In the span of one week, the Leavitt Hornets went from being bona fide conference championship contenders to a team struggling to make the top four in that same conference. What changed?

“We went from Class B to Class A this year,” said coach Tina Meserve. “I didn’t even know about it until someone mentioned it to me. I had to ask the AD if that was right, and he said it was.”

Prior to that realization, the Leavitt girls won a meet at Maranacook and seemed to be in a position near the top of the KVAC. Now, as part of the A division in the KVAC, teams like Mt. Blue, Mt. Ararat and Edward Little come into play, and all of a sudden the Hornets are the small school in the group.

“Our numbers were high enough by one (the school had 761 enrolled at the time the paperwork was submitted) for us to be Class A,” said Meserve. “Now, we’re back down to 740 students, well below the cut. Because of the schedule, we’re in Class A for two years.”

Despite that news, the boys’ and girls’ teams have been a pleasant surprise. On the boys’ side, Steve McCarthy, Kyle Libby, and James Greer have been the catalysts for the young team that features freshmen in spot Nos. 4 through 7.

“The future is very bright for this team,” said Meserve. “The younger kids are very motivated this year.”

The girls’ team is also overcoming heavy losses with some key performances. Vanessa and Lauren Fereshetien and Julia Crosby all came back this fall in great shape and they are joined by two newcomers Emily Jacobs and Marybeth Kelson — two soccer transplants who have found a new home on the trails.

“We just had a meet this weekend,” said Meserve. “We were in the 8-12 range out of 30 or so teams, and that included all of the top teams in the state.”

Head of the class

Lisbon High School’s boys’ team nearly pulled off one of the bigger upsets in recent memory at that same Waterville Invitational Saturday. The Greyhounds finished with 18 points, two behind champion Ellsworth, and just one behind Class A juggernaut Edward Little.

Leading Lisbon was Jared Cloutier, who finished fifth in the first heat. Troy Clark finished fourth in the second heat, while Dan Suthers and Tyler Clark each won their heats, No. 3 and 4 respectively.

“It’s still early, and we only go forward from here,” said coach Hank Fuller. “We had all of our runners finish well, and that was a great thing to see.”

Almost perfect

A perfect score at the Waterville Invitational would have been a five. Each school placed one runner in each of five heats based on the caliber of the runner. One team on Saturday nearly scored perfectly: the Mt. Ararat Eagles.

Jessie Wilcox finished first in the top heat, while teammates Krystal Douglas (third heat), Rose Lebel (fourth heat) and Liz Gilley (fifth heat) also won. The only person not on top was Jessie Wilcox’s twin sister, Beth, who finished third in the second heat, which was won by Bangor’s Casey Dunn. Lauren Laroche of Edward Little finished second in that heat, while Sarah Gardner of EL took fourth in heat No. 1.

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