(Update Monday 9/18) Attention all cross country coaches!! The Southern Maine Classic has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled. 

Due to Hurricane Lee, the Southern Maine Classic, which had been scheduled for Saturday, September 16th, is now occurring on Monday, September 18th.  30 teams will be competing from all across Maine, including 16 teams from the SMAA and 9 from the WMC.

Participating Teams

Bangor (two girls individuals only), Biddeford, Bonny Eagle, Cape Elizabeth, Cheverus, Falmouth, Freeport, Fryeburg Academy, Gorham, Gray New Gloucester, Greely, Kennebunk, Lake Region (one boy individual only), Maine Coast Waldorf, Marshwood, Massabesic, North Yarmouth Academy, Noble, Old Orchard Beach, Poland, Portland (boys only), Sacopee Valley, Sanford, Scarborough, South Portland, Thornton Academy, Waynflete, Westbrook, Windham, Yarmouth

Schedule

Freshman-Sophomore Girls Race: Individuals to Watch

#6 Marina Violette – Bonny Eagle

Violette is coming off of a breakout performance, running 19:10 while being paced by a teammate.  Can she repeat such a performance on her own?

#7 Soren Stark-Chessa – Maine Coast Waldorf

Stark-Chessa already has one win one the season and ran under 20 minutes at the MCW home meet.

#18 Rowan Barry – Greely

Barry was just a few seconds behind York standout Molly Kenealy at her meet last week.

Mackenzie Shields - Thornton Academy

Shields was 4th at a very competitive SMAA meet last week.

Allie Schmitt - Cheverus

Schmitt got the first win of her high school career last week at Biddeford.

Freshman-Sophomore Boys Race: Individuals to Watch

#8 Alex Gilbert - Freeport 

Gilbert ran a very strong 17:15 on the challenging Twin Brooks course to open his season.

#13 Henri Rivard - Marshwood

Rivard won this race last year in 16:39 and will look to defend his title.

Atticus Merriam - Scarborough

The freshman standout ran sub 5 for 1600m as an 8th grader and has already run 17:20 for 5K this year.

Owen Blades - Portland

Blades was 11th in this race as a freshman and will look to improve upon that finish.

Michael Lawlor - South Portland

Lawlor had a breakout race last week at Biddeford, finishing 4th.

Liam Nudd - Cape Elizabeth

Nudd was the 2nd freshman across the line at this meet last year, running a very impressive 17:29.

Junior-Senior Girls Race: Individuals to Watch

#5 Addy Thibodeau - Bonny Eagle

Thibodeau ran a blazing 17:55 last year but finished 2nd to Hadley Mahoney.  She will hope to grab the W this year.

#8 Emma Young - Cape Elizabeth

Young took 3rd last year and already has one win under her belt this year.

#14 Chloe Bibula - Yarmouth

Through Bibula's first 2 high school XC races, she has one win and one 2nd place finish, with the only loss being to #8 Emma Young.

#17 Kyleigh Record - Scarborough

Record broke the 20 minute barrier for the first time last week at Bonny Eagle.

#21 Hannah Keane - Kennebunk

Keane has taken a big jump forward since last year, running close to 20:00 in both of her races this year, including a win at Sanford.

Allie Hesler

Hesler had a bit of a slow start to her season, but has looked better every week. 

Hadley Mahoney

Mahoney has not yet raced this season, but is listed on the entry list. She won by a tenth of a second over Thibodeau last year.

Junior-Senior Boys Race: Individuals to Watch

#1 Maddox Jordan– Noble

Jordan broke 16 minutes on this course last year, and has leveled up since then.  He is the favorite to win.

#3 Xavier Lemieux - Bonny Eagle

Lemieux has had a strong start to the season and is coming off of a win at his home meet.  He has stated that he is targetting his first ever sub 16 5K at this race.

#7 Ben Prestes – Portland

Prestes has had a great start to his season and will hope to lead the Bulldogs to the team title with teammate Nathan Blades out of this meet.

