This summer, Leavitt Area High School senior Harrison Knowlton knew he had to go the extra mile — make that the extra 10 miles — to get ready for the cross country season.

He added 10 miles a week to his runs during training, looking to get that elusive victory. Last year, he was on the cusp of winning a meet, with three top-five finishes and two other top-10s, including 10th at the Western Maine Class B regional meet.

“Last year, the highest mileage I hit was about 40 miles per week, but this year I kind of based it off (Leavitt head coach Dustin Williamson’s) schedule,” Knowlton said. “I modified it a bit and hit 50 miles a week twice this summer. In general, I just logged more mileage. I didn’t necessarily run harder. I just upped my mileage because I look at other guys in the state and see what they are doing. A lot of them just run a lot of miles over the summer.”

Williamson said in addition, Harrison ran twice a day, once each in the morning and evening.

“He spoke to me at the end of last season and in the spring, saying he really wants to focus on cross country running and what he could to get faster,” Dustin Williamson said. “We came up with a plan together.”

The extra work paid off. He won the first countable meet of the season on Sept. 5 at Maranacook, where he was 29 seconds ahead of Lisbon’s Nicholas Harriman. He also knocked off 14 seconds off of last year’s time at the Maranacook course.

“Getting a first place (finish) finally proving all my hard work was finally coming to fruition,” Knowlton said.

Williamson was pleased with how he ran at Maranacook because of the extreme heat.

“It was a fantastic start to the season for Harrison. It was his first win of his high school cross country career,” Williamson said. “It was a great, smart race for him. It was a tough day; it was hot and humid. It’s not an easy course no matter what the weather is. He was out in front for a good chunk of the course.”

Williamson said Knowlton also gave tips to his fellow teammates before the race to run the difficult course.

“My job as a captain is to keep everybody pumped and excited about the season,” Knowlton said. “Cross country is a hard sport to do. It’s a lot of summer running and in the season there’s still a lot of running. So if I can keep kids smiling at the end of practice, then I think I did a great job.”

With the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference having some of the top runners in the state, Knowlton likes the challenge of going up against his opponents each meet.

“I like it because I can challenge them,” Knowlton said. “A couple times last year I was right behind Osman (Doorow) and Isaiah (Harris) (of Lewiston). I never caught Dan (Lesko) or Aaron (Willingham) (of Mt. Blue). It’s nice to have competition to see where you are relative to the best guys in the state.”

On Friday, he finished second at Lewiston’s meet, 13 seconds behind Doorow who finished in first. He will also see Lewiston this Friday, along with Mt. Blue as Leavitt host a meet along with Oxford Hills, Spruce Mountain, Edward Little and Maranacook.

Knowlton hopes to build momentum towards to the Maine Festival of Champions meet Oct. 4 in Belfast and the other big meets, where his goal is to be in the top three at the KVAC Class B meet and top five at the state meet.

Williamson believes he has the talent to extend his cross country season through November.

“I don’t want to jinx it, but he could be the first Leavitt cross country runner in a while to qualify for the New England meet,” Williamson said.

Williamson also said Knowlton has the potential to run in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, one of the elite conferences at the Division III level.

“He’s a remarkable student-athlete both on the trails and in the classroom,” Williamson said. “He brings both the elite level, he’s a hard worker. He motivates his teammates. He’s well respected by everyone, his peers, his teammates and the entire Leavitt community.”

Knowlton is looking at Division III schools to continue to progress as a runner.

“I am going to plan on running D-III so I definitely get onto a team,” Knowlton said. “Hopefully I will be doing cross country, indoor and outdoor track.”

He currently also runs on the outdoor team at Leavitt and competes in Nordic skiing in the winter, as the Hornets do not have an indoor track team.

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