Saturday was a great day for both the Caribou boys cross country team and senior Steven Melbourne.
The Vikings placed first at the Ellsworth Invitational, easily besting the field which included 10 teams. Caribou scored 35 points, with host Ellsworth a distant second with 80. Foxcroft Academy (92) and Sanford (98) were third and fourth, respectively.
Contributed photo/Laurie Sheehan
Christian Sleeper, left, and Steven Melbourne were Caribou’s early leaders at the Ellsworth Invitational Cross Country Meet held Saturday. Melbourne ended up taking first place in 15:26, while Sleeper was fourth overall. The Caribou boys also took the team title.
The meet was special for Melbourne because it marked his first-ever varsity victory. Melbourne just edged Foxcroft’s Graham Pearsall at the finish and recorded a winning time of 15:26 on the 2.84-mile course.
He was backed by solid performances by his teammates, as Christian Sleeper, Timothy Freme and Finn Bondeson were within three seconds of each other in grabbing the fourth, fifth and sixth positions in the meet. Jake Michaud placed 19th in 16:34 to round out the Vikes’ scoring.
The Caribou girls came close to a victory themselves, but fell just three points short to John Bapst. The Lady Vikes had three runners among the top five, but Bapst used its depth to win, 56-59, as all five Crusaders scorers were tucked in the top-20.
Hannah Saunders was third overall in 17:57 to pace Caribou, with Dayna Michaud at 18:05 and Mary Jo Sheehan at 18:08 coming in fourth and fifth, respectively, in the standings.
Caribou’s other top runners were Katelyn Plourde in 21st place and Ashley Clark in 26th.
Sanford’s Vicky Hewey ran to a time of 17:14 to score a 29-second win over MDI’s Heather Spurling for individual honors.
A week earlier at the MDI Relays, the Caribou boys’ A team finished just two seconds behind York for the top spot, while the Caribou girls’ A team placed third overall behind York and John Bapst.
Sleeper was second in the boys’ race with a time of 10:14 on the 1.82-mile course, with Bondeson, Jesse Stephens, Freme and Melbourne all grabbing spots in the top 10. Alex Moser of York featured a winning time of 9:54 to beat Sleeper and the rest of the sizeable field of runners.
Sheehan was the runner-up in the girls’ race with an 11:55 clocking. Saunders took fifth and Michaud ninth for coach Thomas Beckum’s Lady Vikings.
