ELLSWORTH, Maine — The Houlton High School/Greater Houlton Christian Academy cross country teams kicked off the season in strong form at the 2024 Ellsworth Invitational on Saturday, September 7, marking a successful opening weekend. Competing in their first varsity meet of the year, both the boys’ and girls’ teams delivered impressive performances.
In the girls’ JV race, freshman Kylah Tuttle made a stellar high school debut finishing 11th overall in 26 minutes, 08.83 seconds, while sophomore Dalylah Mincey (29:37.86) ended in 27th place.
The varsity boys team finished 4th overall in the team standings, led by junior James Brady (16:44.46) who claimed 3rd place individually. Sophomore Malachi Witmer (17:02.95) followed closely in 7th, with fellow sophomore Brayden Drake (17:36.64) just outside the top 10 in 14th place. A trio of freshmen finished out the Shire runners with Nathan Brady (18:08.44) coming in 25th, Jackson Adams (28:18.76) in 82nd and Neal McQuarrie (30:50.76) completing the race in 83rd.
On the varsity girls side, Teanne Ewings (17:50.32) and Natalie Johnson (18:44.13) excelled with a 1-2 finish propelling the team to a 3rd place overall. Junior Andrea Ross (23:31.56) contributed a solid 27th place, followed by senior Katie McQuarrie (24:35.79) in 41st and sophomore Dalayna Mincey (24:38.32) in 43rd. Senior Amelia Drake (27:47.80) finished in 61st place to cap off the scoring.
The varsity cross country teams will next compete in Presque Isle on Friday, September 13 while the middle school program precedes at the same venue on Wednesday, September 11.
Full results can be found at https://sub5.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ellsworthinvite7sept2024.pdf.
