Maine XC Festival of Champions Boys Complete Results | Girls Complete Results
Photos:Photo Gallery 1 | Awards Photo Gallery | Photo Gallery (slowrunningpete)
Interviews:Dan Curts Interview | Mike Tate Interview | Bethanie Brown Interview | Colin Glencross Interview | Josef Holt-Andrews Interview | Amy Laverty Interview |
Race videos: Boys Seeded | Girls seeded | Boys Unseeded Finish | Girls Unseeded | Girls Freshman | Boys Freshman
Boys Seeded Race
Tate breaks meet & course record
Mike Tate has run in the boys seeded race at the Festival of Champions for 4 years, he’s always been in the top 10 but had yet to cross the line first. That would all change today as the senior from JH Gillis HS in Nova Scotia, who ran in a pack with Trevor Crawley of Cumberland, RI & Josef Holt-Andrews at the front of the race until he made the decisive move with a little under 1k to go.
Tate would power away over the last 1k to earn the win at the 11th annual Festival of Champions meet, his finishing time of 15:26.64 not only broke the meet record & course record of 15:33 of Will Geoghegan. Tate credits racing the 7k distance in Nova Scotia as one of the reason for his victory as he felt the 5k distance was easier.
Mike is focusing on training for the Canadian National XC meet this year, and is pleased with his fitness level at this time. As for next year the senior is still undecided if he will stay in Canada or come state side, he’s leaving his options open.
Crawley of Cumberland RI ran the 4th fastest time at FOC with his runner-up finish of 15:37.16.
Holt-Andrews of Telstar push the early pace as he pulled Crawley & Tate through the first mile in 4:45, he would remain at the front of pack through 2.25 miles. “I probably should have let someone else lead, but I felt good” Andrews said. Josef would finish as the top Maine runner in the race, running a fine 15:59.89. Also as a side race in the meet Andrews finished ahead of his top Class C rival Jack Pierce. Pierce would finish in 4th overall, running 16:14.27
Also running well where Jonathan Stanhope of Bangor (16:24.55), he was the top Class A runner. Cam Nadeau of Biddeford placed 6th (16:30.48), while Ben Trapini of Camden Hills was 7th, and the fastest Class B boys runner. Mohammed Barre of Lewiston crossed in 8th, Robert Hall of Scarborough was 9th & Liam Simpson of Cape Elizabeth rounded out the top 10.
The team race was extremely close as just 15 points separated the top 5 teams. Cumberland, RI would end the victors as they tallied 195 points just one point better than Lewiston. The blue Devils were the top Maine team while defending champion Falmouth finished 3rd overall, and was the top Class B squad. Cape Elizabeth had a strong effort in 4th while Scarborough rounded out the top 5.
Girls Seeded Race
Brown breaks meet record
Loneliness...
That is what Bethanie Brown of Waterville must have felt as she toured the Belfast course this afternoon at the Festival of Champions.
Brown took command of the race early, cranking through the mile in a blistering 5:15. “I thought I went out fast last year chasing Abbey Leonardi but I was even faster this year.”, commented Brown post race.
After the fast opening mile, Brown continued to cover the course at record pace as she was just over 11 minutes at the second mile. Behind her Jillian Forsey (Stephenville, NL) & Erzsebet Nagy of Lawrence had a back and forth battle for 2nd-3rd.
“I started to feel tired during the quick up and down hills with 1k to go”, I couldn’t to push as people of the course kept telling me I had a chance to run fast. Coming down the final stretch, Bethanie could see the clock, she knew the course record was out of reach but was pumped that she was going to break 18 minutes. Her final time was 17:56.69, which is a new meet record breaking the previous record of Abbey Leonardi (17:58.35)
Forsey would pull ahead Nagy to finish as the runner-up. Forsey ran 18:28.41. Nagy who is just starting to get some some quality training under her legs put in a fine performance as she ran 18:33.67, making her the favorite to win the Class A individual title.
Samantha Cox of Bonny Eagle had a huge race as she finished 4th, breaking the 19 minute barrier (18:59.38). Brittany Bowman of Camden Hills had another strong race to finish 5th (19:03.83). Washburn’s Carsyn Koch showed she’s primed and ready for a 3rd straight Class C title with her 6th place run (19:06.6). Mary Szatowski of Bonny Eagle was 7th, with Maggie Painter of MDI in 8th. Nyajock Pan who was near the front early placed 9th, rounding out the top 10 was Jocelyn Acheson of Massabesic
The team race was another close one as the top 3 teams were separated by just 10 points. The defending Class B champions & FOC champions, Mt Desert Island took home top honors. The Trojans scored 125, and was once again relied on a tight pack. The runner-up spot went to Bonny Eagle who showed they are for real this year, the Scots were the top Class A school. Bonny Eagle has the meet won through the first 4 runners. In 3rd place was Camden Hills with 135 points, the Windjammers showed they have what it takes to challenge MDI for the Class B title. Cheverus the 3x defending Class A champions placed 5th, while the surprise of meet was Waterville who placed 6th.
Boys Unseeded Race
Scarborough’s Will Fowler kicked off the first race of the day with the race of his life. Fowler who hadn’t broken 20 minutes in a 5k XC course, took the lead shortly before the mile & controlled the race from that point on. A sophomore, Fowler would cross the line in a huge personal best of 18:07 to take the win by 29 seconds.
Sam Gerken of Yarmouth placed 2nd, with Bangor’s Felix Rivera in 3rd at 18:39.97. Quentin Bell of Harwood Union, VT was 4th (18:40.42) & Josh Morrison of Sanford rounded out the top 5 (18:47.14)
Girls Unseeded Race
Katherine Miller a sophomore from Portland ran to the victory, crossing the line in 22:07.97. The time was good enough for a 10 second win over Abigail Weston a senior from Waterville (22:17.05).
Lauren Ferreira of Cumberland, RI ran to a 3rd place finish (22:36.10). In 4th was Ihila Lesnikova of Yarmouth (22:40). In 5th place was Abigail Bergdoll of MCI (22:41.98).
Boys Freshman Race
The talent in the boys freshman race was evident right from the beginning. A pack of 4 runners set the tone that included Cooper Holmes of Ellsworth, Colin Tardiff of Scarborough, Colin Glencross of Bangor, & Josh Simensky of Falmouth.
With about 1k to go the lead pack was down to two as Cooper Holmes & Colin Glencross broke away dropping Simensky & Tardiff. Glencross who started the most conservative of the leaders was able to close the fastest over the last 400m to earn the win.
Glencross’s time was excellent, 17:22.25, which placed him 38th overall, he also ran #2 for the Bangor Rams. Holmes who finish a few strides back at 17:25.67, a new personal best.
Tardiff make up a lot of ground in the last 200m, and used a furious kick to finish 3rd (17:32.63) as he edged out Simensky (17:33.78). Sean Laverty of Cumberland, RI finished 5th (17:37.36)
Girls Freshman Race
Cumberland, RI’s Amy Laverty had her best ever performance for 5k to win the girls freshman section of the Festival of Champions. Laverty might be small in stature but that didn’t let the mud slow her down as she established herself at the front of the pack right from the gun. Her winning time was 19:30.67
Anne McKee of Kents Hill was the top Maine freshman as she placed 2nd overall running 8 seconds back in 19:38.40. Brunswick had 2 girls in the top 5 with Tessa Cassidy in 3rd (19:54.4) & Tiffany Tanner 5th (20:34.92). Casey Loring of South Portland ran well for 4th (20:05.82)
Other Media Coverage
MDI girls win second straight Festival of Champions title; Waterville’s Brown sets meet record (Bangor Daily News)
