BELFAST, Maine — The tradition-laden boys cross country program from Caribou has produced some of the finest runners to traverse Maine’s trails over the years.
While this year’s edition of the Vikings doesn’t possess the Sam Sheehan, Jeff Alden or Christian Sleeper-esque frontrunner who can take control of a race, coach Roy Alden is fortunate to have a lot of pack power.
That turned out to be the recipe for championship success at Troy Howard Middle School on Saturday, as four Vikings placed in the top 20 and all five scorers in the top 30 en route to their second consecutive Northern Maine Class B championship.
“Gradually all year, they’ve moved up as a group,” Alden said after his Vikings accumulated 71 points to finish well ahead of runner-up John Bapst of Bangor (118).
“We’ve had two kids running in front and then we’ve had three others that kept moving up together.”
The top eight teams in Class B moved on to next weekend’s state championship meet, also in Belfast. So that means Mount Desert Island (120), Erskine Academy of South China (125), Camden Hills of Rockport (127), Waterville (136), Ellsworth (163) and Presque Isle (186) will join the Vikings and Crusaders here next weekend.
Mt. Blue of Farmington triumphed in the Class A competition while Orono claimed the Class C race.
In addition, the top 30 individual finishers will race again next weekend.
Class B: Caribou’s lead man, Evan Desmond, recorded a fourth-place finish, but it was the 12-13-14 effort of Kyle Boucher, Alec Cyr and Dylan Marrero that enabled the Vikings to distance themselves from the pack.
Bryce Coffin rounded out Caribou’s scoring runners in 28th place.
“I felt like if we worked hard and everybody did their jobs, we’d be in good shape,” Alden said.
The Vikings certainly weren’t rattled last week after learning the meet had been postponed due to inclement weather.
“We did two extra long runs, then went through our pre-race routine the way we’ve done it in the past,” Alden said. “I tried to mix in some fun things, and not focus on the meet very much until the end of the week.”
Individual honors went to Nicholas Dall of Waterville, who cruised home in 16 minutes, 26.81 seconds over the 5-kilometer course.
Class C: George Stevens of Blue Hill senior John Hassett won his second postseason race, clocking in at 16:19.55, but the Riots had too much depth for Hassett and the Eagles.
All five of Orono’s scoring runners finished in the top 10, good for 26 points, while George Stevens finished with 54.
Rounding out the state meet qualifiers were Lee Academy (138), Greater Houlton Christian Academy (140), Narraguagus of Harrington (143) and Fort Kent (145).
While Hassett won comfortably, Orono’s Matt Keresey, Lowell Rick, Jonathan Steelman, Jonny Spencer and William O’Neil finished 3-4-5-6-8 en route to a comfortable win.
“All year we’ve been going with the pack. I’m fortunate to have a really strong group of boys,” Orono coach Lin White said. “They believe in each other. That’s cross country. It’s not an individual sport.”
Orono’s top four men did an outstanding job of working together throughout the race, while No. 5 guy O’Neil kept within reach of the Riots’ lead pack.
“They key off of each other, they work together, they’re very supportive,” White said.
Class A: Hampden Academy got a strong 2-3-12 finish from Paul Casavant, Wyatt Lord and William Webb, but the Broncos didn’t have the pack power to overcome Mt. Blue.
The Cougars, sparked by individual winner Tucker Barber, who recorded the fastest time of the day (15:57.44), tallied 76 points to Hampden’s 93.
Also qualifying for the state meet were Mount Ararat of Topsham (99), Brunswick (120), Bangor (125) and Lewiston (145).
Given the strong performance that Mt. Blue showcased, Hampden coach Dick Balentine got about what he expected from his Broncos.
Balentine also was happy with the effort of Casavant, who started racing in early October after missing the early part of the season due to an undisclosed injury.
“That helps having [Casavant and Lord] 1-2 and Webb not far behind them [but] we’ve got to work on moving the other guys up a little closer,” Balentine said.
Brewer will send two individual qualifiers to states in Sam Gardner, who finished 23rd, and Andrew Modery, who was right behind in 24th.
Follow Ryan McLaughlin on Twitter at rmclaughlin23
