Four runners from the Houlton area will be representing their respective schools at this Saturday’s State Class C Cross-Country Meet in Belfast.
Isaiah Brown, Rylee Warman and Noah Holmes, all of Houlton High School and Wesley Ganglfinger of the Greater Houlton Christian Academy all qualified for the state competition, as they finished in the top 30 positions.
Fort Kent senior Matthew Toussaint captured the boys’ regional title finishing the course in 16:50.92, followed by John Hassett, sophomore, George Stevens, 17:00.66.
Last Saturday at the Eastern Maine regionals, Houlton’s Brown placed sixth with a time of 18:15.46, while Holmes finished 30th with a personal record of 19:54.18 among 78 runners. Warman came in sixth in the girls division with a time of 21:18.13, a personal season best for her, among 68 runners.
Ganglfinger of GHCA was 25th with a time of 19:20.50, while teammates freshman Alex Walker was 71st with a time of 24:48.66 and senior Rachel Potter was 67th at 40:23.81.
“Several runners hit their season low personal best times last Saturday on a wet and muddy Belfast course,” said Houlton coach Chris Rines. “They rose to the challenge and knew their season was on the line.”
Rounding out the placement for Houlton runners, Adam Casillas just missed the cutoff, finishing 31st with a personal best of 19:58.07 and Tre Whitney, who also recorded a personal best, came in 53rd in a time of 21:50.84. Olivia Winslow placed 39th with a time of 25:40.49, followed by Victoria Holmes, 41st, 26:06.59; Emily Dickison, 43rd, 26:14.98 and Emma Hines, 45th, 26:24.06.
Brown, according to his coach, started off strong and never looked back.
“He ran consistently the entire race and stayed among the top 10 from start to finish,” Rines said. “Noah and Adam each started off conservatively and it paid off for them. However, in the last 100 meters of the race, a Lee Academy runner caught them and kicked past them. At that time, they were 29th and 30th, with both looking good to make it to the states.”
Lee Academy’s runner barely snuck in front of Holmes, which bumped Casillas out of contention for placement.
“Rylee ran strong the entire race, as well,” Rines said. “A very calculated and concentrated effort paid off. On the day, she ran the second fastest time set by an Aroostook County girl.”
The other four girls, according to Rines, competed hard, but the course conditions impacted their performances.
“Emily, who has been injured since our Presque Isle meet, ran a very gutsy race, pushing through the pain and finishing strong,” he said.
The Houlton girls team placed seventh out of eight schools ahead of Narraguagus. The girls were 13 points shy of Machias and 20 points from Lee Academy.
Sophomore Hannah Steelman of Orono won the girls race with a time of 19:23.20, followed by sophomore Tia Tardy of Mattanawcook Academy, 20:08.29.