#9 William Coull - Greely

Coull is off to a hot start in 2023, beating #10 Libby last week at Poland.

#10 Carter Libby - Gray New Gloucester

The 2022 Class B champ looks to cement himself as a top runner, regardless of class.

#11 Sam Laverdiere - Lake Region

Laverdiere is back at Lake Region after a stint at St. Dom's this spring.  He ran some eye-popping times this summer and this will be a good chance for him to prove that he is a real contender.

#16 Ethan Keller - Scarborough

Keller was 2nd in the Freshman-Sophomore race last year and does have one win so far this season, in a meet at Deering.

#17 Evan Small - South Portland

Small broke 17:00 for the first time last week en route to a win at Biddeford.

Girls Team Preview

The Favorite: 

#1 Bonny Eagle

The Scots won last year with just 33 points.  They are a strong favorite to win once again.

Fighting for 2nd: 

#7 Falmouth, #8 Greely, #9 Freeport, #12 Cape Elizabeth

You could make an argument for any of these teams to take runner-up honors.  Falmouth is clearly the deepest squad with 7 runners under 22 minutes. Greely and Freeport have both looked strong on challenging courses.  Cape Elizabeth hasn't looked great as of yet but if they are at full strength at this meet, they should not be ignored.

The Contenders: 

#13 Yarmouth, #14 Marshwood

Yarmouth has 33 (!?)  girls entered at this meet and is off to a great start this year.  Marshwood took 2nd to Portland in their opening meet and looks to be one of the better teams in Class A.

Looking to Surprise: 

#17 Kennebunk, #21 Cheverus, Thornton Academy, Windham, Waynflete

Kennebunk beat Cheverus by 3 points two weeks ago, then Cheverus beat Windham on a 6th runner tiebreaker last week, so those teams could finish in any order this week.  Thornton Academy recently got a win at Deering and Waynflete should be competitive if at full strength.

Boys Team Preview

Fighting For the Win: 

#2 Portland, #3 Freeport, #4 Bonny Eagle

This should be a very close team race, especially with Portland's #1 runner Nathan Blades not competing.  Freeport is unbeaten this year and Bonny Eagle is coming off of a win against #8 Scarborough,

The Contenders: 

#8 Scarborough, #10 Greely, #11 Yarmouth

Scarborough had an impressive 17:14 average at Bonny Eagle last week and will hope to compete against the top 3.  Greely and Yarmouth, on the other hand, haven't had the opportunity to run on a fast course yet.

Looking to Surprise: 

#14 Marshwood, #15 Cheverus, #18 South Portland, #21 Grey New Gloucester

Marshwood beat Cheverus by 1 point two weeks ago, then Cheverus went on to beat South Portland (though SoPo was without #3 runner Fischer Petrlik).  Grey New Gloucester has had some impressive performances and will look to mix it up with these SMAA squads.

Girls Analysis

The individual races are all up in the air, with no clear favorite for the win in either race.  Marina Violette made a statement with her 19:10 last week and will look to prove that she is one of the best runners in the state.  In the Junior-Senior race, the biggest wildcard is Hadley Mahoney, who hasn't raced since the Class B Regional last October.  On the team side, the race for 2nd is very interesting. Falmouth's depth should really help them in a meet with a large field size.  It is possible they will get their 7th runner across the finish line before any other teams have 5.  

Boys Analysis

The Gilbert v. Rivard matchup in the Freshman-Sophomore race should be a good one, and it is easy to make an argument for either athlete to get the win.  The Junior-Senior race is stacked, with 8 of our top 17 ranked athletes. This is only Maddox Jordan's second race of the year, and the first one in which he will really be pushed. The team race will be fascinating as any order for the top 5-6 teams could theoretically happen.  Greely and Yarmouth have both impressed relative to preseason expectations, but the top dogs like Portland and Freeport have looked very strong as well.