Falmouth’s Jeremiah Sands heads toward a first place overall finish at Friday’s Western Maine Conference meet. Sands helped the Yachtsmen take the team title.

Falmouth’s Malaika Pasch and Yarmouth’s Greta Elder run in the girls’ race Friday. Pasch came in first individually, while Elder was 14th. The Yachtsmen were second as a team to York, while the Clippers finished fourth.

Maine Coast Waldorf’s Tucker Pierce was the top male in Division II competition Friday.

Friday’s Western Maine Conference cross country championship meet in Standish doubled as demonstration of Falmouth’s dominance, especially on the boys’ side.

The Yachtsmen tallied 27 points as a team to easily beat runner-up Freeport (63) in the nine-team boys’ Division I field. Greely (120 points) placed fourth and Yarmouth (161) finished seventh.

Falmouth’s Jeremiah Sands won the overall and Division I race with a time of 16 minutes, 37 seconds, which was seven seconds faster than individual runner-up Henry Jaques of Freeport.

“I like downhills, I like to push those downhills so it’s not as bad,” Sands said. “Henry is tough, if it came to a straightaway, I don’t think I could of had him. He’s a good competitor, but those downhills, I made them count.”

Also scoring for the Yachtsmen were John Auer (third, 17:16), Conner Piers (fourth, 17:18), Ben Wyman (ninth, 18:14) and Charlie Henning (10th, 18:15). Alex Kinley was 12th and Jared Troubh 24th, but their scores didn’t count (they would have for any other team, however). 

In addition to Jaques’ runner-up showing, the Falcons got points from Yacob Olins (fifth, 17:39), Alex Les (sixth, 17:48), Tom Doyle (18th, 18:38) and Tanner Morrison (32nd, 19:16).

Greely was paced by Jack Gustafson (15th, 18:26). Also scoring for the Rangers were Isaac Moore (20th, 18:49), Sam Bonnevie (23rd, 18:55), Trevor Rafford (28th, 19:07) and Andrew Storey (34th, 19:25).

Yarmouth’s top finisher was Sammy Potter (11th, 18:15). Also scoring were Ben Cox-Faxon (25th, 18:58), Ashanti Haywood (37th, 19:43), Keiran Lorentzeb (41st, 20:00) and Will Saint-Amour (47th, 20:16). 

Falmouth also had the top individual on the girls’ side, as Malaika Pasch won the race with a time of 19:11, 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Louise Holway of Kennebunk.

Pasch actually took a wrong turn at the beginning of the race.

“It was a quarter-mile before the mile mark, I turned right before I was supposed to run straight,” Pasch said. “The girls told me to quickly turn around.”

The Yachtsmen were second as a team with 58 points (11 behind York). Yarmouth (114 points) finished fourth, Greely (190) was seventh and Freeport (199) placed eighth.

In addition to Pasch’s first-place time, Falmouth got points from Hannah Berzinis (11th, 21:15), Mira Wyman (12th, 21:25), Ally Schimelman (16th, 21:53) and Antoinette Lambert (18th, 21:58). 

The Clippers were led by Greta Elder (14th, 21:47) and Lillian Kuhn (15th, 21:51). Also scoring were Sadie Cowles (22nd, 22:20), Katie Waeldner (23rd, 22:22) and Alexandra Auger (40th, 23:33). 

Katherine Leggat-Barr and Carolyn Todd didn’t run for the Rangers, who were led by Izzy Evans (21st, 22:15). Also scoring were Marin Provencher (25th, 22:29), Shannon Flaherty (44th, 23:57), Olivia Bucknam (46th, 24:05) and Emilee McGillicuddy (54th, 24:52). 

The Falcons got points from Laura Pierce (26th, 22:36), Emily Sclar (36th, 23:35), Olivia Botting (38th, 23:29), Caroline Stairs (49th, 24:24) and Jessie Minieri (50th, 24:28). 

Maine Coast Waldorf and North Yarmouth Academy took part in Division II.

In the boys’ race, MCW had 57 points and was second to Wells (32), while NYA (130) placed sixth. MCW did have the top individual in Tucker Pierce (17:08). Also scoring were Dylan Wu (fifth, 17:46), Nick Neveu (sixth, 17:47), Eli Gunderson (22nd, 19:54) and Davis Ritger (23rd, 19:58). 

The Panthers were led by Brennan Flatt (14th, 19:07). Also scoring were Rick Hilscher (18th, 19:20), Kieran Rowe (30th, 20:24), Jack Kostelnik (31st, 20:27) and Jack Sillin (37th, 21:33). 

The Division II girls’ meet was won by St. Dom’s with 31 points. MCW (84) was fourth. NYA didn’t score as a team.

MCW was paced by Olivia Skillings (sixth, 21:26). Louise Ahearne (12th, 22:32), Ava Teegarden (20th, 23:42), Caitlin Keliher (21st, 23:49) and Eliza Mathis (25th, 24:26) also scored.

The Panthers got strong individual showings from Megan Alberding (who had the seventh-best time, 21:27), Sarah Austin (18th-best time, 23:22) and Charlotte Collins (28th-best time, 24:37).

Regional Saturday

Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland will be the site of the Southern Maine regional championship meets Saturday.

The day begins with the Class B boys’ race at 11, where Freeport, Greely and Yarmouth will compete. The Class B girls’ meet starts at 11:35 a.m. The MCW and NYA boys will run in the Class C boys’ race at 12:30 p.m. The MCW and NYA compete in the Class C girls’ meet at 1:05. Falmouth looks for the Class A boys’ title at 2 p.m. The Class A girls start at 2:35 p.m.

The state meet will be held in Belfast Saturday, Oct. 29.

Sun Journal staff writer Nathan Fournier contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

Copy the Story Link