At the Mountain Valley Conference title race at UMaine in Augusta on Saturday, Oct. 19, the boys cross country team and senior Sophia Thayer scooped MVC top honors. The girls team placed second, a mere one point behind Lisbon.

The Seahawks, led by senior Benn Scully, lodged another decisive victory, finishing 29 points ahead of the team’s nearest competitor. Throughout the course, the Seahawks’ bright yellow singlets swarmed together like bees near the front of the pack, as racers looped in and out of woods and around fields.

Boothbay notched the win with 38 points, followed by Monmouth, 57, Winthrop, 83, Hall Dale, 100, Lisbon, 108, Dirigo, 174, Madison, 176, St. Dom’s, 200, Mountain Valley, 230 and Carrabec, 268.

The UMaine Augusta course is a hilly one and Coach Nick Scott said race times were “fast for this course at this time of year.” Scoring for BRHS were Benn Scully (5th, 18:02), Joey Paolillo (6th, 18:07), Robert Campbell (7th, 18:10), Jack Hasch (11th, 18:44) and Matt Burnham (14th, 18:55). Kyle Alamo (19th, 19:21) and Kyler Carter (22nd, 19:28) placed sixth and seventh for Boothbay.

All five Seahawk scorers finished in the top 14, earning each of them a place on the 2013 All Conference Team. Finish times for the top five were separated by less than a minute. 

“Historically, we’ve never done that,” Scott said after the race. “Even in 2008, we only placed four runners in the top 14. It’s hard to articulate how impressive this race was for the boys.”

In the girls race, Thayer bested the field of 75 runners, racked up her third MVC win in four years and was named MVC female runner of the year. Looking comfortable, Thayer led throughout the race and finished with her signature dramatic kick at 21:05. Thayer’s race time on Saturday was her best ever at MVCs and BRHS’s fastest female MVC finish in available history (since 2003).

Undaunted by the hilly course, junior Morgan Crocker delivered her best race of the season with a fifth place 22:00 finish. Crocker was strong and deliberate throughout the race and looks perfectly positioned for the rest of the season.

Hannah Morley was the third runner in for Boothbay, finishing 9th at 22:17 and joining Thayer and Crocker on the 2013 All Conference team.

Kate Friant finished fourth for Boothbay (26th, 23:31) and the field hockey crossovers rounded out the rest of the top seven. Tori Schmid was the fifth and final scorer (41st, 25:17), followed by Shaw Pinkham (42nd, 25:18) and Brooke Alley (44th, 26:21).

Hoping for the win, many of the girls were disappointed after the race and the hour that elapsed while the boys ran and scores were tallied was a long one for the team. Friant and Shaw said they struggled on the course and were disappointed to not have more for the finish. “I’m just sorry we couldn’t win it this year for Sophia,” Friant said.

When scores were finally announced, Lisbon had prevailed with 76 points, followed by Boothbay, 77, Monmouth, 92, St. Dom’s, 114, Winthrop, 118, Madison, 128, Dirigo, 130, and Telstar, 147.

“This was by far the strongest girls team that Boothbay has ever fielded,” Scott wrote in an email. “Our average finishing time was 22:50, by comparison last year it was 23:12. Today may not have been the exact outcome that the girls were looking for, but it showed how strong our team has become.”

Coach Lauren Forgues said she was ecstatic with everyone’s performance at MVCs and was optimistic about the rest of the championship season. “UMaine Augusta is a really hard course and everyone’s face showed they put in a really good effort today,” Forgues said. “If we keep doing what we do, I think we will be faster next week at Twin Brooks.”

On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Seahawks continue the team’s championship quest, as the top seven runners from both teams compete at the Western Regional Championship Race at Twin Brooks in Cumberland.

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