Lisandro Berry-Gaviria (Mt Ararat) Berry-Gaviria followed up his freshman campaign with an even better sophomore season. MaineTrackXC 2016-17 freshman of the year had just about a perfect season. On the year he won nine races. To start the year off he claimed the Scott Laliberte Invitational title then clocked the fastest time at the Quabacook Relays. He continued his winning ways at Brunswick with a 16:35 effort, followed up by wins at Lawrence & Mt Ararat. The only blemish on the record was a third place finish at the Mt Blue Relays. Berry-Gaviria erased any doubts in the championship season as he started it off with a convincing win in the KVAC running 17:05 over the tough course at Cony. A week later in the Northern Maine regional he set a lifetime best of 15:53 to win the individual title. The following week at the Class A State meet, he pulled away late to win in 16:31 at Twin Brook. At New Englands he just missed All-NE honors by one spot with his 26th place finish, this after falling in the early stages. He will be one on the favorites to win the Class A title next fall.
The best of the rest
Connor Coffin (Scarborough) Coffin didn't race all out until Festival of Champions after dealing with some achilles pain early on, that didn't hold him back once he got going though. He set a personal best 16:26 placing 21st at FOC. He followed that up with a win on his home course at Smiling Hill Farm. At the Southern Maine Regional Championship he had a strong finish to place 5th, running 16:57 at Twinbrook. A week later at the Class A State meet Coffin had the best race of the season as he clocked 16:39 to nab a 4th place finish. He closed out his sophomore campaign with a 16:30 effort at New Englands placing 46th overall. Connor will be one of the top returners in Class A next fall.
Tristram Coffin (Scarborough) In his first season of xc Tristram Coffin put up some impressive marks. He started out with a win in the freshman-sophomore race at the Southern Maine Classic as he clocked a speedy 16:34. He had a bit of an off day at the Festival of Champions placing 34th in 16:51.03. He followed that race up with a runner-up on his home course at Smiling Hill Farm finishing right behind his twin brother. Coffin had a very strong postseason as he opened with a 7th place effort at the Southern Maine Regional running 17:16. He followed that up with an 8th place finish at the Class A State meet running 30 seconds faster at Twinbrook than the week before. Tristram closed out his first season with a strong 57th place finish at New England's where he set a personal best 16:34.29.
Jack Bassett (Cape Elizabeth) Bassett put together a very strong sophomore season building upon his success as a rookie a year ago. He started off winning the Paul Brogan Invitational. Two weeks later he was the runner-up in the freshman-sophomore race at the Southern Maine Classic running a then personal best of 16:46. Three weeks later at the Festival of Champions Jack clocked a lifetime best 16:35.99 to place 25th in a loaded field. In the postseason Bassett was very strong starting off with a win in the division 1 race at the Western Maine conference Championship. The next week at the Southern Maine Class B regional he ran to a 4th place effort, which was followed up at the Class B State meet with a third place effort. His time at states was 17:04 on the tough Twinbrook course. He closed out his campaign with at New Englands placing 151st. He'll be one of the top runners in Class B next fall with a chance to chase the individual title.
Jarret Gulden (Lincoln Academy) Gulden improved tremendously during his sophomore year and was a key cog in the Lincoln Academy team success. Entering 2017 Gulden had a 5k personal best of 17:26. In his third meet of the season at Medomak Valley he lowered it to 17:14. Two weeks later at the Festival of Champions he clocked a personal best 16:47.19 to finish 32nd. Gulden was excellent in the postseason, starting off with a third place effort in the KVAC Class B race, the following week at the Southern Maine Regional Class B race at Twinbrook he added 6th place effort. At the Class B State meet he matched his regional finish with a 6th place finish, clocking 17:15, which helped his team win the Class B title. Gulden closed out his season placing 121st at New Englands. He will be one of the top returners in Class B next fall.