The Presque Isle girls cross country team picked up a pair of meet victories within three days of each other last week.
The Lady Wildcats opened the week by winning a meet at Limestone last Tuesday, topping Caribou by five points by tucking four runners into the top seven.
On Friday, Foxcroft Academy was the site of a Penobscot Valley Conference meet and PI prevailed again over Old Town, Mattanawcook and Foxcroft by a relatively comfortable margin.
PI’s Alecia Palmer picked up the individual win on the 2.9-mile course at Limestone, compiling a time of 20:46 for a 30-second margin of victory. Krista Buck was fifth in 21:44, Hallie Bartlett sixth in 21:54 and Jenica Fox seventh in 22:00 to help the Lady ‘Cats complement Palmer’s performance.
Presque Isle scored 25 points in the event, with Julia Brown rounding out the scoring by placing 10th overall. Caribou tallied 30 points in the meet.
On Friday, Palmer was third in 18:45 on the 2.75-mile course, behind Old Town’s Dacie Manion (18:19) and Fort Kent’s Grace Boutot (18:34).
Buck was fifth in 19:26, Bartlett ninth in 19:51, Emily Wright 11th in 20:00 and Brown 13th in 20:39 to round out Presque Isle’s top five.
The Lady Wildcats had a meet-low 35 points, besting Old Town (58), Mattanawcook (66) and Foxcroft (73).
The Presque Isle boys ran second to host Foxcroft that same afternoon. The Ponies featured four of the top six runners to win with 25 points. PI, which had five runners among the top 13, came in second place with 45 points. Old Town (85), Mattanawcook (93) and Central (108) followed in order.
Individual champ Graham Pearsall won by 49 seconds over Mattanawcook’s Nolan Dumont. Pearsall’s time was 15:33. In third was Jason Johnson of PI in 16:26. Alex Carter tied for seventh in 16:47 and Brandon Hafford was ninth in 16:48, Matt Eager 11th in 17:29 and Logan Thibeau 13th in 17:41 to pace the Wildcats.
At Limestone, PI scored 31 points to place ahead of Limestone/MSSM and Greater Houlton Christian Academy and behind only Caribou.
Johnson was third in 17:32, following Viking runners Christian Sleeper and Steve Melbourne.
Hafford was fourth in 18:06, Carter fifth in 18:25, Eager ninth in 18:58 and Thibeau 10th in 19:11.
The Sectional Invitational Meet is next for the Presque Isle teams, and will take place Saturday in Old Town.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
LEADER OF THE PACK — Presque Isle seniors Brandon Hafford, center, and Alex Carter lead the way during the early stages of a recent cross country meet held at UMPI.
