BELFAST — Winthrop’s Chris Porter and Gray-New Gloucester’s Carter Libby finished as runner-up Saturday, ending a decades-long man streak in Portland. Cross Country State Championship drought.
Lake Region junior Sam Laverdiere took an early lead and never relinquished it, winning the Class B race in 15:52, five seconds ahead of defending champion Libby. Freeport sophomore Alex Gilbert was another 20 seconds behind Libby.
“It feels good, especially considering what happened a week ago,” Lavertier said calmly, referring to the tragic shooting in Lewiston 10 days ago that left 18 people dead and 13 injured. “I live 10 minutes outside of Lewiston and it feels good to do something good for my town (Litchfield). “
In Group C, Sumner senior Kaleb Colson achieved his goal of breaking 16 minutes by nearly a minute with a time of 15:48. (He clocked 16:02 at the Festival of Champions earlier this season.) His team also won handily, beating Orono 59-90, with George Stevens trailing by another five points.
Porter, a senior, finished second in 16 minutes, 35 seconds.
Sumner won the Class C team title with decisive wins over Orono and defending champion George Stevens Academy. Sumner’s scoring also included: Len Salisbury (4th), Claire Willett (18th), Riley Hasty (19th) and Asa Berry ( No. 30). All five of them are elderly.
“It’s so exciting,” said Colson, who yelled “Yes!” before collapsing just yards from the finish line. “Huge PR. First cross country individual championship. What a great way to end senior year.”
Portland’s long wait
Portland coach Frank Myatt waited patiently outside the scoring tent on the grass outside Troy Howard Middle School on Saturday afternoon, unwilling to take any responsibility for the outcome of the Class A state championship game.
The race had been over for 10 minutes, but the runners arriving at the finish line were so tightly packed that it was difficult to determine whether the Bulldogs, who last won the title in 1978, could withstand the impressive performance from Scarborough. Profound effort. For being upset.
Finally, the verdict came. Portland leads by 10 points. Myatt exhaled and smiled.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “These guys have worked really hard for this. They love this game and have dedicated their high school lives to it. “They deserve what they get. “
Seniors Nathan Blades, Ben Prestes and Elias Coleman finished second, eighth and 18th respectively. Sophomore Owen Blades at No. 23 and junior Charlie Jacques at No. 29 completed the scoring, and the Bulldogs defeated Scarborough 68-78. Camden Hills ranked third with 109 points, followed by two-time defending state champion Hampden Academy with 111 points.
“Three years ago we won regionals and we thought, ‘Oh, man, we have a young team. We can definitely do something at states,” Nathan Blades said. “It feels really good to finally do it. “I know everyone on the team is really excited. “
In other state tournament action earlier Saturday, Freeport extended its reign as Class B champion to three years, leading York by eight points.
Individually, Noble senior Maddox Jordan won the final Class A race of the day with the fastest time of the day: 15 minutes, 42.61 seconds. He beat Blades in the final 400 meters to win by nine seconds, reversing the result of the Class A Southern meet at Cumberland two weeks earlier.
The day was cool, cloudy and breezy, with temperatures in the low 50s, a stark contrast to last Saturday’s unseasonably warm weather. Jordan said the extra week proved beneficial, giving him more time to recover from a hip injury he suffered earlier in the season and mononucleosis that he developed the day after the regionals.
Hundreds of runners took their toll on the course, but Jordan said the track held up pretty well.
“I did notice that the corners were really slippery,” he said. “There was one spot on the other side where the mud was really thick. My whole shoe would disappear in it. It was a little tough there, but after that I would just blast through and be fine.”
Oxford Hills’ junior Lucas Hutchinson finished ninth in 16:32.14 and Blue Mountain’s Henri McCourt (16:48.73) finished 10th One person.
Freeport wins B
In the Class B race, York got six runners across the finish line before Freeport finished fifth, but the Falcons finished with Gilbert (third), senior Will Spaulding ( fourth) and runs from junior Connor Smith (seventh, who finished 10th at the district meet). Excellent. Senior Teo Steverlynck-Horne (20th) and junior Owen Dawson (31st) completed the scoring.
“Almost everyone had a personal best,” Freeport coach Matt Grier said. “It’s nice to be at the top at the right time of year.”
“Freeport didn’t disappoint,” said York coach Ted Hatch, whose team was firing on all cylinders after being knocked out in the regionals. “They don’t have any chink in their armor. Their fourth and fifth players have improved throughout the season and really improved.”
In addition to the three state championship teams and the top 25 overall individual scores, Scarborough Academy, Hampton Academy and Bonny Eagle also qualified for next Saturday’s New England Championships in Belfast.
” Earlier
Hockey: Winthrop/Maranacook beat Dexter/Central late to win Class C title
Next”
Related stories
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Use the form below to reset your password. Once you submit your account email, we will send an email containing a reset code.