Bucksport junior William Hileman was in the Halloween spirit sporting several temporary tattoos over his face and body.
"My coach gave them to me on the bus, it was a way to pass the time on the long bus ride." Hileman said of his decor.
There was no messing around in the race though once the gun went off as the junior followed the early pace of Sumner's Kaleb Colson through the first half of the race.
"I had to focus, I knew I couldn't win a state title with sitting back." With a mile to go Hileman knew it was time to make his move as Colson was hanging on a few seconds back.
The last mile was all Hileman as he blew the race wide open as he powered his way to finish in a strong 16:45.21. Colson finished thirty-three seconds later in 17:18.33. Southern Maine Regional champion James Cognata was next in 17:39.42, while his teammate Christopher Pottle was right behind in 17:42.46. Sumner junior Ren Salisbury rounded out the top five with his 17:42.68 effort.
George Stevens Academy only had one finisher in the top ten however they packed three more inside the top twenty-five to tally 61 points. GSA was led by senior Andrew Hipsky in 10th with his 18:12.12 effort. Winthrop earned a podium spot with 88, they were followed by Sumner (120), Boothbay/Wiscasset (132) and Limsetone/MSSM (144).
The anticipation for the Class C girls race had the crowd buzzing about watching Orono junior Ruth White make a run at the state meet record of 17:52 set by Sofie Matson of Falmouth at the 2019 Class A state meet.
White knows the bullseye is on her back and the expectations high every time she toes the line. "I just try to focus on running my race, I go in trying to run as fast as I can."
White the defending Class C and New England champion ran like she usually does from the front, and hard. She dusted the field for her second consecutive title running the fastest time on the day of 18:02.52, her effort was good for the second best in Maine history at the state meet on the Twin Brook course.
Sophomore Teanne Ewings of Houlton/GHCA had a strong effort running alone for much of the race as she earned the runner-up finish with her 19:29.93 effort. Behind her George Stevens Academy senior Thea Crowley cracked the twenty-minute barrier as she crossed in 19:49.05. Winthrop senior Haley Williams was the top finisher from Southern Maine with her fourth place finish of 20:31.40. Freshman Clara White the younger sister of Ruth rounded out the top five finishers with a 20:35.50 as she ran over thirty seconds faster than she did at Belfast a week ago.
CLASS C STATE PHOTOS
Orono dominated the team competition as they scored just twenty-nine points to win their fifth consecutive state team title and eighth in the last nine years. The Red Riots had all five scorers in the top twelve finishers. Houlton/GHCA earned the runner-up spot for the second year in a row as they tallied 71 points. Waynflete was third with 98, followed by Maranacook (108) and George Stevens Academy (119).