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Orono junior Ruth White did it again.
Not only did the standout win the Maine XC Festival of Champions for a second consecutive season, the defending New England Champion lowered her meet and course record in the process as she clocked 17:27.15. Her winning margin was an impressive 38 seconds.
White had company during the first mile of the race as Anna Robinson a senior from the Royals TC from Antigonish, Nova Scotia followed in her slipstream. However as often is the case White kept it in high gear and gradually opened her lead over the final two miles.
Coming into the home stretch she knew she was close to the record as she could see the finish line clock high above and hear the crowd encouraging her on.
White has grown accustom to running at the front with no one to chase.
"I just think about keeping my legs going and try to hit the splits I'm after." she said about her front running.
York junior Cary Drake finished third as the junior clocked 18:27.11. Behind her another Class B standout, Amelia Vandongen of Mt Desert Island was fourth in 18:37.54 as she held off the top Class A runner Addy Thibodeau of Bonny Eagle.
Thibodeau was a victim of a fall during the start of the race that saw her go done 100m into the race. Thibodeau covered her head and had to wait for the rest of the field to pass before getting to her feet with the task of somehow working her way back to the front. Amazingly the junior worked her way back into the top thirty by the mile, and by the 1.8 mile mark was back into the top five.
Bonny Eagle the top ranked team in Maine scored 80 points to win the meet again. Thibodeau's ability to regain her composure and get the low stick for the Scots was a key. Behind her the Scots showed great quality and depth with juniors Kallie Warner (15th) and Allie Hesler (18th), and senior Gwen Catalano (22nd) in the seeded. Marina Violette was the runner-up in the freshman race adding another sub 20 minute performance.
Cumberland of Rhode Island was the girls runner-up team with 100 points. Class C Orono was third with 195, while Marshwood placed 4th with 228, and York rounded out the top five with 268.
On the boys side Hampden Academy senior Charlie Collins made his move with a little over 800m to go to put a stamp on an impressive race as he crossed in 15:38.91. Collins was 11 seconds clear of runner-up Nathan Blades of Portland.
Collins and Blades were two of the expected front runners, and they didn't disappoint. Blades left the early part of the race but the usual super fast mile didn't happen as the front group came through in a strong 4:55 effort. Blades and Collins switched off the lead after that over the next mile before Collins pulled away late.
Senior Garret Dailey of Burrillville, Rhode Island finished third in 15:52.40, while William Hileman of class C Bucksport has the race of his life to finish fourth in a personal best 15:54.98. Leavitt senior Logan Ouellette was the top Class B finisher in fifth with his 16:10.59 effort.
Hampden Academy ranked #2 entering the meet won the meet with all five scorers among the top 51 as the Broncos tallied 116 to outdistance top ranked Portland by 27 points. The Bronocs behind the low stick of Collins also got a great effort from junior Harrison Shain who was 11th (16:34.83) and sophomore Tim Collins who finished 28th (17:03) both times were personal best efforts for 5k. Senior Tyler Stillman was the fifth man for the Broncos in 51st with a (17:29). The young Hampden Academy squad had three of the top six finishers in the freshman race as Miles Shain battled for the win coming up just .41 seconds short with a 17:10.96.
Portland despite not having it best day was the runner-up with 143 points and had all five scorers inside the top 65 overall finishers. Sophomore Aran Johnson continued his rapid ascent as he was the #2 runner for Portland running under 17 minutes for the first time (16:51) to finish 21st.
Brunswick finished third with 204, while Scarborough 297 was fourth with Camden Hills 306 rounding out the top five.
