The Eagle girls take off from the start line on the Fairgrounds track at a September 14 GSA home meet. By Anne Berleant
Blue Hill—Under a hot sun at the Blue Hill Fairgrounds, George Stevens Academy junior Caden Mattson crossed the finish line second, at 16:55.45, at an Eagles’ home meet September 14. His low time kept the varsity team score at 41 for a second-place finish behind Ellsworth, with 25 points. Freshman Clark Morrison came in 10th (18:06.21); sophomores Ian Renwick (18:21.17) and Andrew Szewz (18:23.35) finished 11th and 12th, junior Nyamh Wolf 14th (19:07.33), senior Sean Schweizer 15th (19:20.45), and junior Ian Howell 19th (19:45.77). Washington Academy (79) and Bucksport (101) completed the four schools competing as teams.
The girls team finished 1st with 23 points, ahead of Washington Academy, the sole other competing team in the 22 runner field. Senior Tess Williams was the top Eagle runner, coming in 5th at 21:44.08, with senior Oshi Ragot in 8th (22:34.03), sophomore Grace Broughton in 9th (22:37.86), freshman Lanny Zentz 10th (22:42.61), senior Susanna Jakub 11th (22:43.73) and sophomore Jose Czuj 12th (22:45.46).
Junior Ian Howell races. By Anne Berleant
Runners from seven schools, including Bucksport, Ellsworth, Searsport, Sumner and Deer Isle-Stonington raced at the Fairgrounds in GSA’s only home meet this season.
Deer Isle-Stonington freshman Henry Penfold crossed the finish line in 19:30, for 17th place, junior Ben Penfold placed 36th, and sophomore Ariel Larrabee placed 15th in the girls race. Coached by Mary Penfold, the DISHS runners competed individually but did not enter as a team.
This was the George Stevens team’s third meet under new head coach Todd Eckenfelder, who hopes to continue the team’s winning tradition that includes a girls 2016 Class C state championship and 2017 Northern Maine title, and 2017 Penobscot Valley Conference runner-up finishes for the boys and girls teams.
“We have lost a number of great runners, but we will be competitive with the group we have,” he said of his 21-member team.
Eckenfelder has set high goals, “to win the PVCs and attend states as a team—[a] big goal but not impossible.”
The championship season begins October 13 with the PVC meet at University of Maine at Presque Isle, the regionals one week later in Belfast, followed by the state championship, also in Belfast.
“Everyone understands the goal is for the team to do well,” he said, citing a strong team culture and dynamic. Eckenfelder also speaks with each runner on individual goals to help improve times.
“This is an incredibly easy group to work with,” he said. “They work very hard putting in many miles each week.”
Freshman Henry Penfold runs for Deer Isle-Stonington. By Anne Berleant
Runners from seven schools compete. By Anne Berleant
Clark Morrison, Andrew Szwez and Ian Renwick round the final leg in GSA’s home cross country meet at the Fairgrounds. By Anne Berleant