The Class A girls' race will be the fifth race of the day on the course at the Troy Howard Middle School by then the course could be a mud fest with very little dry ground to be found. The course conditions could certainly play a role in the outcome of the race both individually and team.
Look for the Southern Maine Regional champion Samantha Moore a junior from Portland and defending Class A state champion senior Addy Thibodeau of Bonny Eagle to be the front runners on Saturday. Moore currently ranks third in the latest MileSplit Maine individual rankings while Thibodeau ranks fifth. The two had quite a battle at the Southern Regional with Moore leading after the mile but then Thibodeau taking the lead after the two-mile and leading coming up the "Pain Cave". Moore dug deep and was able to retake the lead in the final 400 meters and pulled away for the victory with a Twin Brook personal best of 18:41.63, while Thibodeau clocked her fastest time on the course at 18:47.66. The two had the fastest times on the day despite the rain starting to come down during their race. Earlier this year at Belfast, Moore placed fourth in the Maine XC Festival of Champions running a lifetime best 18:02.95 while Thibodeau was sixth in 18:39.67.
Behind the expected duel at the front expect Kennebunk junior Hannah Keene to be battling for a top-five finish. Keene ranked ninth overall in the state and placed third at the SM Regional (20:29.50). A year ago Keene finished twenty-six in the regional before going on to place 36th at the state meet. She is one of the most improved runners in the state. Bonny Eagle sophomore Marina Violette is ranked tenth in the state and finished right behind Keene at the regional meet (20:38.94). Violette finished ninth in the state meet last fall.
Northern Maine Regional champion Gretchen Plant of Hampden Academy will look to continue her postseason success. Plant a sophomore was the surprise winner clocking a lifetime best of 19:50.59, she finished thirty-seventh at states in 2022. Her freshman teammate Addison Elliott runs well on the course at Belfast, she won the freshman race at FOC earlier this fall and was the runner-up at the regional as she cracked the twenty-minute barrier for the first time (19:56.40).
Other Runners to Watch
Kyleigh Record (Scarborough)
Maeve Woodruff (Brunswick)
Jenna VanRyn (Camden Hills)
Sarah McClellan (Hampden Academy)
Katie McCarthy (Bangor)
Teams: Camden Hills, Hampden Academy, Bangor, Mt. Blue, Brunswick, Bonny Eagle, Portland, Falmouth, Marshwood, Cheverus, Kennebunk, Windham
Top-ranked Bonny Eagle will be looking to capture their fifth consecutive Class A state team title, and their seventh in the last eight years. The Scots came into the Southern Maine Regional with some questions about how they would run but they quickly put those questions to rest as they dominated the competition winning with forty-three points. The Scots will count on a low stick from Thibodeau and Violette, but the most important runners for the Scots might be seniors Allie Hesler and Kallie Warner. They each had their best race of the season at the regional and if they can repeat that on Saturday they will be tough to beat.
Second-ranked Portland will look to challenge the Scots for the state title. The Bulldogs actually beat the Scots during an SMAA regular season meet this year. The extra week between regionals and states could end up helping the Bulldogs as it gives Ava Chadbourne an extra week of training and recovery. Chadbourne the Bulldog's number two runner missed the Festival of Champions and only returned to action at last week where she finished 17th, but clearly not at full strength. For Portland to be at their best, they will need Ava to return to the same level as before her injury.
Fourth-ranked Camden Hills the Northern Maine champion will look to battle for a podium finish. The Windjammers had five of the top eleven finishers at the regional with less than a one-minute pack time. Fifth-ranked Falmouth was just two points back of Portland at the regional meet. The Navigators don't have a front-runner but do have a tight pack that was only separated by fifty-seven seconds last time out. Northern Maine runner-up Hampden Academy had an excellent run last time out as they finished just ten points behind Camden Hills.
The top two ranked runners in Maine will square off for the Class A State Cross-Country title on Saturday at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. Portland senior Nathan Blades took over the number-one spot after he won the Southern Maine Regional title over the former top-ranked Maddox Jordan of Noble. Saturday will be the so-called rubber match between the two standouts, Jordan bested Blades at the Maine XC Festival of Champions at the end of September.
Blades has the momentum entering this weekend with his most recent victory but he knows that not much separates the two standouts. Jordan who has dealt with a nagging hip injury this season looked to back off a bit at regional in the rainy and muddy conditions. If he is to win this weekend there will be no backing off and likely some pain as the course likely will be in less than ideal condition after five other races.
