Pre-season race predictions placed Winthrop High School at the top of the Mountain Valley Conference boys pack, but at the first MVC race of the season last week in Winthrop, the Seahawks confounded the experts and cruised to an 11-point victory over the Ramblers.

The Boothbay boys won the meet with 33 points, followed by the Winthrop, 44, Lisbon, 77, Hall-Dale, 103, Monmouth Academy, 122, and Wiscasset, 158.

The Lady Seahawks also delivered at Winthrop with a second place finish with 50 points, behind top-ranked Monmouth with 34 points. Winthrop placed third with 65 points followed by Hall-Dale with 71.

Coach Nick Scott said Wednesday’s meet bodes well for both teams.

“The meet served as a test to see where we stood against the best competition in the MVC,” Scott wrote in an email. “For the boys, this was quite a big win for our team, as Winthrop was seeded ahead of us (albeit by only 1 point) according to preseason rankings based upon each team’s fastest returners. Winthrop is a tough team and I suspect that they will steadily improve as the season progresses so it will be important that we do so as well.”

“The girls' race also proved to be a good indicator of where we stand in conference competition. According to preseason polls, we were seeded third in the MVC behind Monmouth Academy and Lisbon. Monmouth Academy is very deep and it'll take a lot of hard work between now and the championship season if we are to catch them. ” (Lisbon did not have a full team so did not score in Wednesday’s meet).

For the boys, Joey Paolillo led the BRHS scoring pack with a third place finish at 18:18, followed by Kyle Ames (5th, 19:02), Matt Burnham (7th, 19:27), Kyle Alamo (8th, 19:42) and Kyler Carty (11th, 20:10). Newcomer Dan Drummond finished a mere second behind Carty in 12th place. Winthrop senior Benn Allen won the race at 17:41 and Nick Harrriman (Lisbon) was second at 18:07.

“Benn Allen (Winthrop) the race winner is one of the favorites to win the individual state title so for Joey to be as close to him as he was is a great indicator of his fitness right now,” Scott wrote. “It was another impressive showing for our trail pack, which secured the victory for the team. The maturation of last year’s returning varsity runners with the additions of Dan Drummond and Kyle Ames has made us a rather good team.”

For the girls, Hannah Morley led the scorers, finishing third at 23:36, followed by Morgan Crocker (5th, 24:21), Kate Friant (11th, 25:23), Lincoln Hamblett (16th, 25:58) and Maya Schwehm (22nd, 28:05). Genevieve Taylor, in her first race of the season, finished 30th at 30:31.

“We had a very good race overall, with strong performances being turned in by all six runners,” Scott said.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, BRHS hosts its only home meet of the season, where the hometown favorites will run against Hall-Dale, Lisbon, Monmouth, St. Dom’s and Wiscasset.