Bangor's Daniel McCarthy edges rival to win Class A North cross country title

Oct. 24—The battle to determine the top schoolboy distance runner in northern Maine — and perhaps in the state — this fall continues to develop.

Last week it was Hampden Academy senior Abbott Valentine, who set a course record while edging Bangor's Daniel McCarthy to capture the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A title at Cony High School in Augusta.

McCarthy reversed that result Saturday by pulling away from Valentine and Grady Satterfield of Topsham's Mt. Ararat High School over the final half-mile to win the Class A North boys cross country championship.

McCarthy, who also topped Valentine at the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions on the same Troy Howard Middle School course in Belfast earlier this month, used a strong finishing kick to set a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 25.13 seconds for the 3.1-mile distance.

Valentine was next in 15:33.02, while Satterfield placed third in 15:47.84.

"I don't really think about my race strategy too much," said McCarthy, a Georgetown University-bound senior. "I just sort of go for it and see what feels right. Today Abbott and Grady took the lead off the gun and I was just following them because that's how it unfolded. I felt good passing them with about 800 meters left. I was like, 'I might as well put a surge in,' and there were no regrets because it worked out well."

Brunswick edged Hampden Academy 53-57 to win the Class A North team title, with Bangor third with 73 points.

The champs were paced by fifth-place Eli Palmer, one of three Dragons among the top nine finishers, while Hampden featured Valentine, fourth-place Charlie Collins and 10th-place Harrison Shain.

The top three teams, along with Messalonskee of Oakland (111), Mt. Ararat (119) and Mt. Blue of Farmington, all qualified for states. The top half of the finishing teams and top 30 individual runners in each regional race earned berths into the state championships to be held next Saturday on the same course.

The tightest battle for team honors came among the Class A North girls, as Mt. Blue and Bangor tied at 53-53 through each squad's top five finishers, but Mt. Blue had an 8-second advantage among their sixth-place runners in the championship-clinching tiebreaker.

Bangor was led by senior Megan Randall, who followed up her KVAC championship a week earlier with a personal-best time of 18:48.17. That edged two other sub-20-minute finishers in the race, Payton Bell of Edward Little of Auburn (19:45.79) and Emma Charles of Mt. Blue (19:48.47).

"Megan PR'd today big, and did it all by herself," Bangor coach Roger Huber said. "She got out there and had a wider lead than she's had in the past. Payton Bell and Jenna Van Ryn of Camden Hills had been just tailing her almost all season whenever we met and today she got out just a little bit quicker and looked so relaxed. And a relaxed runner is a fast runner."

Led by the 4-5 finishes of Van Ryn and Cassie Middleton, Camden Hills was third with 62 points, while Brunswick (82) and Mount Ararat of Topsham (153) also earned state-championship tickets.

Perennial contender Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor swept the Class B North crowns.

Freshman Amelia VanDongen captured the individual title in 19:39.69 as MDI cruised to victory in the girls' race with 30 points, well ahead of Cony (59). Waterville (75), Caribou (125) and John Bapst of Bangor (143), which also advanced to states.

All seven of MDI's varsity runners placed among the top 15, while Cony was led by fifth-place Grace Kirk, who trailed only VanDongen, Abby Williams of Waterville, Kayley Bell of Caribou and Anna Jandreau of Presque Isle.

The Class B North boys competition was tighter, with MDI scoring 81 points to edge John Bapst and Caribou by 10 points each.

Sam York paced the Trojans to the victory by finishing second in 16:45.61. York trailed only race winner Connor Daigle of Medomak Valley of Waldoboro (15:53.52).

John Bapst and Caribou each placed three runners among the top 11, but MDI's overall depth was better as the Trojans gained significant points against both rivals at the fourth and fifth finishing positions.

The Houlton/Greater Houlton Christian Academy girls and Orono boys captured Class C North championships.

Houlton/GHCA, a cooperative cross country entry since 2019, followed up its one-point win over Orono at last week's Penobscot Valley Conference small-school championships with a 37-40 victory over the Red Riots behind a third-place finish from freshman Teanne Ewings.

"We're very fortunate to have the program that we do," Houlton/GHCA coach Chris Rines said. "Teanne's mother [Angela] is the middle-school coach, and finally we're getting some of the kids from her program fed up into high school so some of these kids have good experience already."

Orono sophomore Ruth White posted the fastest girls' time of the day regardless of class at 17:41.10, but Ewings led four Houlton/GHCA runners among the top nine finishers and six among the top 14 to secure the team victory.

Orono and third-place George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, led by race runner-up Thea Crowley (18:27.30), also qualified for states.

Senior Kyle McClellan captured his second individual title in three years to pace Orono to a comfortable victory in the C boys race. McClellan, also the Northern champ in 2019, was one of four Red Riots in the top nine as he won in 16:51.42. Bucksport sophomore William Hileman was second in 17:25.90.

Orono finished with 34 points, followed by George Stevens Academy (69), Bucksport (74), Sumner of East Sullivan (135) and the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (147) as state-meet qualifiers.