Southern Maine Regional Headlines

1. The York girls are still the best in Class B.

After a second place finish individually at WMCs, Cary Drake won in dominant fashion today, and the Wildcats took the team title. They remain the favorites in Class B heading into next weekend and will likely be in the top few teams in the combined scoring.

2. Hadley Mahoney is back!

The Cape Elizabeth senior (and 2021 Class B champ) hadn't raced in a full year, but she made her return and finished a very respectable 9th and helped her team take 4th place.  With another week to train before the state meet,  and two more before NEs, don't be surprised to see her even closer to the front as the season comes to an end.

3. Sam Laverdiere runs the fastest time of the day.

The Lake Region junior won the Class B South title and on top of that posted the fastest time run at Twin Brooks since 2019.  That's right, Laverdiere's time of 16:29.36 would have won the state title last year, as well as all of the regionals from 2022 and 2021.  Alex Gilbert's time of 16:32 in the Class B South race was also quite impressive.

4. The Class B boys team race is going to be close next week.

Freeport got the win, as expected, but York remains within striking distance.  A ten point gap is just two positions per runner, so anything could happen next week in Belfast.  Both teams have plenty to run for, as if both run well the Falcons and the Wildcats could be NE bound.

5. Waynflete girls dominate Class C.

Grace Alexander followed up her breakout performance at WMCs with an even better run, taking 2nd and defeating #14 ranked Haley Williams.  The Flyers also put 2 more in the top 10 overall, with Lucy Olson taking 6th and Paige Alexander 7th.  While a state title is probably out of reach for Waynflete this year, their top 4 are all underclassmen, making this team a very interesting one to watch heading into next year.

6. Winthrop takes the individual and the team titles for Class C boys.

Chris Pottle got his 6th win of the season and won by about a minute!  That gives him a 75% win rate on the year, losing only at FOC (where he was 30th) and by less than one second to Brunswick's Ben Klingle.  He will surely have his eyes on a top spot next week, where things will be more competitive.

7. Samantha Moore and Addy Thibodeau had a spectacular battle.

Watching defending champ Addy Thibodeau appear out of the pain cave in front of Samantha Moore was a surprise, as Moore had triumphed every time the two had raced thus far this season.  Nevertheless, Thibodeau broke away early on and looked like she might have the race won as she crested the last hill.  In the end, Moore's 800m speed took over at the end of the race and she took the title, but things just got way more interesting heading into next weekend.

8. Any doubt that the Bonny Eagle girls are the Class A favorite is erased.

The Scots have always stepped up when they needed to, and they certainly did so on Saturday.  Bonny Eagle won the Class A title by 35 points, and put 4 runners in the top 10.  Camden Hills will try to give them a run next week, but if the Scots can duplicate today's performance, no one is beating them.

9. Nathan Blades takes down favorite Maddox Jordan.

Maddox Jordan hadn't been beaten by a Maine athlete all year, and even looking back into track season last year it is hard to find the last time he lost to another Mainer. Nathan Blades put an end to that streak today, and really makes next weekend a toss up.  It's hard to imagine any other boys breaking into the top 2 in Class A. Right now, Jordan and Blades are the class of the state.

10. Ellis Wood and the Deering boys surprise everybody.

We had Deering unranked heading into the day, yet they beat #11 South Portland (and were 4 points away from beating #15 Marshwood and #12 Cheverus). The Rams had a similar performance last year when they shocked a few teams to qualify for the state meet.  Sophomore Ellis Wood has been breaking out since last outdoor track season, but after a 3rd place finish in Class A South, no one can call him a darkhourse anymore.  He might be the preseason individual favorite heading into 2024.