Seahawks cross country slays competition at conference meet

Boys win, girls finish third
Mon, 10/16/2017 - 2:45pm

On Saturday, Oct. 14, the Boothbay Region High School cross-country team placed first for the boys team and third for the girls team at the conference meet held in Augusta. The girls team was edged out by just two points by Winthrop High School. The boys team won by a margin of 41 points.

“The victory was the fifth consecutive MVC crown for the Seahawks, which ties the boys conference record for consecutive conference championships,” said Coach Nick Scott.

The last school to see such a feat was Lisbon High School in 2003 through 2007. With eight titles in the last 10 years, the Seahawks trail the record— nine titles— which is held by Dirigo High School.

Junior Blake Erhard became the Seahawks’ second ever male to win the championship as an individual runner while freshman Haley Abbott became the third ever female to accomplish this.

“In fact, six of the last eight individual championships have been won by a Boothbay athlete,” said Scott. “Sophia Thayer did so in 2010, 2012, and 2013 and Faith Blethen won in 2015 and 2016.”

There were many BRHS Seahawks named to the All Conference team. For the boys, Erhard and senior Kyle Ames — who finished in first and third place with times of 18:11 and 18:37, respectively — were named to the first team All Conference team. Freshman Mason Erhard and junior Bayly Gaughan-Carrasco made second team All Conference, placing 11th and 14th, respectively, with times of 19:55 and 20:04.

For the girls, Abbott — first place with a time of 21:16 (a personal best) — made first team All Conference while freshman Glory Blethen made second team All Conference, placing eighth with a time of 23:47.

Both Blake Erhard and Abbott were named as MVC Runners of the Year as Blake Erhard and the boys team finished out the season undefeated among MVC competition.

The entire results are as follows:

Boys:

Blake Erhard, 1st, 18:11

Kyle Ames, 3rd, 18:37

Mason Erhard, 6th, 19:55

Bayly Gaughan-Carrasco, 14th, 20:04

Fox Elder, 17th, 20:17

Ryan Russell, 22nd, 20:42

Patrick Conlin, 29th, 21:14

Graham Harris, 31st, 21:23

Kaleb Ames, 32nd, 21:33

Will Labrecque, 35th, 21:37

Quinn Ranta, 46th, 22:52

Girls:

Haley Abbott, 1st, 21:16

Glory Blethen, 8th, 23:47

Faith Blethen, 17th, 25:04

Zada Smith, 47th, 31:54

Delly Clarkson, 48th, 33:43

On Saturday, Oct. 21, the Seahawks will go to Twin Brook Recreational Center in Cumberland to take part in the Southern Maine Class C Regional Championships.

Said Scott, “This is a really important meet because it is a qualifying race for the following week's Class C State Championships.”