Koch, Beaver girls capture EM title
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
BELFAST – The Washburn girls successfully defended their Class C title during a wet and muddy Eastern Maine Championship cross country meet held Saturday at the Troy Howard Middle School.
WASHBURN JUNIOR Carsyn Koch 
walks around after completing the muddy 3.1-mile course in Belfast Saturday. Koch won her third consecutive Class C regional title, finishing in 20:57.14.
The Beavers came in first place out of seven teams in their division. Both Washburn and runner-up Orono had their five scoring runners within the top-20 out of the 63 overall competitors, but the Beavers featured three among the top five to tally a meet-low 28 points, compared to 41 for the Red Riots.
George Stevens Academy was a distant third with 109 points.
Junior Carsyn Koch of Washburn captured her third consecutive individual crown by mudding through the 3.1-mile course in 20 minutes and 57.14 seconds. Following Orono’s Lily Koffman (21:23.14) were Koch’s teammate Carmen Bragg (22:11.7), Calais’s Madison McVicar (22:14.39) and another Beaver runner, Mackenzie Worcester (22:28.51).
“Before [the races] I told my teams that it was going to be a strength race. Speed doesn’t matter under these conditions as much as staying tough and keeping a good line on the best part of the course,” said Washburn coach Mike Waugh. “I told the girls that the Eastern Maine title was theirs to defend, to stay tough, and to watch out for Orono.
“We knew coming in that they’d be gunning for us, but I knew how hard the girls had trained and that they were ready. Everyone poured their heart out,” he added.
Also making it into the top-10 was Emilia Churchill, who came in 10th in 24:03.17. Teammate Hannah Heald was 16th in 25:11.98.
Kayla Cushman of Central Aroostook was 35th in 27:31.09, but fell short of qualifying for this Saturday’s state championship meet, once again to be held in Belfast. Only the top 30 individuals from the regionals are able to advance.
Contributed photo/Christiane Washington
REGIONAL ACTION — Cristian Nunez of the Presque Isle Wildcats, center, gives it his all on the Belfast course Saturday during the Eastern Maine Class B Championships.
In the Class B boys’ race, three juniors led the way for the Presque Isle Wildcats, who came in ninth place in the team standings. Matt Tilley and Saul Nunez were 41st and 42nd with times of 20:06.29 and 20:06.45, respectively. Trevor Levesque came in 45th in 20:21.71.
The Presque Isle girls, who also placed ninth, were led by freshman Mandy Graham, who placed 40th in 24:14.23. Teammate Bonnie Corey was 47th in 24:47.85.
In the Class C boys’ race, Washburn was eighth out of 10 teams with 185 points, but freshman Noah Caron earned a berth in the state meet by placing 17th in 20:18.35.
Jacob Canney of Central Aroostook just missed out in qualifying, placing 33rd in 21:55.82. Michael Ericson of the Beavers was also on the outer fringe, placing 36th in 22:21.79.
