Thornton boys cross country edges Portland by a point for 1st state title
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Portland’s Nora Schmidt takes off at the start of the Class A girls race the cross country state championships on Saturday in Augusta. Schmidt went on to win the race in a time of 18:00.58. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
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AUGUSTA — In an era where razor-thin margins of victory are a theme at the Maine cross country state championships, what happened between Thornton Academy and Portland on Saturday might top them all.
The Thornton boys topped Portland by a single point, registering 79 points to the Bulldogs’ 80, to win the Class A title at Cony High School. It’s the first state championship in program history for the Golden Trojans, who were runners-up to Portland in the South regional a week ago.
“(The wait) was crazy,” Thornton senior Ryan Bolduc said about the delay before the final score was available. “We were all standing around after the end and trying to calculate it in our heads because we knew it was close, and someone’s mom read out that we won. It’s an incredible, surreal feeling.”
Yarmouth (Class B) and Winthrop (Class C) claimed the other boys team championships. Hampden Academy (A), Freeport (B) and Maine Coast Waldorf took home the girls titles.
Scarborough’s Atticus Merriam won Class A boys in 16 minutes, 6.78 seconds, beating Falmouth’s Mateo Diaz (16:19.79) and Bangor’s Sam Bergmark (16:26.84). Bolduc (16:36.88) took fourth, and Thornton teammate Noah Loveys-Messenger (seventh, 16:57.72) joined him in the top 10.
Ambrose Clarke (11th, 17:18.61), Reid Hughes (14th, 17:32.01), Emile Olins (17th, 17:36.47) and Everett Smith (17:36.51) put Portland in the title mix. Thornton, though, had just enough, as Jonathan Perry (12th, 17:21.54), Mason Thurlow (30th, 17:55.23) and William Tripp (31st, 17:55.36) secured a title by the slimmest of margins.
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“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Thornton coach Josh Wynne. “All of this started back in mid-June, and they’ve been locked in ever since then for this day. We’ve had this motto all year of working together as a wolf pack, and that’s what they did today: They worked together.”
Portland’s Nora Schmidt (18:00.58) won the Class A girls race, beating out Falmouth’s
Georgia Moon (18:05.05), who edged Schmidt by 1.12 seconds last Saturday in the South regional. Addison Elliott (18:33.39) finished third for Hampden, which claimed just its second girls state title (2003).
Lincoln Academy’s Karen Higgins won the Class B girls race in 18:58:41, well ahead of Caribou’s Emma Graves (19:28.70). After MDI’s Kulani Granholm took third in 19:33.46, Ella Olshetski placed fourth in 19:46.15 to mark Freeport’s first finisher.
That started an avalanche of Freeport runners. Maddy York (19:53.83) and Stella Kryzak (19:56.53) finished sixth and seventh, and Maddy Gilbert took 12th (20:23.00). Molly O’Brien was 47th in 22:44.76 to secure the title for the Falcons (67 points) over MDI (81).
“That last 0.1 (miles), I can’t remember it much,” Gilbert said. “The course, we know it’s hard, but we worked on hills a lot this season. We knew the hay was in the barn, and we just had to run … We knew we had to fight for it (with MDI), but we knew that if we ran with confidence, had fun and just ran together as a team, we would get it.”
Caribou’s Pierce Gorneault won the Class B boys race in 16:26.85. Yarmouth’s pack followed, as Jackie Chalmers (16:36.41), Bowen Mitchell (16:47.22), Eli Chalmers (16:53.70) and Jesse Canfield (17:04.20) rounded out the top five to give the Clippers a repeat title.
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“It was incredible; they worked really well together,” said Yarmouth coach Sarah Carrigan. “They practice trading off all the time in practice, and they all get a chance to lead in practice. Then, on race day, we just see who has it on the day.”
Dirigo’s William Morris defended his Class C boys crown in 16:18.47. Winthrop’s Alfie Cognata (16:51.20), who was runner-up to Morris last year, took second place again, beating out Waynflete’s Tadhg Lake (16:57.26) in a tight battle.
Winthrop’s Sawyer Wess (seventh, 17:19.44) and Sam St. Germain (eighth, 17:20.54) also claimed top-10 finishes. It was the second state championship for the Ramblers, our current Varsity Maine Boys Team of the Week, whose other Class C title came in 2007.
“We came in with a plan, and we wanted to break the course down into a few spots we were going to focus on,” said Winthrop coach Ed Van Tassel. “The kids worked well together all year, and it really just all came together for us. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Maranacook’s Reagan Mattson continued her phenomenal freshman campaign by winning the Class C girls race in 19:52.73. Maine Coast Waldorf (58 points) claimed the girls team championship, beating out North Yarmouth Academy (81 points).
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Tagged: dirigo cougars, falmouth navigators, freeport falcons, hampden broncos, maine coast waldorf kraken, Maranacook Black Bears, portland bulldogs, scarborough red storm, thornton golden trojans, winthrop ramblers, yarmouth clippers
Mike Mandell came to the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel in April 2022 after spending five and a half years with The Ellsworth American in Hancock County, Maine. He came to Maine out of college after. More by Mike Mandell
