With all the attention on soccer this fall, Wolverine fans may have forgotten Wiscasset Middle High School’s cross-country track season is also underway. If you missed the news, WMHS has combined its cross-country program with Boothbay Region High School.

On Sept. 5, the Boothbay/Wiscasset boys team won its first meet while the ladies’ team placed second. They competed against runners from Winthrop, Richmond, Lisbon, Hall-Dale and Oak Hill over a 3.1-mile course at the University of Maine at Augusta. Hall-Dale served as the official scorer.

Warren Cossette has returned to coach the Wolverines. He's been involved in the high school’s track program since 1994. Cossette recently became assistant WMHS principal and athletic director.

Nick Scott is coaching the Boothbay runners.

All of the meets are away ones for the Wolverines; WMHS hasn’t had a cross-country course for several years. Boothbay Region is hosting the annual Mid-season Race next Wednesday, Sept. 19. On Sept. 12, the Boothbay/Wiscasset runners will travel to Winthrop for a meet.

“Whenever we can, we’re combining our practices with Boothbay,” Cossette said. “We went down there this past Saturday to work out and they’re planning to come here to Wiscasset for a practice.”

This season the Wolverives will be wearing Boothbay Region’s familiar blue and gold jerseys when they compete. “Next year, we’re required by the SPA to have a uniform reflecting both schools,” added Cossette. “We combine our scoring as Boothbay/Wiscasset, but the runners are still competing as individuals.”

Representing the Wolverines this season are Lily Yeaton, a sophomore, and Maria West. Also running are junior Gage Varian and sophomore Nate Gilliam. Joining the team this week are two foreign exchange students, Muhammad Khalique of Pakistan, and Fitir Aelang from Thailand.

At UMA last week, Lisbon’s David Schlotterbeck set the pace; his winning time was 19:23. The next four runners to cross the finish line were all from Boothbay/Wiscasset. They included Will Perkins (19:37); Mason Erhard (20:29); Graham Harris (20:41) and Fox Elder (20:45).

Gilliam placed 35^th in 25:21. Varian didn’t run. There were 49 competitors.

Monmouth won the girls’ race, although Boothbay/Wiscasset's Faith Blethen and Glory Blethen finished one and two overall in 22:35 and 23:02. Oak Hill’s Haley Gunn was third in 24:52. Team scoring is based on the top five runners from each school.

Yeaton and West ran 27th and 28^th finishing in 34:56 and 35:04.

The Mountain Valley Conference Championship meet is Oct. 13 at UMA with the Class C Regionals on Oct. 20 and State C meet to follow Oct. 27.