BELFAST, Maine — Boys cross-country teams from Hampden Academy, Caribou and Orono hope to use their championship efforts at their respective conference meets as the catalyst for successfully defending regional titles Saturday at the Troy Howard Middle School.
The Hampden and Mount Desert Island girls also will attempt to defend their 2014 Eastern Maine crowns at the newly named North regional championship meets.
Action gets underway with the Class A girls at 11 a.m., followed by Class A boys at 11:35, Class B girls at 12:10 p.m., Class B boys at 12:45, Class C girls at 1:20 p.m. and Class C boys at 1:55.
The top 50 percent of the teams in each field will qualify for the state championship meet to be held Oct. 31 at the Twin Brook Recreation Area in Cumberland, as will the top 30 individuals in each race.
Class A: The Hampden boys won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A meet last Saturday, paced by top-10 finishes from Paul Casavant (second), Wyatt Lord (fifth) and Will Webb (ninth). Bangor was the runner-up, with Mathieu Ract (10th), Gabe Coffey (12th) and Adam Schwendt (17th) leading the way.
Mt. Blue of Farmington and Brunswick, which finished first and second just one point apart at the KVACs, should battle for the girls team title.
Class B: Caribou dominated the Penobscot Valley Conference large-school meet with a pack time of 52.8 seconds among its top five runners. They all were among the top eight finishers, led by the 1-2-3 punch of race winner Chathu Karunasiri, Evan Desmond and Tsion Macleod.
Waterville topped Belfast 55-90 for the KVAC Class B crown, with the victorious Purple Panthers sparked by race winner Nick Dall and fifth-place Billy Chambers.
MDI, the girls Class B state champion three of the last four years, edged Caribou and Presque Isle for the PVC title. Sophomore Emma Strong’s third-place finish led the youthful Trojans, who had two other sophomores and a freshman among their top five finishers.
Waterville’s Lauren Brown is favored to win the individual title after posting the fastest time of the KVAC meet regardless of class. She and runner-up Cecilia Morin led the Purple Panthers to a comfortable 52-75 team victory over second-place Maranacook of Readfield.
Class C: Orono placed five runners among the top 10 while winning the PVC small-school boys title, with Matt Keresey, William O’Neil and Tristan Butterfield finishing 2-4-5.
George Stevens of Blue Hill will be among the Red Riots’ top challengers after falling 24-32 to Orono at the PVCs. The Eagles feature junior John Hassett, who won the conference’s individual title by nearly a minute last weekend.
Washburn, the Aroostook County small-school champion in both the boys and girls ranks, is among other teams hoping to challenge for top finishes at the regional.
