4 x 800m relay

Coming into the race, Scarborough was the favorite after their SMAA Championship last weekend and state leading time of 8:07. Despite this, it was Bonny Eagle that led over the first two legs, with freshman phenom Parker Moore handing off in front and then Harrison Dunne extending the lead with a sub 2:00 clocking.  Another team that was in the mix early on was Gorham, whose lead-off leg Jack Adams handed off in third in a very solid 2:04. But Scarborough did reign supreme, as their third leg Ethan Keller surged to the front with a sub of exactly 2:00.00 and Atticus Merrium closed out the relay to win in 8:09.65.   Bonny Eagle was able to hold on for second in 8:15, but had to hold off a strong bid from Cheverus anchor Ambrose McCullough.  Scots anchor Xavier Lemieux was able to rally over the past 150 meters to hold off the Stags, who ran 8:17 for third.  Portland wasn't far back in 8:18 for fourth, with anchor Charlie Jaques running 1:59 on the anchor.  Hampden Academy was fifth in 8:25.52 and South Portland was sixth in 8:39.27.  Kennebunk took seventh by virtue of their win in the first section.  Their time of 8:42.19 barely held up against Mt. Ararat's 8:42.65, who took eighth.

1600m

Like the girls 1600m, this race was a duel up front between the top two runners in Class A. Maddox Jordan and Nathan Blades ran together for over three laps before Jordan decided to unleash his kick, storming down the final curve and winning by two and a half seconds in a time of 4:15.20.  Blades hung on for a very strong time of 4:17.66. Most of the rest of the field let them go, and the chase pack was 5 seconds back at 400m, 9 seconds back at 800m, and 11 seconds back with a lap to go.  The race for the rest of the podium positions turned into a contest of who had the best closing speed, and the answer was the Portland boys, with Elias Coleman closing in under a minute for the last 400m and teammate Ben Prestes closing in 60.94. Their times of 4:24.67 for third place and 4:25.53 for fourth place (as well as Blades 2nd place finish) earned 19 points for the Bulldogs in the event.  Baxter Merrium and Enzo Giampaolo both broke 4:30 and finished fifth and sixth respectively to score for the Red Storm and the Blue Devils. Scarborough's Colby Shumway held on for a seventh place finish and South Portland's Fischer Petrilik took the final scoring spot.

800m

The half mile was an odd race this year, with the field refusing to go with the favorite Maddox Jordan. Everyone else  let him go and ran over a minute on the first lap, allowing Jordan to win completely uncontested.  Jordan's win was his sixth individual state title this season and tenth in his career.  The only two that attempted to follow were Colby Shumway and Harrison Dunne, but they faded to 12th and 7th respectively. As a result, it turned into a kicker's race in which Elias Coleman was once again triumphant.  His 58.78 closing 400m was enough to take second place, coming in ahead of South Portland's Michael Lawlor (third), Brunswick's Ben Klingle (fourth), and Bonny Eagle freshman Parker Moore (fifth). Max Stadnicki and Colin Barker both had to move up quite a bit to grab sixth and eighth. Also of note, Jack Adams of Gorham followed up his strong 4x800m leg with a win in Section 2 of the 800m, narrowly missing the podium by 0.21 seconds.

3200m

Nathan Blades finally did it. In the last race of his high school career, the Bulldogs’ star distance runner took home his first state title. Blades had previously finished second in five state championship races, but Saturday he threw the monkey off his back and took the 3200m title. Behind him was a charging Ellis Wood, who closed in 1:05.46 and could be considered an early season favorite for the 2024 cross country title. The Red Storm went 3-4 with Atticus Merrium and Ethan Keller crossing the line next. Tim Collins and Aran Johnson were both a bit of a surprise, taking 5th and 6th respectively. Collins found himself in no man’s land on laps 5 and 6 but willed himself to a top 5 finish. Johnson on the other hand, took 6th with one of the better kicks in the field, closing in 1:08.08. Ambrose McCullough and Enzo Giampaolo rounded out the scoring positions.