Wrap-Up: 

SMAA Relays

Girls Race Summary

As expected, the battle for the win in the #1 girls race was very entertaining.  Bonny Eagle's Addy Thibodeau and Portland's Samantha Moore were both out fast and the course record was under threat.  Neither one was able to permanently pull away from the other until Moore unleashed her kick with about 250m to go, winning by 6 seconds and becoming the 2nd ever girl to beat the 10 minute barrier on the 1.77 mile course.  Moore's time of 9:57 was just 2 seconds off of Sophie Matson's course record, and Thibodeau ran 10:03, the 3rd fastest time in course history.  

In the #2 girls race,  the story was again Portland v. Bonny Eagle. This time the Scots' Marina Violette took the win over the Bulldogs' Ava Chadbourne.  The #3 race brought a bit of a surprise as Westbrook's Haley Ball took the heat win over Falmouth's Sara Tennett and Bonny Eagle's Allie Hesler.  Other race winners on the included Deering's Zabel Kasabian (race #4), Bonny Eagle's Bailey Shaw (race #5), Bonny Eagle's Avelyn Walker (race #6), Falmouth's Eli Tardif (race #7).

In the freshman girls race, Portland's Kate Morrison took the win in a very impressive time of 11:10, which was the 6th fastest time of day. Cheverus' Allie Schmitt was 2nd and Falmouth's Georgia Moon was 3rd. Zora Desilva of Falmouth won the JV race by 58 seconds, clocking a time of 12:24. 

Note: There was an error in the results that we only became aware of after publishing this article.  While Kate Morrison did win the freshman race, her time was closer to 12:00.

Official Results

Unofficial Combined Girls Results

These results combine all girls results, including all varsity, JV, and freshman races. 

Girls Races Takeaways and Analysis

Thibodeau and Moore were the top two finishers in Class A last year, and Thibodeau won by a wide margin of 43 seconds last year.  Both had stellar track seasons, but they didn't go head-to-head much, with Moore focusing on the 800/1600 and Thibodeau focusing on the 3200.  Moore gets a big confidence boost today in winning, but the advantage might shift in Thibodeau's favor at the longer 5K distance.  Time will tell.

Bonny Eagle has been very dominant of late, winning 8 of the last 10 titles.  They won again in dominant fashion today, but Portland appears to have a chance to hoist the trophy this year.  In the combined results, Portland was actually leading the meet through 3 runners, and that is even without standout Maia Endicott, who was a scratch from the meet.  Portland also was without a couple of others that will likely be key contributors this fall.  Don't be shocked if they pull off the upset on October 27th.

Note: There was an error in the results that we only became aware of after publishing this article.  While Kate Morrison did win the freshman race, her time was closer to 12:00, which does change the scoring above.  Portland still finishes 3rd but with closer to 100 points.


Kate Morrison, Zabel Kasabian, Winni Moreland, and Haley Ball are all names that I wouldn't have expected to be in the top 10.  They now have established themselves as runners to keep an eye on.

Boys Race Summary

The boys #1 race got out very hot, with Nathan Blades of Portland setting the pace and coming through the 1/2 mile mark in under 2:20.  He ran away from the field (which did not include Maddox Jordan of Noble) and broke his own course record, clocking a time of 8:35.   Xavier Lemieux of Bonny Eagle was 2nd and Henri Rivard of Marshwood was 3rd, both breaking the 9:00 barrier.

The #2 race was also very exciting, with Portland's Ben Prestes running 8:53 for the win, which would've been a course record until last year.  Sophomore Ellis Wood of Deering was 2nd, his high finish not surprising after such a successful spring.  

Portland was able to continue their dominant day with Jason Hargesheimer's win in race #3.  He was able to hold off Bonny Eagle's Rowan McDonald, 9:23 to 9:26. The Bulldogs also won races 4-6 as Charlie Jacques (9:26), Elias Coleman (9:24), Owen Blades (9:36) all crosssed the line first in their races.  It was unclear who won race #7, with Alex Price of Portland and Peyton Lee of Bonny Eagle both recording times of 10:27.  

Portland also had the winner of the JV race.  Transfer Henry Morrison won in 10:05.  Gorham was finally able to put an end to the Bulldog winning streak in the freshman race. Harvey Crider took the win in a time of 10:50.

Official Results

Unofficial Combined Boys Results

These results combine all boys results, including all varsity, JV, and freshman races. 

Boys Races Takeaways and Analysis

While it is the preseason and the course was only 1.77 miles, the Bulldogs looked dominant today.  They won all of the varsity races and the JV race, and won a few of them by a large margin.  Portland's top 5 average was over 30 seconds faster than at this meet a year ago.  They are the definitive favorite in the SMAA, and the rest of the state will definitely be on notice after this performance.  

Portland's performances will definitely overshadow what the Scots did, but Bonny Eagle quietly delivered a very impressive performance.  Their team time of 47:15 is the 2nd best team time ever run on this course, trailing only Portland's time from this year.  Any other year, the Scots would have won (and by a fairly comfortable margin).  Bonny Eagle also showed a bit more depth than they had last year, which bodes well for the future.

While it was a bummer to not be able to see the Jordan v. Blades battle to start out the season, the rest of the stars in the SMAA ran as expected.  The top 6 runners at this meet were all part of our preseason top 21 rankings.  It will be interesting to see if that trend continues when the races move up to 5K, or if some new contenders emerge as the season goes on.