One local team missed out on its first state meet appearance in several years by mere hundredths of a second. Another continued on a roll that some people didn’t think would happen, and still one demoralized the rest of its region in another lopsided win.

The tightest race of all 16 regional cross country races run on Saturday happened in Belfast in the Class A race, when Lewiston and Brewer tied for the seventh and final berth in the state meet. By rule, the sixth runner from each squad determined the winner, and Brewer’s Brandon Siegal (50th) edged Lewiston’s George Foster (52nd) by two seconds.

That situation could have been avoided earlier in the race when Tyson Morgan of Lewiston crossed the finish line in 23rd place, one-tenth of a second behind Mt. Blue’s Eric Marceau.

“You have to feel bad for them,” said Mt. Blue coach Kelley Cullenberg. “The two runners looked like they crossed at about the same time.”

The difference for Mt. Blue, of course, was negligible. Marceau was their fifth runner across the line and one point would have made little difference in the Cougars’ 12-point win over Morse to claim the regional crown.

“I was proud of the boys,” said Cullenberg. “Really, they ran very well, and we increased the point spread over Morse, which was the goal.”

The Mt. Blue girls did just as well if not better than they did in the KVAC meet and came up 20 points further behind first-place Mt. Ararat. The Eagles’ Beth and Jessie Wilcox and Krystal Douglas finished 1-2-3 in the girls’ race to clinch the win. Mt. Blue’s Lily Hanstein finished in fourth to lead the Cougars.

Edward Little freshman Nick Kazar won the boys’ race in 16:53.2, the fourth best time of the day overall behind three Class B runners, including Belfast’s Levi Miller, the course-record holder.

In the West, the Lisbon boys continued their mockery of Class C running with a 23-point win over North Yarmouth Academy at Twin Brooks in Cumberland.

Dan Suthers placed first overall with a time of 17:45, two places ahead of teammate Jared Cloutier (17:51) and four ahead of teammate Tyler Clark (18:03).

In Class C girls’ racing, freshman Brianne Bailey of Telstar won the race in a time of 21:34.

The Monmouth girls followed up their win in the MVC meet last week with a win in the Class D West regional on Saturday, besting perennial nemesis Elan by 32 points. Lindsay Scirica was the first to cross the line for the Mustangs, finishing third overall.

Elan won the Class D title on the boys’ side, with Daniel Seltzer leading the way by winning the race in 18:26.