In an upset, the Boothbay Region High School girls cross country team placed first at the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) Championship Oct. 18 at University of Maine Augusta. The win marks the fourth year in a row the girls team won the event.   

Seahawk coach Nick Scott said he didn't expect the victory. The girls were seeded third, more than 20 points behind number-one Maranacook Community High School. Scott said Boothbay didn’t even devise a race strategy to beat them.   

“We simply just focused on, 'Let's go out there and let's do as well as we can,'” he said. “(The girls) were aggressive. They got out to a great start, and they held on.”  Their training cycle, confidence and, especially, ability to show up and race hard, all lined up. “It matters so much to be able to toe the line and go out, be aggressive, and just run hard to the best of your ability. That can be a difficult thing to do, especially in a championship kind of situation, and they did that so well.”  

They won with 61 points and a 26:16-minute average. Maranacook placed second with 64 points and a 25:46 average. The Boothbay boys team placed fourth with a 19:51 average and 91 points. Winthrop High School won with 36 points and an 18:40 average.

Individual girls results were: Maddie Andreasen, seventh, 24:02.70; Audey Robinson, 12th, 25:10.90; Lexi Hughes, 16th, 26:03.80; Maggie MacCarthy, 18th, 26:27.30; Abby Orchard, 30th, 29:38.10, Rose Campbell, 46th, 33:05.40; and Hanna Kreft, 54th, 36:29.20.   

Individual boys results were: AJ Crocker, fourth, 17:55.80; Loui Caidoc, 18th, 19:37.10; Ross Gaffney, 26th, 20:15.40; Jackson Zehm, 27th, 20:17.00; John Cooper, 34th, 21:12.30; Ben Gapski (Wiscasset), 46th, 22:36.00; and Nathan Percival, 48th, 22:48.10.   

In addition, Crocker and Andreasen were named first team all-conference, and Robinson was named second team all-conference. Hughes, McCarthy and Caidoc got honorable mentions.  

The Seahawks next head to the regional championships at Cumberland Oct. 25, where Scott said he has high hopes for both teams. The MVC win could give the girls the confidence boost to push harder, and the boys have qualified for states every year since 2008.