Bonny Eagle Girls & Portland Boys, Moore & Jordan Tops in A

Girls Results

The Class A girls race was almost a carbon copy of the Southern Maine Regional race as Portland junior Samantha Moore and Bonny Eagle senior Addy Thibodeau battled it out running stride for stride with each other for almost three miles. In the end Moore pulled away using her strength and speed over the final 400m to her first individual XC state title with her 18:30.73 winning effort. Thibodeau the defending champion gave it everything she had as she stumbled across the finish line and was the runner-up in 18:40.73.

Class A Girls Race

"It was so exciting, so relieving, I have been working for that for a while." Moore said of the feeling of crossing the finish line first.

If the state meet was held on October 28th when it was originally scheduled for the likelihood of Moore winning the title was slim as she mentioned to us in the post race interview that she had the flu and most likely wouldn't been able to compete.

Brunswick senior Maeve Woodruff used her finishing speed to power home for third as she held off a strong challenge from Kennebunk junior Hannah Keene. 19:30.06 to 19:30.85.

Camden Hills senior Jenna VanRyn was fifth followed by Northern Maine champion Gretchen Plant of Hampden Academy. Sophomore Marina Violette of Bonny Eagle was seventh holding off freshman Addison Elliott of Hampden Academy by just .05 seconds. Senior Katie McCarthy of Bangor was next in ninth, and sophomore Ella Vinkemulder of Portland rounded out the top ten individuals.

The team race was a nail-biter but in the end, the Scots of Bonny Eagle won for the fifth time in a row with a hard-fought 62-67 victory over Camden Hills. The Scots got a huge run from sophomore Bailey Shaw who has been injured and unable to run much for the last month. She turned in a personal best of 20:21.66 to place 21st overall. The Windjammers were led by senior Jenna VanRyn fifth-place finish and had three freshmen in their top five. Portland was third with 87 points, with Hampden Academy in fourth (121) and Falmouth rounding out the top five (136).



Boys Results

The extra week of rest for Maddox Jordan proved to be helpful. Jordan who had been dealing with a hip injury most of the season was able to take a few days off after finishing second at the Southern Maine Regional Championship.

On Saturday Maddox was firing on all cylinders.

"It was good to have Nathan there, he really pushed me because I kept hearing him behind me the whole time." 

Jordan of Noble and Nathan Blades of Portland went toe to toe throughout most of the race. In the end, Jordan turned on the jets in the final 600m to pull away for his first individual XC title clocking the fastest time of the day 15:41.62. Blades had to settle for the runner-up with his 15:51.59 but did secure the #1 stick for his Bulldogs team.

Watch the Boys Race Video

"The goal was to control the race today from the front." Jordan said of his successful race plan.

Bonny Eagle senior Xavier Lemieux won the sprint finish of the chase pack as he crossed the line in 16:13.55, finishing behind him was a pair of sophomores Henri Rivard of Marshwood and Ellis Wood of Deering.

Scarborough junior Ethan Keller had a breakthrough day as he finished sixth with a huge personal best of 16:18.71, he was followed in seventh by junior Evan Small of South Portland. Portland senior Benjamin Prestes placed eighth with Northern Maine Regional champion Lucas Hutchinson finishing ninth in another personal best. Rounding out the top ten was Hampden Academy sophomore Asher Valentine.

Class A Boys Photos

Portland the top-ranked team in the state got the job done as the Bulldogs won the school's first XC title since 1978. Portland edged out Scarborough in a close battle 68-78 for the victory as they had all five scorers among the top twenty-five overall. Senior Elias Coleman finished 18th, sophomore Owen Blades was 23rd, with junior Aran Johnson rounding out the scoring five in twenty-five place. The Bulldogs averaged 16:40 for their scoring five the fastest team in any of the three state meets. Scarborough has their best race of the season as four of their top five set personal bests on Saturday, they return all five scorers in 2024. Camden Hills was the third team (109) as they edged out the two time defending champion Hampden Academy by two points. Rounding out the top five was Bonny Eagle with 113 points