By Joseph Cyr
Sports Editor
LIMESTONE — The Limestone-MSSM cross-country team continues to make strides this season thanks to an increased interest in the sport.
However, the Eagles still have just five boys and two girls on the roster. While those numbers are up, they are still not where coach Carol Cote would like to see the team.
Members of the boys squad include Justin Thompson, Seth Lockman, Noah Entwisle, Jack Sequin and Brandon Nadeau. Members of the girls team include Lucy Wilcox and Helen Roberts.
Thompson is a four-year member of the cross-country team, and Entwisle is a third-year runner, while Lockman, Sequin and Nadeau are new to the squad.
Coach Cote said she expects both Wilcox and Sequin to place in the top five at the Aroostook County meet this week in Fort Kent. Wilcox qualified for states last year and has been slowly gaining momentum throughout the season. Sequin also has a strong chance of qualifying for the state meet, while Thompson has been a dedicated runner who shows up to practice faithfully.
“He is just running for the exercise and not to win.” Cote said.
Lockman started running this past summer and has shown steady improvement throughout the season.
“Hopefully he will hit his peak when we go to regionals and he might surprise everyone,” Cote said.
Entwisle has found it hard to run with everyone during practice, according to the coach.
“He is doing fine, hopefully he will hit his peak when we go to Belfast in a couple of weeks,” she said.
Nadeau, who also plays soccer, has only been to a couple of races this season but when he does show, he has been a strong runner for the Eagles.
“He was a strong runner when he was in middle school level, but he also does soccer,” Cote said. “We just have to wait and see. Like I say to my runners, ‘You have to want it really bad to win or improve your best time.’”
Being such a small school and students wanting to run but also do soccer has been hard, the coach said.
“They keep saying they are coming to run, but they either have a game or practice,” she said. “The coaches have been very understanding, but the students seem to choose one more then the other. We are lucky that the school still supports cross country. Hopefully next year we will pick up a few more runners.”
Mike Mauger from MSSM, has been helping out with the program this year. According to Cote, Mauger runs with the students when they have free time.
