Lowell Ruck led the way with a 12th-place finish as Orono High School placed its top five runners in the Nos. 12-22 positions en route to winning the Class C boys cross country state championship on Saturday at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.
Matt Keresey placed 14th, Jonathan Steelman was 15th, Jonny Spencer came in 21st and William O’Neil locked down the No. 22 spot as the Red Riots scored 56 points to defeat Maine Coast Waldorf, which posted 69.
It was the third team title in program history and the first since Orono won the 1975 Class B championship.
Boothbay Region scored 100 points to take third place in the team competition, followed by George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill (106) and St. Dominic of Auburn (172).
John Hassett of GSA captured the Class C boys individual title, covering the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 56.12 seconds. It was his second consecutive cross country championship.
Winthrop’s Jacob Hickey was the runner-up more than 14 seconds back, while Tucker Pierce of Maine Coast Waldorf, GSA’s Ollie Dillon and Brandon Gould of Wiscasset also logged top-five performances.
In Class A, Jeremiah Sands’ third-place effort in 15:59.32 helped Falmouth earn the team title with 72 points.
Deering of Portland was second with 116 points, while Massabesic of Waterboro (151), Windham (155) and Mt. Blue of Farmington (158) also finished in the top five. Mt. Blue edged Hampden Academy, which also scored 158 points, on the sixth runner tiebreaker.
Falmouth’s other scoring runners included John Auer (11th), Conner Piers (12th), Ben Wyman (18th) and Alex Kinley (36th).
Mt. Blue’s Tucker Barber outdueled Cameron Meier of Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, posting a time of 15 minutes, 47.33 seconds, which was the fastest time of the day among all classes.
Meier finished in 15:51.22. Also breaking into the top five were Paul Casavant and Wyatt Lord of Hampden Academy.
In the Class B ranks, Luke Laverdiere of Yarmouth reprised his victory in the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions in October by winning his first individual cross country title.
Laverdiere’s time of 15:49.59 was more than eight seconds faster than runner-up Henry Jacques of Freeport. Mitchell Libby of Wells was third, followed by Nicholas Dall of Waterville and Caleb Love-Webb of Camden Hills High in Rockport.
Greely of Cumberland Center bunched five runners in the Nos. 6 through 18 positions to annex the team championship. The Rangers tallied 66 points to overcome second-place Wells (81), while Freeport (100), Yarmouth (101) and Cape Elizabeth (168) took the Nos. 3-5 spots.
Luke Marsanskis paced Greely with a sixth-place effort, but Pat Lyden, Matthew Todd, Max Stickney and Caleb Thurston bunched up in the Nos. 13, 14, 16 and 18 positions.