Lunn, Neureuther, Robertson advance to State Meet

Pioneeer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
COMPETE — The Greater Houlton Christian Academy cross-country team, including Hodgdon independent runner Nick Lunn, competed in the Class C Regional Cross-country Meet in Belfast on Saturday. Team members are, from left, front, Sara Hemingway, Lauren Robertson, Olivia Lord, Rachel Potter, Destinee Neureuther and coach Angie Ewings; back, Alex Angotti, Russell Socoby, Lunn, Josh Winslow and assistant coach Dave Goodrich. Lunn, Neureuther and Robertson advance to this Saturday’s States in Belfast.
Cross-Country runners compete in Class C Regionals
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    Under less than ideal running conditions, the Greater Houlton Christian Academy cross-country team, along with independent Hodgdon runner Nick Lunn, competed Saturday in the Eastern Maine Regional Meet in Belfast.
    When asked to describe the day, coach Angela Ewings said the only word that came to mind — mud.
    “I’ve done some actual mud races and I can honestly say, this was worse than an actual mud race. It was bad,” she added.
    Three competitors — Lunn, Destinee Neureuther and Lauren Robertson — combated the elements to qualify for the state championship to be held Saturday in Belfast.
    This is Neureuther’s fourth high school career cross-country championship. She finished in the top 15 with a time of 24:48.14. Teammate Robertson finally broke through to qualify with a 27th-place finish in a time of 26:11.19.
    For the last two years, Robertson had just missed qualifying for the state meet by one place, finishing 31st. 
    Ewings was just above the two-mile marker counting off the runners.
    “I usually don’t like to tell them what position they are in because I don’t know if it makes them nervous or not,” she said. “But, Lauren has been in a tough situation. She was in 31st again. I was thinking no way, she can’t finish there again. It would be better if she were way back.
    “But, she nodded at me, and I honestly knew at that moment, she had it all figured out and this was going to be her year,” she added. “Coming up the hill for the last 300 yards, she passed four runners and all she had to do was hold that position and she did.”
Contributed photograph
MUCKY MESS — The girls from GHCA pose after the Regional Class C Meet in Belfast on Saturday. Competitors ran a very muddy, mucky 3.1-mile course. Having a bit of fun are, from left, Lauren Robertson, Sara Hemingway, Olivia Lord, coach Angie Ewings and daughter Teagan and Rachel Potter.
    Though Ewings didn’t actually see Robertson finish, when it was all over, the two hugged.
    “It was very emotional for both of us,” said Ewings.
    Lunn, who has only been running for two of his high school years, placed 10th with a time of 19:31.06. It is believed he is the first Hodgdon runner to make a top-10 finish. The last Hodgdon cross country team competed in 1997.
    Ewings said heading into the regionals, any runner can have a great day and qualify.
    “Sara [Hemingway] could’ve been there as well,” she said.
    Hemingway placed 37th with a time of 27:55.23.
    With a steady downpour throughout the day, the GHCA runners were fortunate enough that it wasn’t raining during the Class C regional race later in the day.
    “The races before us had downpours, but we just had the mess afterwards,” said Ewings. “One is as bad as the other.”
    The GHCA/Hodgdon runners traversed a very greasy, mucky, muddy course.
    “The conditions were very challenging for any runner,” said GHCA assistant coach Dave Goodrich,  who has just completed his 50th marathon. “But, we told our runners that the conditions were the same for every single runner.”
    With runners battling the mud and slime, as well as each other, times were slower than on a dry course.
    “We told the kids it would even seem more difficult,” added Goodrich. “Due to the poor footing as a result of all the mud, it made each runner work harder.”
    With unsure footing, many runners were slipping or falling down.
    “We didn’t have anyone experience any injuries,” said Goodrich. “I heard several people say that each runner who finished earned a ‘medal’ that day.”
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
UP AND COMING — Up and coming cross-country runners for Greater Houlton Christian Academy are the middle school competitors. Members of the middle school team  are, from left, front,Victoria Holmes,  independent runner from Houlton; Rylee Warman, Olivia Nadeau, Teagan Ewings and Jamie Brown; back, Cole Winslow, Will Austin, Jennah Carver, Wesley Ganglfinger, Kristen Brewer and Isaac Potter.
    Orono senior Tyler White was the overall male winner in Class C with a time of 17:27.97, with Sam Stahnke, a senior at George Stevens Academy, clocking in second at 17:58.03.
    There were 84 boys competing in the race.
    Taking third and fourth positions were Bangor Christian seniors, Dylan Merchant and Samuel Proctor, with times of 18:22.74 and 18:25.69, respectively.
    Hodgdon senior Lunn rounded out the top-10 positions with a time of 19:31.06, finishing behind Mattanawcook Academy senior Josh Wheeler, 18:49.65; Orono junior Brian Westhoven, 19:04.76; Bangor Christian junior Zack Palmeter, 19:12.25; Orono senior Schuyler Collett, 19:12.32; and Orono junior, Josh Marquis, 19:18.93.
    The top GHCA boy to finish the 3.1-mile course was Russell Socoby in 44th with a time of 22.48.40, while junior teammates Alex Angotti was 65th with a time of 25:25.88 and Josh Winslow finished at 27:58.86.
    Washburn junior Carsyn Koch was the top female runner with a time of 20:57.14, while Orono sophomore Lily Koffman was runner-up in a time of 21:23.14. Rounding out the top-15 finishers were: Washburn junior Carmen Bragg, 22:11.70; Calais sophomore Madison McVicar, 22:14.39; Washburn sophomore Mackenzie Worcester, 22:28.51; Orono junior Jordan Richards, 22:36.62; Machias sophomore Clara Beal, 23:02.54; Bucksport freshman Natalie Coleman, 23:10.18; Machias freshman Kate Whitney, 23:38.24; Washburn freshman Emilia Churchill, 24:03.17; Calais freshman Glenda Francis, 24:22.37; Orono junior Emilie Seavey, 24:29.45; Orono junior Libby Spencer, 24:39.19; Mattanawcook freshman Venessa Twombly, 24:43.35 and Neureuther of GHCA.
    Capping off the GHCA girls’ times were Olivia Lord, 46th, 29:34.89; and Rachel Potter, 63rd, 48:47.98.
    “Overall, we had the season I expected,” said Ewings. “I knew we had the potential to have some runners qualify for States.”
    But what pleased Ewings was how close the GHCA girls came to advancing as a team.
    “The last two or three years, we haven’t had a full team,” explained Ewings. “We actually missed qualifying as a team for the first time by 12 points.”
    Washburn was first, followed by Orono, George Stevens Academy, Lee Academy, GHCA, Machias and Narraguagus.
    “I can honestly say that I am proud of each and every one of our athletes,” said Goodrich. “They did a tremendous job on one of the most difficult running days I’ve ever seen.”
    Graduating this year from the team are Lunn, Neureuther, Socoby, Hemingway, Robertson and Lord. Returning will be Angotti and Winslow, as seniors, and junior Potter.    The GHCA Middle School cross-country team also performed well this season, so the future looks bright for the school’s running program.