York & Ewings Triumph at Sectional XC Invitational

While Monday afternoon turned out to be beautiful running weather for many Maine high school runners, the Old Town course proved to be a challenge to many athletes, as rain from previous days had kept the course wet and soggy. Chris Cooper of MDI kicked the afternoon off with a 20:19.60 finish in the boys JV race. His teammate, Tryg Soares, was not far behind him in 20:40.44. Filippo Falqui Cao of John Bapst Memorial High School rounded out the top three in a time of 22:11.44. The John Bapst boys were the only team with enough athletes to score.

In the JV girls race, Emma Simard of MDI won in a time of 25:16.86. Her teammates, Lillian Beckwith and Seneca Haney were not too far behind her to round out the top three in times of 25:22.60 and 25:43.72, respectively. The MDI girls were the only team able to score.

In the boys varsity race, a mix of athletes from Caribou, Ellsworth, John Baspt, and MDI battled for the top spots. But after completing a loop in the woods filled with mud and rocks, Sam York  of MDI emerged victorious. York was able to cross the finish line in 17:39.75. It was then a battle to the finish for the runner-up spot between Ethan Roach of John Baspt and Aedyn Hughes of Ellsworth. Hughes was able to beat out Roach in 18:01.42 while Roach finished in 18:02.09. For team scores, the MDI boys, led by York, were able to tally 53 points to edge out John Bapst's 60 points.

Like today, during last year's Northern Maine Class B Regional Championship, MDI narrowly beat John Bapst and Caribou by only 10 points who both scored 91 points.

When asked about how last year will compare to this year, York, a senior from MDI, said, "we have some new freshmen who are looking pretty great but John Baspt is looking good . . . I think they have a good shot."

In the last race of the day, the girls varsity race, it was a battle between two of the top sophomores in the State of Maine. Amelia Vandongen of MDI led the whole race while Teanne Ewings of Houlton/GHCA sat right in behind her. When it came to the last stretch, the two girls battled it out. It wasn't until the last 15 meters that Ewings was able to edge out Vandongen. Ewings clocked a time of 19:46.13 narrowly over Vandongen's 19:47.68. MDI and Houlton/GHCA battled one more time in the team scoring. Houlton/GHCA was able to place three of their runners in the top ten, but that was no match for MDI who was able to place all five in the top twelve. This gave MDI the scoring they needed to obtain 36 points for a team victory over Houlton/GHCA's 43 points.