AUGUSTA - No two runners in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference cross country meet welcomed a one-day reprieve due to rain more than Mohamed Noor and Sadam Abdi of Lewiston High School.

Hearing the starter's gun Saturday afternoon instead of Friday gave the two athletes a chance to fully celebrate the Muslim holiday, Eid ul-Fitr. It represents the end of the Somalian community's daytime fast during the holy days of Ramadan, and it's characterized by a feast with family and friends.

Lewiston coach Ray Putnam admitted he didn't know what to expect from two of his top runners when they headed off with the mass of humanity into the woods surrounding the University of Maine at Augusta.

"It would be like Christian kids running the day after Christmas," Putnam said.

Noor and Abdi weren't the least bit sluggish. Empowered is more like it. While the senior Noor cruised to the Class A individual title, Abdi's solid sixth-place finish helped boost the Blue Devils to an overwhelming victory in the team competition.

Robbie Leeman, Matt Driscoll and Joey Travaglini also finished squarely in the top 20 to give Lewiston (47 points) an authoritative triumph over Mt. Blue (87) and Brunswick (93).

"We had to remind everybody on the team what happened last year," said Leeman, who finished 10th. "We were favored to win this race and had two teams beat us."

Nobody could touch this season's consensus No. 1 in the statewide coaches' poll.

Up front, Noor (16:37.7) had enough finishing kick after a day of revelry to put away Riley Masters of Bangor (16:43.9) and Eric Marceau of Mt. Blue (17:00.3).

"They ran a fast pace. They pushed me," said Noor. "Today I had the energy to go out and compete and have a good time. I am very happy."

Abdi's time of 17:22.4 was a shade quicker than Kelton Cullenberg of Mt. Blue and Will Geoghegan of Brunswick, putting the sophomore in fast company that might have surprised a few spectators.

Not him, however.

"People didn't even consider me as a top-10 runner," Abdi said. "It helped me that the race was postponed. It gave me time to do what I had to do."

Travaglini (18:35) tripped the wire 19th, or better than four other teams' top finisher.

"Lewiston has been a powerhouse all year," Marceau said. "They have everything going for them."

The results of a JV race following the championship meet further demonstrated the Devils' overwhelming depth. Lewiston went one-two with times that would have placed in the top 20 of the main event.

"It puts you in a position of trying to figure out who to run," Putnam said. "They've been ranked No. 1 in the state from the beginning. I don't think they did anything to hurt that ranking today."

Class A and B schools staged a mass start in both the boys' and girls' races, with separate team and individual titles awarded.

Maranacook (50 points) edged Leavitt (55) and Medomak Valley (56) for the Class B girls' championship.

Jenny Monsulick ran second to Medomak's Kasey Eaton and led a hungry pack of Black Bears near the front of the field. Taylor Burr (fourth), Emily Harriman (10th), Catherine Nurse (12th) and Aashley Thompson (22nd) formed Maranacook's pack.

"We were missing our usual third girl," Monsulick said. "We knew all our girls had to have their best race because it would be so competitive."

Leavitt placed three runners among the top eight, led by Becca Paquette in third (21:10.4).

Silver Hunt of Mt. Blue was the Class A girls' champion. Overall, the Cougars checked in a distant third to Brunswick and Brewer.

"I didn't want to pass everybody in the beginning, because I thought I might not have it at the end," Hunt said. "But then I realized that I had it in me, and I just surged."

Leavitt was runner-up in Class B boys, as well, trailing only Medomak. Michael Howland of Lincoln (17:25.5) edged Jacob Knox of Maranacook and Justin Fereshetian of Leavitt for top honors.