BELFAST – There were no unfamiliar faces atop the Class D state chamionship standings on Saturday.

For the fourth consecutive season, Elan School of Poland Spring bested the field on the girls’ side, while Monmouth, for the third time in four years, hoisted the boys’ trophy.

Elan’s win comes one week after barely qualifying for the state meet with a third-place finish at the Western Regional meet and less than one week after coach Peter E. Rowe guaranteed a victory.

“Now you see that their hearts are real,” said Rowe. “Champions need focus, and after last weekend, it was important that we focused better. It’s hard after winning for so long to focus on anything but the big prize. We were so focued on that big race, that even though last week was an important race, we knew this one was bigger.”

Jasmine Barrett and Karen Menzies led the Elan charge with a 3-4 finish, while Kayla Cummings took sixth, Lindsey Glovin 12th and Alessandra Nolan 17th.

“We took the change of venue in stride,” said Rowe. “Our team is all about overcoming adversity, and that was just another challenge to overcome.”

Monmouth, which ended Elan’s streak of three consecutive regional titles last weekend, finished second in the girls’ race with 63 points, followed by Shead, Lee, Woodland and Narraguagus.

“Elan’s reign is not over,” said Rowe. “Really, we’re only just beginning.”

On the boys’ side, Monmouth wrapped up its third title in four years, beating Waynflete 45-56.

“On paper, at the beginning of the season, we didn’t think we had the team to do this,” said Monmouth coach Rick Amero. “We really matched up with Waynflete runner-for-runner very well.”

Four seniors on Monmouth’s team have been to each of the team’s three championships. Among them is Travis Pease, who last year ran for Edward Little after two years at Monmouth. This year, the team welcomed him back with open arms.

Pease finished third overall behind Ben Demerchant of Fort Fairfield and Spencer Trott of Richmond, while Nate Scott followed closely in fifth. Corey Shepard, Wes Danforth and Shane Donohue rounded out Monmouth’s top five.

“We were just trying to make it to states at the beginning,” said Pease. “This is a complete shock, really.”

Valley, Madawaska and Lee rounded out the top five in Class D boys.

Elan’s boys missed the state meet for the first time since 1995 this year after failing to qualify at the Western Regional.

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