The Mountain Valley Conference defending champion Boothbay Region High School cross-country teams stacked up extremely well against the competition at the MVC preview meet at the University of Maine at Augusta on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The girls took top honors, with Faith Blethen, Kate Friant and Loren Genrich, finishing one, two, three. The boys, running without Will Perkins, finished second.

“Congratulations to both teams for their strong performances yesterday. The girls team pulled off an upset, beating the meet favorite Monmouth Academy by 13 points. The boys nearly beat a strong Carrabec team, losing by three points. Both teams are certainly poised to do very well at the MVC Championships in 3.5 weeks,” Coach Nick Scott wrote in an email.

In the girls meet, Blethen once again ran away with the race, finishing first at 21:05, three and half minutes faster than her nearest competitor. Friant crossed the finish line second at 24:46 and Genrich third at 24:54. Lincoln Hamblett, still nursing a knee injury, was back in action, finishing 16th at 28:31 and newcomer Delly Clarkson finished 28th at 38:21. With the 1, 2, 3 punch delivered by the frontrunners, the Lady Seahawks easily won the meet with 46 points, followed by Monmouth, 59; Winthrop, 62; Madison, 81; and Oak Hill, 90.

In the boys race, Blake Erhard led the Seahawks, finishing third at 18:40. Erhard found some stiff competition from Wiscasset’s Brandon Goud, who in a home stretch battle edged out Erhard to finish second at 18:38. Kyle Ames, who was sidelined with an injury at the home meet, was back and running well at UMaine. Ames crossed the finish line fourth at 19:13. Rounding out the BRHS scorers were Will LeBrecque (15th, 21:12), Rowan Kristan (16th, 21:18) and Bayly Gaughan-Carrasco (19th, 21:45). Carrabec won the meet with 42 points, followed closely by BRHS, 45; Lisbon, 95; Madison, 98; Winthrop, 128; Oak Hill, 146; and Hall-Dale, 151.

Scott said he was impressed with both the team and individual performances at the MVC mid-season meet.

“Blake Erhard and Kyle Ames both finished second and third, respectively. The girls were led by a 1-2-3 finish by Faith Blethen, Kate Friant, and Loren Genrich, respectively. Had this been the MVC Championships those finishing places would have landed each of those athletes on the 1st All Conference Team,” Scott said.

The Seahawks compete next at the Festival of Champions, a season highlight, on Saturday, Oct. 1 in Belfast. Run on a fast course, the day-long cross country event features six races, with over 70 different schools participating.