Police, fire and ambulance vehicles and those scores of fans lined up at the Boothbay/Edgecomb town line Friday night for a welcoming parade through downtown Boothbay Harbor in honor of not just one, but two, Mountain Valley championship teams. Both Boothbay Region High School’s girls’ and boys’ teams captured first place at the cross country conference meet held at the University of Maine at Augusta, marking the first double win in the school’s history. Their coach, Nick Scott, was also named coach of the year.

The wins were special for several reasons. First of all, in girls’ competition, only the top five finishers are scored. Guess what? We only have five on the team! Someone remarked, during the trophy presentation, that only five girls had stepped forward to accept the awards and was told the five represented the entire team. Boothbay runners were first and second across the line, also a feather in the school’s cap, as is the fact that freshman Faith Blethen set a new course record, as she has at several meets this year. A number of the runners have turned in their best personal records in recent weeks and continue to do so.

For our boys’ team, while we had no finishers in the top three, we proved we were fierce competitors, surprising some of the teams with faster runners that didn’t have the numbers needed when it came to the top five scorers. We think one of the best lessons to come out of these wins is the vital contribution of each and every runner. It’s often those further back in the pack that make a big difference between a win and a loss.  The girls’ win with such a small team reminded us of 1990 when Boothbay Region, with only three girls competing in the conference track championships in the spring, walked away with first place, a remarkable feat, considering that then, as now, we had no track and field practice facilities. Dick Morrison, who was coaching “way back then’’ and while retired stays involved in both cross country and track, has been around for both achievements.

Both the boys and girls cc teams continued their winning ways last Saturday at the regionals, with the boys again walking away with first place, and the girls, third. We understand that all of the school’s sports teams this fall qualified for the playoffs- not too shabby!! And things are looking good for upcoming years, with some outstanding middle school athletic achievements, such as the boys’ first place in cross country, and the girls second place.

Our continued success in many sports despite our low enrollment proves that you don’t have to be bigger to be better. When athletes and coaches share a commitment to be the best they can, anything is possible.