 12 13 Alexa Allen SR Monmouth Academy 6:17.0 19:31.02 3 13 14 Addie Fuller JR Marshwood 6:18.0 19:34.26 3 14 15 Maeve Woodruff SO Maine Coast 6:19.8 19:39.97 3 15 16 Payton Bell JR Edward Little 6:23.1 19:50.11 3 17 Jenna VanRyn SO Camden Hills 6:23.3 19:50.81 3 16 18 Britta Zetterstrom SR Harwood 6:24.6 19:54.73 3 17 19 Amelia VanDongen FR Mount Desert 6:26.1 19:59.57 2 18 20 Emmy Belvin SO Mt. St. Charles 6:27.1 20:02.56 3 19