When Ellsworth High School senior Haley Lawrence won the Eastern Maine Class B girls cross country championship two weekends ago, it marked a crowning achievement for multiple reasons.
Among them, she said after that race, was earning a spot on the school’s running wall of fame, a collection of plaques honoring generations of top Ellsworth runners located just outside Eagles coach Andy Beardsley’s classroom door.
Now Lawrence has the chance to cap off her high school cross country season competing against the best distance runners in the Northeast after qualifying for Saturday’s 80th annual New England Interscholastic Cross Country Championships, to be held at Wickham Park in Manchester, Connecticut.
The boys race is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by the girls race at 12:30 p.m.
Lawrence qualified for the New England race by finishing with the 11th-fastest time regardless of class at last Saturday’s state championship meet at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, an effort good for fourth place in Class B.
The top six teams at the state meet when the races for Classes A, B and C were scored collectively qualified for the New Englands, as well as any other individual runner placing among the top 25 overall in the combined state meet.
Girls teams qualifying for New Englands in order of their score when the three races were combined were Class C state champion Orono, Yarmouth, Class B champion Greely of Cumberland, Class A champion Scarborough, Massabesic of Waterboro and Cape Elizabeth.
Girls advancing as individuals were Halee Phelps of Westbrook, Maddy Doyle of Marshwood of South Berwick, Anne Guadalupi of Cony of Augusta, Tessa Cassidy and Tiffany Tanner of Brunswick, Katherine Leckbee of Mount Ararat of Topsham, Elizabeth Labun of Hampden Academy, Catherine Driscoll of Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor, Anna Slager of Gorham, Casey Loring and Serena McKenzie of South Portland, Lauren Brown of Waterville, Hannah Austin of North Yarmouth Academy, Hannah Despres of Maranacook of Readfield, Gabriella Pabst of Westbrook and Tia Tardy of Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln.
Boys teams advancing to the New Englands are Class A state champion Scarborough, Falmouth, Massabesic, Class B champion Freeport, Windham and Class C champion Merriconeag Waldorf School of Freeport.
Earning individual berths to the meet are Aaron Willingham of Mt. Blue of Farmington, Iid Sheikh-Yusuf and Yahye Hussein of Deering of Portland, Mitch Morris and Kyle Kennedy of Cape Elizabeth, Matthew Toussaint of Fort Kent, Jesse Southard of Gorham, Patrick Carty of Fryeburg Academy, Osman Doorow of Lewiston, Paul Casavant and Caleb Lord of Hampden Academy, Harrison Knowlton of Leavitt of Turner, John Hassett of George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, Chris Cote of Waterville and Owen Concaugh of Messalonskee of Oakland.