Boys All-Time Individual XC Champions
Both athletes are front runners so how this race plays out might be predictable, one would expect Blades and Jordan to be at the front pushing the pace.
Blades who committed to the University of Pennsylvania earlier this fall finished fifth in the state meet a year ago. He would earn the only All-New England finish at the New England Championship. Racing sparingly in 2023 due to early meet cancellations due to weather and college visits Nathan has won four of the five races he has competed in with his best time coming from FOC where he finished fifth in 15:43.53.
Jordan has raced infrequently as well this fall in fact he's only raced four times, and only once since FOC where he was the runner-up in a personal best of 15:30.5. A year ago Jordan raced to a second-place finish in the Class A state meet.
Northern Maine Regional champion Lucas Hutchinson of Oxford Hills ranked 6th in the state has had a tremendous junior campaign after placing 17th as a sophomore at states. Hutchinson has won seven races in a row including the Class A KVAC title in addition to the regional crown. Lucas continues to drop his personal best with each race in the postseason, last time out he clocked 16:37.16. Can he challenge Blades and Jordan? That remains to be seen but the weather and course conditions could help him.
Deering sophomore Ellis Wood showed on the track last spring that he had the talent to be one of the best runners in the state. That track talent has carried over to the trails this fall as Wood comes into the state meet ranked seventh after finishing 71st at the state meet as a freshman. Wood was third at the SM Regional and ran very well at FOC on the course at Belfast (16:21.59)
Xavier Lemieux a senior from Bonny Eagle currently ranked ninth in the state will look to challenge for a top-three finish on Saturday. Lemieux was fourth in the SM Regional (17:00.29), he had his best race of the season at FOC where he clocked a personal best of 16:08.86 finishing ninth.
Another sophomore is in the mix for a top-five finish as Henri Rivard of Marshwood runs in his first cross-country state meet. A year ago injury prevented him from competing at the regional so he didn't have the opportunity to compete in the state meet. Rivard is coming off his best race of the season where he clocked 17:00.57 for fifth at SM Regional.
Brunswick senior Ben Klingle rounds out our ranked runners in the Class A race. Klingle the NM Regional runner-up comes in ranked 12th. Ben has a best of 16:12.24 for 5k on the season and looks to improve on his 51st-place effort from the 2022 state meet.
Other Runners to Watch
Harrison Shain (Hampden Academy)
Henri McCourt (Mt. Blue)
Benjamin Prestes (Portland)
Ethan Keller (Scarborough)
Evan Small (South Portland)
Pierce Coughlin (Messalonskee)
Trevor Williams (Kennebunk)
Top-ranked Portland will hope to bring home the Bulldog's first boys' XC title since 1978 on Saturday. Portland has been unchallenged all season as they have shown both quality and depth for first-year coach Frank Myatt. Last time out at the SM Regional the Bulldogs repeated in impressive fashion placing seven runners amongst the first twenty-two runners. A year ago Portland finished second taking home the runner-up plaque this year they appear ready to bring home the trophy for the first time in forty-five years. Look for Blades to give the Bulldogs a low stick, then senior Benjamin Prestes has top-ten potential. Senior Elias Coleman and junior Aran Johnson give the Bulldogs the edge over the other teams with their top fifteen over better potential. The closer for the Bulldogs is sophomore Owen Blades who finished 16th at the regional meet and possibly a top twenty finisher on Saturday.
The Bonny Eagle Scots captured the program's highest-ever finish at the SM Regional with a second-place effort. The Scots finished thirty-three points behind Portland a week ago. Senior Xavier Lemieux will need to Scots as he has done all year. Bonny Eagle got a huge run from junior Andrew Catalano who ran a lifetime best for 5k as he finished 18th. The pack time for the Scots was 1:17 at the regional, they will need to close that a bit if they are going to make up ground on Portland.
Scarborough is the fifth-ranked team entering the state meet. The Red Storm finished third at the regional meet as they did what it took to advance to the state meet. Earlier this fall they were the second-best Maine team at the Festival of Champions.
You can't count out the two-time defending champions Hampden Academy Broncos who are coming off one of their best performance of the year in winning the NM regional. The sixth-ranked Broncos will need a little magic to make it three in a row though.
Other ranked teams looking to make a run at the podium are Camden Hills (#7) and Brunswick (#8) who placed second and third at the NM Regional.