There was no rude awakening for the Edward Little boys’ cross country team this year in the KVAC.

In their first year in the conference, the Red Eddies announced their arrival with a win in the conference championships last weekend, edging Morse by two points and Mt. Blue by only three.

“This is how we planned the year out,” said El coach Dan Campbell. “We wanted to make a splash in the KVAC and we have. It’s such a tough conference, though. And you add in Brewer and Bangor from the north, and it gets that much tougher.”

Campbell has reason to be cautiously optimistic for this weekend and next week’s state meet. In the KVAC meet, his fourth- and fifth-place runners were out sick, and the team still won anyway with two solid replacements.

“They came up huge for us,” said Campbell. “Gerry Pound and Taneish Costlo, who’s just a freshman, came up huge. To win again, they are going to have to be big again for us.”

Sam Fletcher won the KVAC race and hoped to do well again this weekend. Chasing him will be Matt Dunlap of Mt. Blue and Alex Farrell of Morse. Any shift in the upper echelon could alter the final team score for the three top contenders.

At Mt. Blue, Matt Dunlap continues to be a force for the Cougars, and with a strong group right behind him this year, including Adam Deveau and Joe Staples, who finished in the top 15 at the KVAC meet.

As for the Leavitt boys, with a key runner unable to make the meet, the Hornets will be hard-pressed to make the states, although it’s not out of the question. Steve McCarthy and Kyle Libby have been running well near the top and could lead the Hornets to a berth.

Oxford Hills and Lewiston will be among the teams looking to surprise some people and squeak into the state meet. This year, 50 percent of the teams (eight) in the East regional will qualify for the state meet, leaving the door open for fringe teams to improve their scores from last weekend.

Eastern girls

Mt. Blue is again the talk of the town in Eastern Class A, but perhaps only because of some key injuries at another school.

Mt. Ararat started the season as the prohibitive favorite in Class A, with three runners capable of finishing 1-2-3. With all three of those girls out last week, and only one returning this week, the Eagles have been temporarily grounded.

Enter Mt. Blue, which last week scored 70 points to best Waterville by 12 and Mt. Ararat by 17 to win the KVACs.

Lilly Hanstein led the Cougars’ charge with a first-place finish at the meet, followed closely by Jordan Daniel and Jessie Smith in 11th and 12th. If the Cougars can pull their pack together tightly, they well make waves at the regional meet, too.

Brewer and Bangor also add a dimension to the expanded field, and should tighten things up. Edward Little, a fringe team a week ago with a sixth-place finish, should be helped by the return of their No. 3 runner. Last week, Sarah Gardner finish fourth, with Lauren Laroche taking eighth.

“I think we can make it to states if everyone runs like last week,” said Campbell. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Last year’s Class B runners-up, the Leavitt Hornets, are in a tight spot with two injured runners, but they, too, may be able to scrounge for one of the last available spots with some gutsy performances from their younger runners. Julia Crosby and Vanessa Fereshetian will lead the young team.

Western boys

There is no doubt that the team to beat in Class B is Greely, and that the person to beat is Ben True. True and his Ranger teammates have been dominant this season and will be tough to beat at regionals and again at states next week. Right behind the Rangers will be York, which bested Greely last week, but Greely rested both of its top runners. Mickey Rose, Tyler Littlefield and David Woods lead the charge for York, which eked out a win over Greely early in the season, but again the Rangers were without True.

In Class C, Lisbon looks as impressive as it ever has, and may be able to make a run at perennial title contender and defending state champion North Yarmouth Academy.

At the MVC conference meet last week, Lisbon’s Danny Suthers won the race and looked strong.

“We won that race with five runners in the top 10,” said coach Hank Fuller. “We had four in the top six and Suthers won it. We seem to be pretty healthy going into the regionals, and hopefully we can make a run at NYA.”

Aside from the Greyhounds and the Panthers, Wiscasset, Freeport and Telstar all look like contenders for the regional crown.

In Class D, Monmouth and Elan look ready to again do battle for the boys’ crown.

“Elan always has tough runners, and they are so hard to gauge,” said Monmouth coach Rick Amero. “They are above and beyond the favorites going into the weekend.”

Elan upended Monmouth at the state meet last season, and although the Buccaneers tend to hold back at regionals, the race will still be tight.

Wayneflete, Richmond and Valley, a new addition to the West this season, should also challenge for berths in the state tournament.

Western girls

Last year, Greely decimated the field at regionals, only to be passed at states by surprise teams Leavitt and Fryeburg. This year, Fryeburg won’t be as much of a factor as in years past, leaving the door open for Greely.

Joining the Rangers at the top will be Cape Elizabeth. The Capers have three runners capable of finishing in the top five, including Clare Egan, Whitney DeSena and Elise Moody-Roberts.

In Class C, Only a handful of teams even have a complete team running in the girls’ event. Several teams, like Lisbon, Jay and Livermore, just didn’t have numbers this season.

Of the remaining teams, Freeport and Wiscasset seem to have the best opportunity to win, while Narissa Gross of Lisbon will be digging hard for first place overall.

Class D girls are a mirror image of the boys’ side. Elan, the three-time defending state champion, will again be the favorite, and again Monmouth will be right on their heels. Monmouth will battle with Wayneflete and Valley for what may the only other spot other than Elan’s to qualify for the state meet.

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