CUMBERLAND, Maine — It was another amazing showing by the Houlton/Greater Houlton Christian Academy girls cross country team over the weekend as the Shires finished as Class C State runners-up.
Shire girls cross country finishes as state runners-up|The effort marks the second straight year that the Shires have finished as runners up for the championship.
Two Shire girls — sophomores Teanne Ewings and Natalie Johnson — also qualified as individual runners for the New England competition based on their finishes. The top 25 overall competitors from Classes A, B and C advance to the New England Championships at Ponaganset High School in North Scituate, Rhode Island, on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Ewings finished second overall with a time of 19 minutes, 29.93 seconds, while Johnson placed eighth at 20:47.97. Orono’s Ruth White was the top runner at 18:02.52.
“The girls ran really well on a pretty challenging course,” Houlton coach Chris Rines said. “The 5K at Twin Brook in Cumberland is known to be a bit slower in general. Despite the trail conditions, the weather was absolutely perfect for runners and spectators alike. A beautiful sunny day and nice cool breeze really made for a great competitive atmosphere.”
After all of Classes A and B had completed their championship races, the already soaked trails were even slower than usual. The Red Riots had a nearly perfect outing with a team score of 29. Houlton/GHCA was second with 71 points. Fort Kent placed ninth with a score of 205.
“Orono was the heavily favored team to win coming into the day, while we were similarly heavily favored for second,” coach Rines said. “We had a lot of great efforts out there and even came close to a couple (personal records) from some tremendous efforts, but unfortunately we could not break through the predictions and we ended second overall.”
Other results for Shire girls were: 22, Andrea Ross, 22:56.13; 31, McKenna Phillips, 23:16.45; 33, Joelle Hanscom, 23:25.83; 35, Leanne Ross, 23:36.91; and 55, Victoria Ervin, 25:22.91.
In the boys race, the Shires had one person — freshman James Brady — competing as an individual. Brady advanced to states by placing 12th at the regional level. Brady finished 24th overall with a time of 19:10.37.
