By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
PRESQUE ISLE — Although runners from Ellsworth captured individual titles, the Caribou boys and the Mount Desert Island girls both used their depth to win team championships in the Presque Isle Cross Country Invitational Meet held Saturday at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

Aroostook Republican photo/Jon Gulliver
Runners take off at the start of the varsity girls cross country race during the Presque Isle Invitational held last weekend at UMPI.
The Viking boys made three first-place finishes in three meets by packing six runners among the top 12 out of 62 total participants. Caribou had a score of 35 to outpace Ellsworth (53), John Bapst (61) and the host Wildcats (127). MDI (135), Foxcroft (142) and Old Town (173) were the other schools with full squads figuring in the team results. Hermon, Hodgdon, Washburn, Greater Houlton Christian Academy and Fort Kent also had runners taking part in the meet.
Dan Curts of Ellsworth won by finishing the 3.17-mile course in 17:15. Matt Eager of Presque Isle was the runner-up in 17:36.
Caribou runners then made their mark behind Caleb Chapman (third place, 17:58), Ryan Washington (fifth, 18:22), Ron Lund (sixth, 18:44), Lucas Kinney (10th, 19:16), Jesse Sandstrom (11th, 19:23) and Brendan Wood (12th, 19:24).
“The boys competed very well,” said Viking boys coach Roy Alden, who went on to praise Lund, a first-year varsity competitor, for his strong performance.
“Ron is developing into an excellent distance runner,” Alden said. “He worked extremely hard this summer and now the miles are beginning to pay off.”
Alden said Kinney, another rookie, has also been a nice surprise and that veterans Chapman and Washington “continue to be solid.”
The Vikings’ seventh runner, Josh Kovach, came in 21st place in 20:06. Caribou was without one of its top runners in senior Kjetil Rossignol, who missed the meet due to a pulled muscle. He is expected to be ready for the team’s next meet.
Photo courtesy Tom Shay Photography
Caribou’s Jesse Sandstrom leads the pack at the Presque Isle Invitational at UMPI last weekend. Matt Eager of Presque Isle is right behind the leaders. Eager finished second. Sandstrom crossed the finish line in 11th position.
Nick Bragg of Washburn had a strong race, placing 13th overall in 19:28. Teammate Tony Viola was 34th in 21:02.
Caribou also took the JV race behind Zeb Johnson’s winning time of 20:12.
In the girls’ competition, Aleta Looker raced to the win by crossing the finish line in 20:21 for Ellsworth. She was 26 seconds faster than runner-up Carsyn Koch of Washburn, who is the defending Class C state champion.
MDI cruised to the team title with 34 points as all seven runners were among the top 15 out of 46 competing. Maggie Painter featured the fastest time for the winners at 21:43, good for fifth place.
Caribou was second in the team standings with 61 points. Mackenzie Belyea of the Vikings was third overall at 21 minutes and Katie Plourde came in 12th in 22:50.
Nerissa Larrabee (17th, 23:35) and Chelsea Bard (18th, 24:05) were also among the top 20 overall for coach Thomas Beckum’s Caribou squad.
Washburn posted an impressive 79 points, which was good for third in the meet. Backing Koch’s effort were Carmen Bragg, who was ninth in 22:14, and Mackenzie Worcester, 11th in 22:37.
Ellsworth was fourth, Presque Isle fifth and Greater Houlton Christian Academy sixth in the team standings. Pacing PI was Shelby Condon, who placed 22nd with a 24:25 clocking. The Wildcats’ Amanda Palmer came in 27th place in 25:12 and Samantha Simonds was 31st in 26:29.
Fort Kent, Foxcroft Academy and John Bapst also had runners competing, but due to a lack of numbers did not figure in the team results.
In the girls’ JV meet, Caribou won as Kelly Kashian of the Vikings recorded the fastest time in 23:39.
Caribou will host the next high school cross country meet, which is set for Friday at 4 p.m.