RESULTS
The Class B girls Southern Maine Regional Cross-Country Championship team title came down to the sixth runner as Cape Elizabeth and Lincoln Academy were tied with 60 points through the first five scorers. The Capers sixth runner was Jane Curtis a transfer from Scarborough finished 30th running 23:22.50. The win was the second consecutive regional title for Cape Elizabeth.
York senior Cary Drake set the pace from the gun, and was never challenged as the junior clocked 18:57.12, the fastest time of the day. Drake's winning margin over defending champion Hadley Mahoney was 49 seconds. Mahoney of Cape Elizabeth secured the low stick and was followed across the line by teammate Emma Young (20:17) giving the Capers five points early on. Lincoln Academy's first runner was next as junior Audrey Hufnagel crossed in 20:33.47, she was followed by Molly Kenealy of York who clocked 20:36.
Abigail Roberts of Lake Region secured the sixth spot with a 20:46 effort. A pair of Greely Rangers were next with Annie Reynolds (21:16) and Rowan Berry (21:21) while Dylan Burmeister (21:42) was ninth for Lincoln Academy. Charlotte Taylor of Greely rounded out the top finishers with her 21:52 effort.
Watching the team unfold from behind the lens was a great experience. Of the top four teams each had two runners in the top, with Greely having three. Lincoln Academy secured spot 11th and 13th making them the first team with four finishers. The most exciting finish was when York, Lincoln Academy and Cape Elizabeth's fifth runners all freshman finishing in succession with places 22-24. Maggie Thompson of Lincoln Academy edged Cape's Addison Young 22:56.60 to 22:56.64 which resulted in the initial tie between the two. The Wildcats of York were third just one point back with 61 while Greely finished a strong fourth with 75 points.
Freeport was fifth, Lake Region sixth, and Yarmouth seventh all advanced to the state meet.
Freeport senior Henry Horne has deployed the same strategy in his biggest races this season, each time proving successful. Earlier this fall Horne let Nathan Blades of Portland set the pace for 2 miles before blasting away to win at the Southern Maine XC Classic. On Saturday it was a carbon copy of that strategy as the top ranked runner in Maine let Leavitt senior Logan Ouellette set the pace before pulling away over the final mile to win the Southern Maine Class B Regional title with a time of 16:40.08 to Ouellette's 16:48.73 effort.
"It was harder than I expected." Horne said post-race about his race effort.
Horne's time was the fastest on the day between the three classes and he'll enter next week's Class B state meet as the favorite.
There was a big gap back to the third place finisher Carter Libby of Gray New Gloucester who finished some thirty-three seconds after Ouellette. Sophomore Sam Laverdiere of Lake Region was fourth in 17:25.30, he was followed by Freeport junior Will Spaulding who clocked 17:27.86.
Freeport the top ranked Class B in the state, and defending state champions showed they are in top form and favorites to repeat next weekend after placing all five scorers among the top thirteen finishers to finish with 40 points. Their winning margin of victory was 57 points over runner-up York. York was a surprise coming into the meet they were ninth best based on 2022 seasonal 5k best but the Wildcats never raced on a fast course like Gorham or Belfast this season so the rankings were a bit skewed. Lincoln Academy (132), Cape Elizabeth (143), Lake Region (148), Morse (170) and Greely (185) all advanced to the state meet as teams.