MORRILL, Maine — Ben Randall of Sabattus outpaddled Ray Wirth of Belfast by 20 seconds on Saturday to win the annual Passagassawakeag River Race.
The men set the pace in their one-man kayaks, with Randall covering the course in 43 minutes, 25 seconds, followed by Wirth at 43:25.
Barry Dana and Lori Dana of Solon, competing in the OC2 Mixed division, finished third overall in 45:44, followed by solo kayaker Mark Berry of Gouldsboro (48:28) and Alan Paradis and Priscilla Reinertsen of New Hampshire, who were fifth in the field (48:50) while paddling in the OC2 Mixed class.
Divisional winners included Ander Thibaud of Somerville and Chip Loring of Old Town in the Century Class (50:22) and Chris Dalton of Bangor and Mark Risinger of Hermon in the Clydesdale division (52:58). Lowell Ruck and Francois Vanderrhoven, both of Orono, took top honors in the High School class with a time of 1:07:04.
The Junior/Senior 12-and-under ranks were claimed by Ashton Mabee and Greg Dorr, both of Bangor, in 54:27, only 20 seconds ahead of J.R. Mabee and Adella Mabee, also from Bangor, in 54:47. Among the Junior/Senior age 13-16 racers, which included 10 craft, Rose Cobo-Lewis and Jeff Owen of Orono were victorious in 51:43.
Charles Berliant of Frankfort was the Weekend Warrior champ in 1:01:58, while Mark Bamford of Bucksport (51:13) edged Orono’s Brian Foley (51:22) in the Short Kayak classification. Karen Francoeur of Orono was the Women’s Kayak titlist with a time of 53:21.
In the OC1 division, Francis Cyr clocked a 54:52, with Charlie Smith of Bangor emerging from the OC1 Rec class as the winner in 52:43. Lisa DeHart of Gardiner won the OC1 Women’s class (1:37:24).
Other classification champions were OC2, Weekend Warrior: Richard May of Brewer and James Seymour of Portland (57:56); OC2 Men: Irving Gilbert and Stan Levitsky (54:21); and OC2 Mixed Rec: Robert Martin of Dedham and Ellen Hall-Tobin of Bangor (51:09).