OLD TOWN, Maine — For the first time this fall, the Caribou boys’ cross country team finished lower than first place in a meet.
At the 65th Old Town Sectional Invitational Saturday, the Vikings settled for third place out of 10 teams. Mount Desert Island was the meet champion by posting 52 points and Orono was second with 61. Caribou followed with 64, 52 points fewer than the fourth-place squad — the host Coyotes.
Central of East Corinth, John Bapst, Foxcroft Academy, Presque Isle, Hermon and Ellsworth were the other schools competing.
Out of the 79 who finished the 3.1-mile course, Orono junior Tristan Butterfield was the winner in a record 16 minutes, 34.31 seconds.
Caribou was able to tuck three runners into the overall top 10. Senior Mitchell St. Peter led the way by placing eighth in 18:05.29, with junior Caleb Hunter ninth in 18:05.46 and freshman Daniel Randolph 10th in 18:09.79.
The other scorers for the Vikes were juniors Lukas Lagasse (17th in 18:24.03) and Elijah Verhoff (21st in 18:39.49).
Washburn did not have a full team, but junior Derek Baker came in 18th in 18:27.11. Teammate Devon Maynard, a freshman, was 44th in 19:43.68.
The Caribou girls also turned in a third-place performance. Orono won with 35 points and MDI was the runner-up with 62. The Vikings’ total of 100 bested fourth-place John Bapst by 12. Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln was next, followed by Ellsworth and Presque Isle.
Leading the way was Mattanawcook’s Tia Tardy, a sophomore who recorded a time of 19:19.24, also a course record.
Caribou senior Robyn Larrabee paced her team by coming in 12th in 21:19.13. Three teammates finished in consecutive order, with senior Lauren Chapman 20th in 22:22.71, freshman Adessa Judd 21st in 22:32.67 and sophomore Emma Belyea 22nd in 22:35.8.
The team’s other scorer was senior Nerissa Larrabee, who was 29th out of 70 in 23:10.69.
The Beavers’ Emilia Churchill, a junior, came in 13th place in 21:25.42 and teammate Mackenzie Worcester, a senior, was 19th in 22:21.01. Class C Washburn took eighth place in the standings with 180 points, ahead of Class B schools Old Town and Hermon.
The Festival of Champions, a meet that features one of the largest fields in the state, will take place Saturday in Belfast beginning at 11 a.m. Teams from all over the state, and even some from outside the state, typically compete. From this region, Caribou and Washburn are expected to send teams along with Presque Isle.
