25 September 2010
Battling unseasonable warmth, humidity, and more than 200 runners from all over Southern Maine, the NYA boys cross-country team raced to one of the top spots in the inaugural Southwestern Maine Classic on Saturday. The race, new this year, included teams from the WMC and the SMAA, two of the largest athletic conferences in Maine. NYA was the top Class C school in the meet and many of the boys set personal records on their way to a 6th place finish among the 24 schools on the starting line.
Cam Regan led NYA’s pack again this week. Cam got off to a strong start, then moved steadily up the field. His final kick vaulted him into 6th place out of the 203 runners as he crossed the line in 17:37 (*new personal record) over the rolling 3.1 mile course. Evan Kendall hung with Cam most of the race and finished in an impressive 14th place (18:06*). Only two other teams from any class had a top two that scored as low as Cam and Evan. Rudy Guliani marked his recovery from a freak pull-up bar accident with a new personal record 19:00* (44th). Elliot Daniels had a breakout race (19:10* / 54th) to move up to become the team’s fourth man. Steady Brian Trelegan finished in 19:43 (81st). Grant McPherson (105th / 20:22) and Ian Moore (136th / 21:12) rounded out NYA’s top seven. Also finishing the varsity race were co-captain Robert Field (145th / 21:26), Jake Susla (163rd / 22:02), and co-captain Nick Kolkin (179th / 23:08).
In the JV race, Jonas Damion set a blistering pace off the starting line on his way to a 69th place finish in 22:51 *. Aldis Gamble also set a new personal record with his 23:27*(83rd). Max Maurer started cautiously, but moved up impressively over the last two miles to cross the line in 25:38 (132nd). Ethan Liu gave a great effort with his 27:05* (147th). Henry Arsenault finished in 27:26 (151st). Phong Ho came within seconds of a personal record, but still broke the important 30-minute barrier with his 29:58, good for 165th place. And Nate Ward-Chene celebrated his birthday by completing the course in 36:13 (173rd). Congratulations, Nate!
The boys will next race in Belfast on Saturday 10/2 at the site of the 2010 State Meet. The Belfast Festival of Champions promises to be a fast, exciting race. More details on the Belfast meet will follow soon.