BANGOR, Maine — Pack power was the name of the game at Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference Cross Country championships at the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor.
The Caribou boys tucked all five scoring runners in the top eight to win easily with 28 points to runner-up and defending champ Ellsworth’s 57. Mount Desert Island was third among Class B schools with 66, John Bapst fourth with 109 and Presque Isle fifth with 126.
Foxcroft Academy cruised to the Class C crown with 83 points, way ahead of runner-up Bangor Christian’s 83. Orono finished third with 91 points.
The fifth runner was the difference for the MDI girls as they won the Class B team title with 61 points, just ahead of runner-up John Bapst’s 63. Caribou tied for second with 63, but the Crusaders were awarded second place based on the finish of their sixth runner.
Ellsworth took fourth with 90 points and Presque Isle fifth with 108.
Mattanawcook Academy captured the Class C division, scoring 31 points, while George Stevens of Blue Hill was second with 59 and Foxcroft third with 61.
Ben Chapman of Ellsworth went on to win individual honors in the boys race, touring the three-mile course in 16 minutes, 38.6 seconds. FA’s Graham Pearsall was first among Class C competitors in 17:06.3.
Jesse Stephens, Steve Melbourne, Tim Freme, Finn Bondeson and Christian Sleeper finished 3-4-6-7-8 to power the Vikings, who had a pack time – the difference between the first and fifth runner – of 40 seconds.
Chris Bridges and Kaleb Mann finished fifth and sixth for Foxcroft and Amos Almy 10th and Seth Oldfield 18th.
In the girls’ meet, MDI’s Lily Madeira, the Trojans’ No. 5 girl, finished ahead of both Bapst’s and Caribou’s No. 5 to solidify the title for the Trojans.
Heather Spurling of MDI led the way up front with a second-place effort, while MDI runners Mackenzie Curtis took 10th, Kailyn Russell 14th and Kymry Brooks 16th.
Ellsworth’s Brianne Dunn pulled away to win individual honors in 19:31.4 while FA’s Chelsie Oldfield was the top Class C runner in 20:22.8.
Jana Larlee (2nd), Hannah Ruhl (4th), Abby Paul (9th) and Erica McPhail (10th) bolstered the Lynx with top-10 finishes.
rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net
990-8193