Holt 3rd, Sandreuter 4th lead Maine contingent at New Englands

Holt 3rd, Sandreuter 4th lead Maine contigent at New Englands

Liam Simpson (8th) & Will Shafer (17th) notch ALL-NE honors, Lewiston boys & MDI girls top teams

Boys Results | Girls Results

Race Videos: Boys | Girls

Interviews: Joe Holt-Andrews | Liam Simpson | Will Shafer

Photos: Boys Race | Girls Race | Awards

 

Greely's Kirstin Sandreuter missed 3 weeks of the xc season due to an injury but she hasn't let that deter her from having a sensational post-season run. Sandreuter who won both the Western Maine Regional & Class B state title showed the layoff has left her with fresh legs down the stretch. Today she put those fresh legs to work at the New England Championship where she pushed herself to a 4th place finish running a lifetime best for 5k 17:48.6. The mark was 49 seconds faster than her previous best effort.

Sandreuter pushed the pace during the first mile as she in the lead pack as they went to the tough second mile. Eventual race winner Hannah Deblasi of Staples, CT pulled away during mile 2 en route to her course record smashing 17:15.8 finish, a full 17 seconds better than 2x Footlocker National Champion, Erin Sullivan. Kirstin was leading the second pack with 1000m to go before getting passed in the final stretch. The time moves her to 3rd all-time fastest in Maine history, only behind Abbey Leonardi's (17:35.30) & Cassie Hintz's (17:46)

Bonny Eagle senior Mary Szatkowski was the second mainer across the line in 44th place (19:04.20), Class B state runner-up Aleta Looker of Ellsworth was 48th (19:09.20) while Cheverus's Kiera Murray ran a seasonal best 19:15.20 good for 53rd place.

Mt Desert Island had a strong 12th place finish as they were the top Maine team as well. MDI was paced by Isabel Erickson in 69th (19:32.40) & Waylon Henggeler 70th (19:32.60) along with freshman Lydia Dacortte 94th place (19:46.80).

Class A Champion Bonny Eagle finished 18th overall, while Massabesic finished 20th, Falmouth 22nd, Freeport 24th, & Orono 27th

 

Top 15 Maine Girls

 4 Kirstin Sandreuter 12 Greely HS - ME  17:48.6       
44 Mary Szatkowski12 Bonny Eagle HS - ME 19:04.2        
48 Aleta Looker 12 Ellsworth HS - ME 19:09.2
53 Kiera Murray 12 Cheverus HS - ME 19:15.2
60 Angel Waters 12 Massabesic HS - ME 19:22.4
63 Shannon Conley 12 So Portland-ME 19:25.0
69 Isabel Erickson 12 Mt Desert-ME 19:32.4
70 Waylon Henggeler 11 Mt Desert-ME 19:32.6
73 Maddy Doyle 11 Marshwood HS - ME 19:34.8
74 Elizabeth Labun 11 Hampden-ME 19:35.0
94 Lydia Dacorte 9 Mt Desert-ME 19:46.8
97 Kristen Glennie 12 Bonny Eagle HS - ME 19:47.8
103 Heather Evans 12 York HS - ME 19:50.5
106 Kialeigh Marston 10 Bonny Eagle HS - ME 19:53.5
108 Hannah Austin 11 No Yarmouth-ME 19:57.3

 

Boys Recap

 

Sitting alone in the middle of the starting area prior to start of the boys New England XC sat Josef Holt-Andrews who was finishing up his pre meet stretches and getting focused for the task at hand.

Holt-Andrews a senior from Telstar came into the race as one of the expected harriers to challenge for the individual title, the last Maine winner was current Ellsworth assistant coach Louie Luchini in 1998.

As the gun went off Josef found himself at the front of the pack as he has all year long, but this time he had some top notch talent as company. He ran at the front of the lead pack with CT State Open Champion Christian Alvardo (Fairfield Prep), Alex Ostberg (Darien, CT), Trevor Hopper (Ridgefield, CT), & Colin Tierney (Bishop Hendricken, RI).

Holt would continue to lead the race as the came out of the woods back with Ostberg a few strides behind, then Hopper, Tierney & Alvardo. His lead would continue as they made the final turn for the long run in to the finish. Ostebrg & Hopper had pulled up to his shoulder before they kicked away over the final 100m. Hopper would go on to take the win in a course record, 15:08.5 followed Ostberg, 15:11, with Holt finishing 3rd in 15:12.90. All three runners were under the old course record of 15:15.

"I can't be disappointed with my effort today" Holt-Andrews said of his race  "I gave it my best effort, I couldn't done any better."

Cape Elizabeth senior Liam Simpson had a career day as he closed all the way to 8th place. For Simpson the prospect of a top 10 finish looked bleak at the mile as he was still back in mid 50's placewise. Simpson weaved his way through the field over the next mile, and then continued to open up on the downhill in the last mile. With 800m to go Liam had worked his way up to 13th, he finished with another strong kick that moved him up 5 more spots. His finishing time of 15:45.1 was a personal best by 15 seconds.

Gray New Glocuester senior Will Shafer also went through the mile in around 40th place. Shafer used his patience to his advantage, as he was able to move up over the next mile into the top 25. Will would continue to pass people in the final mile as he moved all the way up to 17th as he crossed the line in a personal best 15:53.6.

"I accomplished both of my goals, I wanted to break 16 & be top 25." Shafer said in a post-race interview

Class A champion Lewiston ran very well as they finished 8th overall, and were the top Maine team. The Blue Devils were led by Isaiah Harris in 51st place (16:20.3) with Farhan Abdillahi next on 66th (16:20), Mohamed Mohamed 71st (16:32) & Mohamed Awil 76th (16:36) having strong races.

Cape Elizabeth has a strong effort to finish 11th, they were followed by Ellsworth in 21st, Scarborough 25th, Bangor 29th & Boothay 30th.

 

Top 15 Maine Boys

  3 Josef Holt                12 Telstar-ME             15:12.9                           
  8 Liam Simpson              12 Cape Elizabeth         15:45.1    6                            
 17 Will Shafer               12 Gray-NG-ME             15:53.6                              
 32 Brayden Beardsley         12 Ellsworth HS - ME      16:11.1   21                            
 38 Josh Horne                12 Mt. Blue HS - ME       16:14.2                              
 41 Peter Doane               12 Cape Elizabeth         16:16.9   24                            
 51 Isaiah Harris             11 Lewiston HS - ME       16:20.3   34                 
 66 Farhan Abdillahi          12 Lewiston HS - ME       16:30.0   43                     
 71 Mohamed Mohamed           12 Lewiston HS - ME       16:32.2   47                           
 76 Mohamed Awil              12 Lewiston HS - ME       16:36.6   49                      
 82 Robert Looker             12 Ellsworth HS - ME      16:38.7   55                     
 94 Ryan Cadorette            12 Thornton-ME            16:42.5                  
 95 Dan Lesko                 11 Mt. Blue HS - ME       16:43.2                   
 99 Chris Cote                11 Waterville-ME          16:44.1                        
101 Braden Becker             12 Yarmouth HS - ME       16:45.8