This Friday, September 1, Bangor High School will host a KVAC meet. The competing teams are Bangor, Hampden Academy, Brewer, Belfast, Camden Hills, and MCI.

Girls Individuals to Watch

#16- Jenna Van Ryn – Camden Hills

Jenna was one of the top runners in the state over the past few years and should be the favorite to get the win here.

 Katie McCarthy – Bangor

McCarthy had a great season last year and projects to be Bangor's top athlete this year.

Sophia Mazzarelli – Bangor

Mazzarelli took 5th at the Northern Maine regional last year.

Cassie Middleton – Camden Hills

Cassie Middleton ran sub 20 in 2021, and will hope to get back to that point this year.

Addison Verrill – MCI

Verrill followed up a nice fall with a solid track season in which she ran 5:50 for 1600m.

Gretchen Plant – Hampden Academy

Gretchen Plant was one of the top freshmen in the state last year and will look to lead the Broncos this year.

Cara Rothwell – Camden Hills

Rothwell was very consistent as a freshman, and will hope to take another step forward this year.

Girls Teams to Watch

#8 Bangor

The Class A North Champs begin their title defense.

#14 Camden Hills

Camden Hills has a lot of upside, with 2 runners that have run sub 20:00 in the past and a few more in the 21-22 minute rage to give them depth.  

#17 Hampden Academy

Hampden was a young team in 2022.  Now with some experience,  the Broncos will be looking to turn some heads.

Girls Analysis

On the girls side, the meet features 3 ranked teams as well as one of our top ranked individuals.  Camden Hills is coming off of a race on Monday at the Panther 2 Miler, while most of the other teams will opening up their season at this meet.  Bangor is probably a slight favorite, but you could make an argument for Camden Hills or Hampden to take this one too.

Boys Individuals to Watch

#8- Harrison Shain – Hampden Academy

Shain is the top returner from the Class A North.

#11- Tim Collins – Hampden Academy

Tim broke out during cross country, and then kept running consistent over the rest of his sophomore year,

#15- Miles Shain – Hampden Academy

Miles was arguably the best freshman in the state last year.  This will be his frst race since last cross country season.

Walker Hedrich – Camden Hills

Hedrich was Camden Hills top runner when they finished 3rd in Class A last year.

Trevor Parlee– Brewer

Parlee had a great indoor season in particular, taking 7th overall in the 2 mile.  That is a great sign heading into cross country.

Zachary Clement– Camden Hills

Clement worked on his speed during track season, lowering his PR significantly in the 800m.  He will hope that translates over to the 5K.

Kevin Fogarty– Bangor

Fogarty is the Rams projected top returner for 2023.

Boys Teams to Watch

#1- Hampden Academy

The Broncos are back-to-back state champs, and they bring back 6 of their top 7 from last year.

#3- Camden Hills

The Windjammers had a deep squad last year and brought all of their top runners back.

Bangor

Bangor is usually a powerhouse, but lost a lot of talent to graduation. This meet will be an indicator of whether they were able to replace that talent.

Boys Analysis

Hampden Academy has had a magical last couple of years, winning the state title in 2021 and then going undefeated throughout 2022 (excluding NEs). They begin their quest for the three-peat today. For Camden Hills, they were a surprise 3rd place finisher at the State Meet last year, but somehow have been slept on since despite the fact that they bring back their whole varsity roster.  For the rest of the teams, they are looking to prove that they will be contenders this year.