By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
The Penobscot Valley Conference championship meet took place Saturday amid tough weather conditions in Bangor, but the Caribou boys did not let it affect them as they eased to their third consecutive conference Class B title and fourth in the last six years.
The Vikings scored 22 points to best runner-up Ellsworth, which posted 47, and John Bapst, which had 78. Presque Isle was fourth with 114, ahead of MDI, Old Town and Hermon.
Dan Curtis of Ellsworth was the individual title winner with his time of 16:32.2. Four Caribou runners followed, led by Christian Sleeper at 17:12.8. D.J. Flynn was third in 17:29.8, Caleb Chapman fourth in 17:38.5 and Jesse Sandstrom fifth in 17:38.9.
Viking freshman Ryan Washington was his team’s fifth scorer, placing eighth in 17:57.7 and passing four Ellsworth runners in the second half of the race in the process.
“Ryan was our star of the day,” Caribou coach Roy Alden said.
The two other Caribou runners were among the top 17, as Kjetil Rossignol was 14th in 18:29.9 and Jake Michaud 17th in 18:47.6.
“We ran extremely well in tough conditions,” Alden added. “Christian was running with the leaders in the first half of the race, but took a bad fall, while Caleb, Jesse and D.J. had outstanding second miles.”
For the Wildcats, Matt Eager was seventh overall in 17:42.6, while Logan Thibeau was 16th in 18:43.4 and Saul Nunez 25th in 19:21.1.
In the girls’ Class B competition, John Bapst (43), MDI (59) and Ellsworth (73) made up the top three, with Caribou taking fourth with 86 points and Presque Isle fifth with 111. Old Town was the only other team competing and totaled 144.
The Coyotes’ Dacie Manion came in first place, with Presque Isle’s Alecia Palmer taking second in 19:30.
Also for the Wildcats, Emily Wright turned in a 14th-place effort with a 21:27.9 clocking. Jaylee Fox finished 28th, Shelby Condon 34th and Bonnie Corey 36th for PI.
Caribou’s top performer was Mackenzie Belyea, who took ninth in 20:37.8. Mary Jo Sheehan was 15th in 21:30.5 and Dayna Michaud 17th in 21:54.5 for the Vikes. Katie Plourde and Kelly Kashian were 22nd and 23rd, respectively.
At last Tuesday’s Aroostook County championship meet held in Fort Kent, Micah Wiley of GHCA captured the boys title and Carsyn Koch of Washburn was the girls winner. Wiley finished the course in 19:56, ahead of Limestone-MSSM’s Jack Seguin (20:41) for the top spot.
Noah Entwisle was fourth for the Eagles in 20:58 and teammate Justin Thompson was 10th in 24:38.
Leading Washburn was Kevin Carlson, who took eighth in 23:20. Also for the Beavers, Cameron Huston was 12th and Kyle McLaughlin 15th.
Fort Kent beat GHCA, 37-47, to claim the team title.
Koch won the girls race in 21:32, followed by Washburn teammate Carmen Bragg in 22:22. Taking third was Lucy Wilcox of Limestone-MSSM in 23:45. Helen Roberts of the Eagles was seventh, Anna Carlson of Washburn eighth in 28:57 and Nicole Olson, also of Washburn, 12th in 33:42.
The local cross country squads will next participate in Saturday’s Eastern Maine Championships, to be held at Belfast. The top individuals and teams will then move on to the state championships, also slated for Belfast Oct. 30.
