By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
BELFAST, Maine — Washburn’s Carsyn Koch captured her fourth consecutive Eastern Maine Class C cross country title by finishing Saturday’s five-kilometer race in 19:30.3 — 28 seconds ahead of runner-up Tia Tardy of Mattanawcook. “The remarkable thing about Carsyn’s four consecutive victories is that each time, no one was there with her, no one was even close,” said Beaver coach Mike Waugh. “It was her against the clock — she’s an exceptional athlete.”
Koch’s effort also helped the Beavers to a second-place finish in the team results behind Orono. The two squads were separated by just six points (29-35).
“The girls had a great day despite the loss,” Waugh said. “Our times were good and we ran well, Orono just had a better day.”
The next four Washburn runners behind Koch came across the line in consecutive order. Senior Carmen Bragg was eighth in 21:12.6, junior Mackenzie Worcester ninth in 21:28.7, freshman Tori Koch 10th in 21:31.8 and sophomore Emilia Churchill 11th in 21:33.1.
Orono’s top four also finished consecutively, taking the third, fourth, fifth and sixth slots, helping the Red Riots to the team title.
Waugh is hoping the team can turn the tables and overtake Orono this weekend for its second consecutive state title, and has a strategy in mind to accomplish that.
“We have to do a couple of things,” Waugh said. “First, we need to get Carmen and Kenzie ahead of their No. 4 runner. They were only a few seconds off, so I think we can do that. Secondly, we need to get our No. 5 — Emmy at this point, although it could be Tori — to get more space on Orono’s No. 5 so the Western teams move people in and displace.
“If we can do that, and hold off Waynflete because they’re quite good as well, we have a good chance,” he added.
On the boys’ side, Washburn needed a top-five performance to advance as a team and ended up in fourth place with 127 points. The Beavers were paced by sophomore Derek Baker, who was ninth overall in 18:11.37.
“They reached within to find it, and they did,” Waugh said of his boys’ team. “They ran smart and tough and Baker’s performance brought us a long way.”
In Class B, both the Presque Isle girls and boys teams are also heading to Saturday’s state meet in Cumberland following their placement at Belfast.
The PI girls came in seventh place with 211 points and took the final qualifying spot. Emily Colligan, a sophomore, led PI by placing 22nd overall in 21:26.8. Classmate Mandy Graham was 29th in 21:42.4, while junior Hilary Boucher was 60th in 23:54.8.
Wildcat senior Bonnie Corey was 71st in 25:12.9 and was followed closely by junior Amanda Palmer, who was 72nd in 25:14.1.
PI girls’ coach Lori Googins said by qualifying, her team fulfilled a goal established in August.
“At the beginning of the season, I had the girls fill out index cards listing their goals for the season. As a team, the girls indicated their goal was to make it to the state meet as a team,” she said.
Colligan, Graham and Boucher all had personal records for the Belfast course, according to Googins. In fact, Boucher cut 1:26 off her time from three weeks earlier on the same track.
“Making the state meet was definitely a team effort, as the girls pulled together and helped each other out — pushing each other through the race,” the coach added.
The Wildcat boys came in fourth place with 139 points. Seniors Saul Nunez and Trevor Levesque led PI, with Nunez taking 14th in 17:41.8 and Levesque 16th in 17:47.2.
Presque Isle senior Dustin Drabek was 28th in 18:12.7. Other Wildcat scorers were sophomore Jason Bartley, 30th in 18:15.5, and freshman Jacob O’Berry, 52nd in 19:03.2.
The Ellsworth boys and Mount Desert Island girls took home team titles. The individual champs were Dan Curts of Ellsworth for boys and Aleta Looker of Ellsworth for girls.
