The cross country season is rapidly tracking to its climax – next weekend’s States in Belfast – and this past Saturday, East and West held their Regional meets to determine who’ll compete. In Class A West on the girls’ side, Massabesic took top honors, with Scarborough winning second; on the boys’ side, Falmouth stole the show, with Scarborough again capturing second.
However, it was Gorham’s Anna Slager who finished first for the girls, and Deering’s Iid Sheikh-Yusef setting the pace for the boys.
“A good day,” said Scarborough boys head coach Jim Harmon. “Obviously we would’ve liked to have come away with the win, but we knew Falmouth was really good, and right there with us. It was almost runner-to-runner. Really good competition. It shows us what to look forward to next week – for both teams.”
“I was pleased,” Red Storm girls coach Ron Kelly said, echoing Harmon. “I was hoping to either be first or second. We knew it was going to come down to where our fifth runner was. I like it that we’ve got the hard course behind us, and can move on to an easier course.”
“I’m extremely proud of what this group has done this year,” said Tim Even, Westbrook girls head coach, whose squad qualified for States for the first time in 16 years. Even, who’s relatively new to the Westbrook program, has clearly pushed it to new heights. “Saturday was a perfect representation of how our season has gone. Gabbi [Pabst] and Halee [Phelps] ran incredible races and showed the kind of toughness you want to see out of your upperclassmen.”
The top seven girls teams advance to States:
1. Massabesic, 70
2. Scarborough, 81
3. Falmouth, 101
4. Marshwood, 129
5. South Portland, 143
6. Westbrook, 156
7. Windham, 191
As do the top seven boys teams:
1. Falmouth, 49
2. Scarborough, 52
3. Massabesic, 75
4. Gorham, 146
5. Windham, 163
6. Marshwood, 175
7. Deering, 183
Likewise, the top 30 girls earn a spot on the larger stage, including:
1. Anna Slager, Gorham, 20:04.00
2. Maddy Doyle, Marshwood, 20:07.78
3. Gabriella Pabst, Westbrook, 20:31.36
4. Casey Loring, South Portland, 20:32.81
5. Halee Phelps, Westbrook, 20:40.53
6. Bethany Sholl, Scarborough, 50:57.53
7. Samantha Saraceno, Scarborough, 21:02.83
8. Emily Wasina, Massabesic, 21:03.51
9. Marisa Carbone, Scarborough, 21:10.21
10. Laura Volan, Scarborough, 21:16.43
11. Mira Wyman, Falmouth, 21:16.69
12. Kathleen LeBlanc, Thornton, 21:16.75
13. Rochelle Morrison, Massabesic, 21:20.01
14. Gabby Johnson, Massabesic, 21:21.97
15. Serena Mckenzie, South Portland, 21:22.02
16. Vishva Nalamalapu, Falmouth, 21:24.37
17. Maquila Dimasrantonio, Massabesic, 21:23.40
18. Brianna Drew, Massabesic, 21:37.16
19. Atoinette Lambert, Falmouth, 21:48.53
20. Gabby Fogg, Kennebunk, 21:53.99
27. Amanda Turner, Windham, 22:11.93
28. Delphi Bourassa, South Portland, 22:12.21
29. Julia Rand, Windham, 22:12.39
As do the top 30 boys, including:
1. Iid Sheikh-Yusef, Deering, 16:43.58
2. Jacob Terry, Scarborough, 16:47.94
3. Bryce Murdick, Falmouth, 16:53.47
4. Yahya Hussein, Deering, 17:02.71
5. Spencer Brown, Falmouth, 17:03.16
6. Colin Tardiff, Scarborough, 17:03.56
7. Michael Aboud, Massabesic, 17:08.98
8. Andrew Mongiat, Massabesic, 17:19.60
9. Connor Doherty, Scarborough, 17:23.89
10. Alexander Swett, Massabesic, 17:26.47
11. Jesse Southard, Gorham, 17:29.60
12. Scott Lambert, Falmouth, 17:29.94
13. Sean Soucy, Falmouth, 17:29.99
14. Andrew Sholl, Scarborough, 17:30.68
15. Ben Foster, Gorham, 17:44.00
16. Josh Simensky, Falmouth, 17:44.82
17. Donovan Duff, Massabesic, 17:46.46
18. Iain Kurry, Falmouth, 17:52.86
19. Gavin Damian-Loring, South Portland, 17:55.05
20. Josh Veroneau, Cheverus, 17:56.19
21. Jacob Bloom, Scarborough, 17:59.30
22. Josh Lombardo, Westbrook, 18:01.27
26. Sean McGovern, Scarborough, 18:10.02
28. Reese Preston, Windham, 18:13.08
30. Jonathan Bland, Windham, 18:17.90
Scarborough’s Colin Tardiff finished sixth at Saturday’s Class A Cross Country Regionals in Cumberland.
Gorham senior Ben Foster finished 15th Saturday afternoon.
Reese Preston of Windham nears the finish line at Twin Brook on Saturday. Preston finished 28th, good enough to earn him a trip to States in Belfast next weekend.
South Portland’s Chris Mitchell (center) finished 35th Saturday, just ahead of Marshwood’s Eli Nixon (left) and Massabesic’s Troy Cloutier (right).
Westbrook junior Nick Childs finished 38th Saturday afternoon, missing a trip to States by just over 30 seconds.
Bonny Eagle’s Christian Tomison approaches the end of the line on Twin Brook’s 5K course Saturday morning. Tomison, just a freshman, finished 54th.
Gorham freshman Anna Slager bested Maddy Doyle of Marshwood by almost four seconds to take first among all girls at the A West Cross Country Regionals Saturday morning.
Gabriella Pabst of Westbrook finished third, just ahead of South Portland’s Casey Loring in fourth.
The Riots’ Serena Mckenzie finished 15th, earning herself a coveted spot at next weekend’s state championship.
Bonny Eagle’s Kialeigh Marston finished 47th, missing the cut for States.
Windham’s Sierra Yost (right) approaches the finish line alongside teammate Eliza Bennett. The pair finished 58th and 59th, respectively.
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