By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
CARIBOU — Roy Alden’s 19th season as coach of the Viking boys varsity cross country team last fall produced the school’s first state championship in several years. Now the veteran coach is hoping to make a run at back-to-back titles this season.
The Vikings lost three top runners to graduation in Christian Sleeper, D.J. Flynn and Jake Michaud. The trio were part of three Eastern Maine championship teams during their careers in addition to the state title-winning squad.
“Each of these athletes were excellent leaders and showed great character,” Alden said. “They were a special part of our program.”
He noted that Sleeper is competing on the Bowdoin College cross country team this fall.
Still, the Vikings have plenty of talent returning and are off to a great start with victories in opening meets held at MDI, Ellsworth and Presque Isle the last three weekends.
Caribou has 20 runners on the roster, “which gives us a lot of depth and creates a competitive spirit among the athletes on the team,” according to Alden. The top five runners are solidly entrenched and include seniors Caleb Chapman, Jesse Sandstrom and Kjetil Rossignol, junior Ron Lund and sophomore Ryan Washington.
“They all have the ability to be among the top 10 runners in the Penobscot Valley Conference and Eastern Maine,” Alden said. “They have trained together all summer and are very focused.”
Sophomore Lucas Kinney and senior Josh Kovach ran sixth and seventh for the Vikes in the first two meets, while Kinney moved up to fifth for the team in Saturday’s meet at Presque Isle. Both will receive challenges from teammates Brendan Wood, Tyler Strid and Zeb Johnson to remain in the top seven. Alden said freshmen Mike Marquis and Brendan Cyr also could make a run for starting varsity slots.
Alden said the team hopes to build on what took place last year.
“We are extremely proud of last year’s team,” Alden said. “As we look to build this year’s team, the kids know that if they can stay focused and work extremely hard, they can build on that success and make their own destiny.”
The veteran coach acknowledges that Ellsworth and John Bapst will provide the best competition among Eastern Maine Class B schools. On the state level, Western Maine schools Falmouth, Greely and York “all have excellent programs and will be contenders for a state championship.”
Alden likes the way his team trained during the off-season to come in prepared to defend its state title.
“Most of the boys have done a good job during the summer, running the miles that build the base to do the hard workout that will take the team to the next level,” Alden said. “During early workouts, they have demonstrated they are willing to work very hard, and now the key to success will be how well we develop.
“This is a special group with a great deal of potential and their confidence will grow with every race. They are going to have to be willing to do the exceptional all season long and will have to pack up extremely close — 20 to 30 seconds apart — by the end of the season for us to obtain our goals.”
Other team members, part of the successful junior varsity program, include Cody Charette, Grahm Freme, Charm Karunsari, Greg Martin, Tanner Sterner, Marc Sturzl, Nate Wall and Grant Bennett.
“It should be a fun, exciting and rewarding season,” Alden said.