Girls Top 20 Finishers
1 Ruth White 11 Orono High School 5:37.1 17:27.15* 3 1 2 Anna Robinson 12 Royals TC 5:49.6 18:05.93 3 3 Cary Drake 11 York High School 5:56.4 18:27.11 3 2 4 Amelia Vandongen 10 MDI 5:59.7 18:37.54 3 3 5 Addy Thibodeau 11 Bonny Eagle 5:59.9 18:38.07 3 4 6 Thea Crowley 12 George Stevens 6:01.7 18:43.62 3 5 7 Hadley Mahoney 11 Cape Elizabeth 6:02.9 18:47.20 3 6 8 Abby Williams 12 Waterville 6:03.5 18:49.08 3 7 9 Teanne Ewings 10 Houlton/GHCA 6:04.9 18:53.51 3 8 10 Addie Fuller 12 Marshwood 6:08.9 19:05.89 3 9 11 Emma Young 11 Cape Elizabeth 6:13.7 19:21.00 3 10 12 Payton Bell 12 Edward Little 6:14.2 19:22.58 3 11 13 Audrey Hufnagel 11 Lincoln Academy 6:15.5 19:26.36 3 12 14 Kiley DeFusco 10 Cumberland, RI 6:16.0 19:28.19 3 13 15 Kallie Warner 11 Bonny Eagle 6:16.2 19:28.56 3 14 16 Annabelle Brooks 12 Cheverus 6:16.2 19:28.80 3 15 17 Molly Kenealy 11 York High School 6:17.0 19:31.06 3 16 18 Allie Hesler 11 Bonny Eagle 6:17.9 19:33.97 3 17 19 Susanna Henderson 12 Cumberland, RI 6:18.3 19:35.20 3 18 20 Jenna VanRyn 11 Camden Hills 6:19.1 19:37.55 3 19
Girls Top Ten Teams
1 Bonny Eagle High School 80 4 14 17 22 23 47 147
Total Time: 1:37:16.91
Average: 19:27.39
2 Cumberland High School, R 100 13 18 20 21 28 49 61
Total Time: 1:38:37.55
Average: 19:43.51
3 Orono High School 195 1 29 31 56 78 124 148
Total Time: 1:40:43.74
Average: 20:08.75
4 Marshwood High School 228 9 25 45 59 90 126 174
Total Time: 1:42:47.38
Average: 20:33.48
5 York High School 268 2 16 74 75 101 190 201
Total Time: 1:43:07.98
Average: 20:37.60
6 Cape Elizabeth High Schoo 278 6 10 71 91 100 164 171
Total Time: 1:43:32.59
Average: 20:42.52
7 Falmouth High School 298 46 50 54 72 76 110 137
Total Time: 1:45:47.38
Average: 21:09.48
8 Harwood Union High school 311 32 36 62 79 102 109 172
Total Time: 1:45:43.01
Average: 21:08.61
9 Portland High School 328 35 51 58 81 103 122 188
Total Time: 1:46:13.39
Average: 21:14.68
10 Mt. Desert Island High Sc 375 3 63 96 98 115 158 168
Total Time: 1:46:08.02
Average: 21:13.61
Boys Top 20 Finishers
1 Charlie Collins 12 Hampden Academy 5:02.2 15:38.91 3 1 2 Nathan Blades 11 Portland 5:05.5 15:49.07 3 2 3 Garrett Dailey 12 Burrillville, RI 5:06.6 15:52.40 3 3 4 William Hileman 11 Bucksport 5:07.4 15:54.98 3 4 5 Logan Ouellette 12 Leavitt 5:12.4 16:10.59 3 5 6 Sam York 12 MDI 5:12.8 16:11.56 3 6 7 Adam Bendetson 12 Scarborough 5:12.9 16:11.94 3 7 8 Eli Palmer 12 Brunswick 5:15.6 16:20.42 3 8 9 Cyrus Evans 12 Mt. Blue 5:16.8 16:24.00 3 9 10 Miles Logan 12 Brunswick 5:20.1 16:34.38 3 10 11 Harrison Shain 11 Hampden Academy 5:20.2 16:34.83 3 11 12 Sam Laverdiere 10 Lake Region 5:20.3 16:34.99 3 12 13 Ben Klingle 11 Brunswick 5:21.2 16:37.74 3 13 14 Xavier Lemieux 11 Bonny Eagle 5:21.6 16:39.19 3 14 15 Kaleb Colson 11 Sumner 5:21.9 16:39.83 3 15 16 Ethan Fadden 11 Mt. St. Charles 5:23.1 16:43.57 3 17 Conlan MacKenzie 11 Royals TC 5:23.9 16:46.28 3 18 Gabe Durazo 11 Leavitt 5:24.0 16:46.64 3 16 19 Flynn Crean 12 Kennebunk 5:25.0 16:49.67 3 17 20 Devin Richard 11 Burrillville, RI 5:25.7 16:51.72 3 18
Boys Top Ten Teams
1 Hampden Academy 116 1 11 26 32 46 64 65
Total Time: 1:23:56.96
Average: 16:47.40
2 Portland High School 143 2 19 24 39 59 77 80
Total Time: 1:24:36.96
Average: 16:55.40
3 Brunswick High School 204 8 10 13 85 88 118 122
Total Time: 1:25:28.63
Average: 17:05.73
4 Scarborough High School 297 7 25 42 93 130 140 174
Total Time: 1:27:15.11
Average: 17:27.03
5 Camden Hills Regional HS 306 45 48 50 62 101 141 154
Total Time: 1:28:22.09
Average: 17:40.42
6 South Portland High Schoo 331 41 47 72 84 87 90 115
Total Time: 1:28:33.78
Average: 17:42.76
7 Greely High School 333 27 31 60 99 116 165 203
Total Time: 1:28:26.51
Average: 17:41.31
8 Bonny Eagle High School 375 14 37 40 44 240 250 311
Total Time: 1:28:29.17
Average: 17:41.84
9 Burrillville High School, 377 3 18 104 119 133 164 188
Total Time: 1:27:55.30
Average: 17:35.06
10 Mt. Blue High School 386 9 20 73 91 193 215 225
Total Time: 1:28:14.78
Average: 17:38.96