Orono junior Ruth White repeated as girl's New England Cross-Country Champion as she dominated the field on the "Covered Bridge Trail" at Ponaganset High School in Rhode Island. White who found herself in the middle of the pack after the start worked her way to the outside of the field and moved her way into first within the first 800 meters and never looked back.
NEW XC CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
White led the field through the first mile in 5:28.06, opening up a nine second gap on the field and seemingly increasing it with every stride. By the 4000 meters mark the margin had expanded to an almost unthinkable forty-three seconds which she basically held to the finish line. White was the only one in the field to crack the 18 minute barrier with her winning 17:51.24 effort. Brianna Malone of Portsmouth Christian, NH was the runner-up in 18:33.58 while Kathryn Marchand of Trumbull, CT was third in 18:47.17.
Looking back at results from 1988 to present the winning margin of 42 seconds is an impressive stat that was only matched by the great Liz Mueller of Waterford, CT who won four titles (1989-1992) by unmatched margins of 44, 57, 49, & 44 seconds.
Class B runner-up Amelia Vandongen of Mt Desert Island continued her strong post-season with a sixth place finish to earn first team All-New England. Vandongen ran in the top seven the entire race as she clocked 18:53.94. Bonny Eagle junior, and Class A champion Addy Thibodeau worked her way up the entire race to tenth in 19:03.02. Thibodeau was twenty-third at the mile in 5:50 before moving up to 15th at 4k, before grabbing five more spots over the final kilometer.
Houlton/GHCA sophomore Teanne Ewings finished 19th to earn All-New England honors as well with her 19:13.16 effort, right behind her was another sophomore Samantha Moore of Portland in 20th running 19:15.17. Ewings was 19th at the mile (5:49) before slipping two spots at the 4k mark but she regained those two spots over the final kick. Moore was a little more aggressive early coming through the mile in eighth place at 5:45.
Waterville's Abby Williams was just off the podium with a thirty place effort. Cape Elizabeth junior Emma Young moved up 51 spots after the mile to clock 19:51.8 and nab a forty-second place finish.
Bonny Eagle was a mere three points off the podium with a fourth place effort for the Class A champions. The Scots ran very well with all five scorers running 20:35 or better. Orono the Class C champions finished in the top ten. The Scots ran smart with each athlete moving up well over 20 spots each from 1600 to 4000 meters in the race.
All-New England Interviews
| Name | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addy Thibodeau | 19:03.02 | 7 | |
| Allie Hesler | 20:09.82 | 35 | |
| Marina Violette | 20:15.61 | 39 | |
| Gwen Catalano | 20:31.61 | 48 | |
| Kallie Warner | 20:35.84 | 49 | |
| Bailey Shaw | 21:46.23 | (99) | |
| Avelyn Walker | 22:52.19 | (156) |
Nathan Blades of Portland found himself leading the race after the first 300 meters, the junior settled in and battled throughout as he was the only Maine boy to earn All-New England honors with his twenty-fifth place effort. Blades came through the first mile in sixth place with his 4:51.23. At 4k Blades was in 16th place but it was a little bit of an adventure at the end. Blades who was in twenty-first coming down the homestretch started to run out of gas and battled fatigue to hold on with his 16:29.82 effort.
Class C champion William Hileman of Bucksport finished 31st running 16:33.11, while Class A champion Charlie Collins of Hampden Academy finished in the top 50 with his 16:49.64.
Class A team champions Hampden Academy led the boys team contingent with a 19th place effort.
More to come soon