Scarborough snatches the Class A boys’ title.
BELFAST – Sam Fletcher was nearly 20 seconds behind second-place Ayalew Taye of Portland when Fletcher disappeared from view at the finish line with about 800 meters left to run.
Eric Giddings of South Portland crossed the line in 16:24, and the crowd anticipated Ayalew shortly thereafter. It was Fletcher, however, whose head bobbed above the skyline first, and the Red Eddies’ senior finished in second place, just ahead of Mt. Blue’s Matt Dunlap, to give EL an early boost of momentum.
But, in a scenario eerily similar to last week’s collapse against Mt. Blue, Edward Little just missed winning the meet in the closest Class A state final in several years.
Scarborough and Deering matched each other runner for runner and tied for first place with 118 points, and Scarborough was awarded the state championship based on the sixth runner displacement to win in its first season in Class A. Deering, last week’s Western champions, took second.
In a similar situation, Bonny Eagle took third after tying with Edward Little at 120 points, again because of the sixth-runner rule.
“I can’t remember the last time in my 20 years of coaching and in 35 years of being involved in cross country in Maine a race this close and this good,” said EL coach Dan Campbell. “This was just unbelievable.”
Following Fletcher to the line for Edward Little were Riley Bergeron in ninth and Gerald Pound in 25th. EL’s fourth runner, Greg Noack, was running with Pound for most of the race, but a bout of heat exhaustion with less than a mile to go forced him back through the pack.
“The same thing happened to him last week against Mt. Blue,” said Campbell. “This wasn’t his fault at all, though. He ran the best he could under the circumstances. It was a crunch race and he didn’t have the experience to know any better.”
For Scarborough, the win was a surprise, but not deemed unrealistic at the beginning of the year.
“Early in the summer, we set the state title as a goal, but knew we had a lot of work ahead to realize that goal,” said Scarborough coach Jim Harmon. “The guys all called me as soon as outdoor track was done and wanted to start working on this season.”
For Deering, the near-win capped a tumultuous season in which the Rams finished anywhere from fifth to first at several meets.
“I didn’t even know we were close today,” said coach Bruce Koharian. “I watched the teams finish and thought for sure we were out of it.”
On the girls’ side, Sanford ran away with the title, placing four runners in the top 25 to post a 26-point win over Mt. Ararat. Scarborough finished third, followed by Deering and Mt. Blue. Jesse and Beth Wilcox of Mt. Ararat finished 1-2 for the Eagles, but without Krystal Douglass, they were lacking a needed boost near the top of the lineup.
“I thought it would be closer,” said Sanford coach Matt Ferry. “I am so proud of the girls.”
Class B
Cape Elizabeth could almost taste victory in the girls’ Class B state meet on Saturday, but the Capers fell just short.
Hampden Academy placed two runners in the top 10 and benefited from a Cape Elizabeth runner’s late stumble to swipe the Class B state title.
Less than 100 meters from the finish, Amanda Slack of Cape Elizabeth slipped on the mud and collapsed. She was unable to finish the race. Elise Moody-Roberts of Cape Elizabeth did set a new girls’ course record with a time of 18:34, besting the old record by 40 seconds.
John Bapst also edged Cape Elizabeth for second place, while Greely and Yarmouth finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
On the boys’ side, Ben True of Greely also shattered the course record with a time of 15:50 in leading his Rangers to victory.
“It was a bit muddy out there,” said True. “I actually had to slow down a bit to make sure I didn’t get hurt.”
Levi Miller of Belfast finished second behind True, followed by Cameron Bonsey of Falmouth. In the team race, Greely scored 65 points to York’s 77 to win out, while MDI, Ellsworth and Falmouth rounded out the top five.
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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