Runners from Connecticut and La Salle Academy of Providence, Rhode Island, starred in the New England Interscholastic Cross Country Championships held last Saturday at Wickham Park in East Manchester, Connecticut.
Hannah Debalsi of Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, and Alex Ostberg of Darien High School in Connecticut were individual champions, while La Salle swept the boys and girls team titles.
Bruce Murdick, a senior from Falmouth, was the top Maine finisher with a 19th-place effort in the boys race. Timed in 16 minutes, 15 seconds for the 3.1-mile course, he was one of five Pine Tree State runners among the top 50 finishers in the 264-runner boys field.
Other top Mainers were Class A state champion Aaron Willingham of Mt. Blue of Farmington (22nd), Iid Sheikh-Yusuf of Deering of Portland (37th), Class B state champion Mitch Morris of Cape Elizabeth (38th) and Dan Lesko of Mt. Blue (48th).
Matthew Toussaint, a senior from Fort Kent who won the Class C state championship, finished ninth among Maine runners and 71st overall in 16:57.
Ostberg, also a senior, won the boys race in 15:07 as Connecticut runners swept the top four positions.
La Salle Academy easily won the boys team title with 67 points, outdistancing second-place Danbury, Connecticut, (144) among the 30 qualifying teams. Falmouth’s 13th-place finish with 385 points was the best among Maine boys teams, followed by 14th-place Massabesic of Waterboro (400).
La Salle scored 80 points to edge Coe-Brown Northwood Academy in New Hampshire by 13 points in the girls competition. Yarmouth (416) was the top Maine team, finishing 16th overall.
Debalsi, a junior, won the girls individual title in 17:58.
Class B state champion Katherine Leggat-Barr, a sophomore from Greely of Cumberland, was the top Maine girls finisher in 19:25, good for 32nd place overall.
Leggat-Barr reflected an extremely young Maine contingent in the girls’ race, as eight of the state’s top 10 finishers from the state were either freshmen or sophomores.
Class C state champion Hannah Steelman of Orono, another sophomore, was the second-fastest Maine runner and 41st overall in 19:38, followed by senior Maddy Doyle of Marshwood of South Berwick (48th), freshman Anneka Murrin of Yarmouth (62nd) and freshman Izzy Evans of Greely (70th).
Orono sophomore Kassidy Dill was 10th among the Maine contingent and 86th overall, while Ellsworth senior Haley Lawrence was the 11th-fastest Mainer and 88th overall among 255 finishers.