The Caribou and Washburn cross country teams made the annual trip to Ellsworth for an invitational meet, while the Beavers also hosted other Class C teams for a competition earlier in the week.
The Viking boys were second and the girls third at the Ellsworth Invitational, which featured 12 from throughout the state. The top three Caribou runners were within 18 seconds of each other as they crossed the line on the three-mile course and captured the fourth, fifth and sixth positions in the individual standings. Evan Desmond (17:49.52), Chathu Karunasiri (18:06.51) and Caleb Hunter (18:08.81) led the way for the Vikes.
In ninth was Daniel Randolph with a time of 18:15.86 and in 16th was Tsion MacLeod in 18:48.83, accounting for the team total of 40 points which was behind only Orono, which recorded 35 by having five runners among the top 12.
George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, Old Town, Washburn and Sanford followed, with six other schools also competing.
For fifth-place Washburn, Derek Baker came in 17th place, one slot behind MacLeod, in 18:56.75. Devon Maynard had a strong showing by placing 27th in 19:48.9. A total of 85 runners took part.
George Stevens dominated the girls’ race with a low score of 42 and Orono was second with 64, but coach Thomas Beckum’s Vikings were next with 93. They finished in front of Old Town, Mount Desert Island, John Bapst and four other teams.
Julia Page sparked Caribou by placing seventh out of 69 runners with a clocking of 21:56.94. Simone Michaud was 20th in 23:21.53 and Emma Belyea 21st in 23:21.75 as they finished nearly simultaneously. Also less than a half second apart was the duo of Sarae Greenier and Sheridan Blackstone, whose times were 23:43.99 and 23:44.38, respectively — good for 27th and 28th.
Washburn’s Emilia Churchill led her squad by placing 17th in 22:59.96. She was the only Beaver runner competing.
GSA’s John Hassett (16:40.9) and Hannah Steelman (19:14.36) were the overall boys’ and girls’ winners at the Ellsworth race.
At Washburn last Wednesday, the host Beavers won the boys’ race and MSSM claimed the girls’ title. Houlton, Fort Kent and Greater Houlton Christian Academy were the other schools competing on the 2.8-mile course.
Isaiah Brown of Houlton bested Baker by a margin of 50 seconds to win the boys’ event. Brown had a winning time of 16:20.
Maynard and McCall Turner also fashioned top-10 performances for Washburn. Keith Languet outkicked Washburn’s Kevin Jordan at the finish to grab the 11th spot and pace MSSM.
Rylee Warman, also of Houlton, beat GHCA’s Grace Graham by a mere three seconds in the girls’ race. Warman crossed the line in 20:04.
Allison Johnson was fourth in 20:28, while Naomi Kihn, Eva Farkas and Lily Verna were ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively, to help the Eagles to the team title.
Churchill came in fifth place and Kasie Farley was seventh to lead the way for Washburn.
The local teams will join a few others from Eastern Maine for Saturday’s Presque Isle Invitational, which begins at 1 p.m.
