Though the Houlton cross-country team did not have enough runners on Saturday to place as a team, they are doing very well in their first year of competition.
“The kids had a very tough race on Saturday,” said Houlton coach Chris Rines. “It is one of the longest running races in Maine and it is also one of the most highly attended races Old Town has hosted in quite some time.”
According to Rines there were 128 boys running (79 varsity and 39 junior varsity), along with 105 girls (70 varsity and 35 junior varsity) from mostly Class B Penobscot Valley Conference schools.
“It was an unusually hot day for racing, which some of the kids struggled with, but in the end we had a good result,” Rines added. “However, against better competition, our places seemed to slip back a few.”
The course went around Old Town High School’s campus, with some very rocky and uneven woods trails, said Rines.
In the 65th Old Town Sectional Invitational, MDI was the first-place team with a score of 52; Orono, 61; Caribou, 64; Old Town, 116; Central, 140; John Bapst, 154; Foxcroft Academy, 155; Presque Isle, 188; Hermon, 230 and Ellsworth 273. Mattanawcook Academy, Houlton, Washburn and Dexter had no team scores.
The overall boys’ winner was Tristan Butterfield of Orono with a time of 16:34.31, which is a course record, followed by runnerup, Josh Zapsky of Hermon in a time of 17:13.38.
For Houlton, Isaiah Brown finished 36th with a time of 19:19.06, while Noah Holmes came in 50th at 19:59.99; Adam Casillas, 61st with a time of 21:01.41 and Tre Whitney, 72nd, in 22:54.25, which was his personal best.
On the girls’ side, Orono came in first with a score of 35, followed by MDI, 62; Caribou, 100; John Bapst, 112; Mattanawcook Academy, 145; Ellsworth, 165; Presque Isle, 167; Washburn, 180; Old Town, 191 and Hermon, 254. Foxcroft Academy, Schenck and Houlton had no team scores.
Tia Tardy of Mattanawcook Academy came in as the top female runner clocked at 19:19.24 for another course record, followed in second by Waylon Henggeler of MDI with a time of 19:27.70.
Rylee Warman finished the 3.1-mile course in Old Town, 17th for Houlton at 21:55.52 for her personal best of the season, while Olivia Winslow was 59th with a time of 27:17.86 and Victoria Holmes was 62nd with a 27:48.77 for her personal best.
“Victoria rolled her ankle early on and was hampered by that for the rest of the race,” Rines explained. “Despite her injury, she was only four seconds off her personal record, while Noah and Olivia have continually dropped huge chunks of time off each race. I am very excited to see them running with confidence now.”
Brother and sister duo, Dustin and Emma Hines, did not run due to a family commitment, while Emily Dickison was out sick.
The Houlton cross-country team headed to Mattanawcook Academy yesterday for a meet and on Saturday, they will compete in the Festival of Champions in Belfast, along with the Greater Houlton Christian Academy runners.
