AUGUSTA — The Mt. Ararat High School boys cross country team huddled together after the boys race at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships, and Lisandro Berry-Gaviria went to work getting his team focused on the road ahead.
There’s another one next week, he said. We’re not finished, he said.
“My focus today was on helping the team make a statement,” Berry-Gaviria said. “We’ve kind of been, I think, underrated by the rest of the state all season. … We definitely came in here wanting to make our mark.”
He did, and so did his team. Berry-Gaviria raced to first place in the Class A boys race and led Mt. Ararat to the team title, as the Eagles, who placed four runners in the top 10, scored 34 points to beat Brunswick (54), Bangor (57), Hampden (131) and Messalonskee (162).
“We looked at this as the first step in a three-step, or even four-step process,” said Berry-Gaviria, who was followed by teammates Grady Satterfield (fourth), Lucas Bergeron (eighth), Jace Hollenbach (10th) and Nate Cohen (11th). “We’ve got regionals next week, then we’ve got the state meet and hopefully New Englands. Definitely, our focus is on performing well at the state meet. This is just the first step in the road.”
In the girls race, Camden Hills won its third straight KVAC A title, totaling 57 points to top Bangor (83), Mt. Blue (102), Mt. Ararat (113) and Brunswick (149).
The Class B boys title went to Lincoln Academy for the fourth straight year. The senior-laden Eagles had the top B finisher in Jarrett Gulden and seven of the top 13 runners in the field, giving them 29 points and an easy win over Morse (52), Erskine (94), Medomak Valley (128) and Lawrence (136).
Morse’s runner-up finish was led by Finn Thelan, who took second 18:12.6 behind Lincoln Academy’s Jarrett Gulden. Shipbuilder teammate Liam Scanlon was seventh, followed by Aidan Pryor (11th), Connor Freeman (17th), Caleb Avery (22nd) and Riley Dunn (27th).
There was a changing of the guard in B girls, where Medomak Valley totaled 53 points to beat defending champion Maranacook (58), which was without injured top runner Molly McGrail. Gardiner was third at 95, while Winslow was fourth at 99 and Waterville took fifth with 100.
Morse was ninth with 202 points.
In the boys Class A race, a duel between two of the state’s best runners in Berry-Gaviria and Brunswick’s Will Shaughnessy took place on the difficult Cony High School course. Berry-Gaviria, who has run a lighter load than in previous years due both to college visits and an effort to keep him fresh for the big meets, pulled away to win at 16:18.5. Shaughnessy (16:38.8) was second, followed by Bangor’s Daniel McCarthy, Satterfield and Bangor’s Gordon Doore.
Berry-Gaviria, who has won all there is to win in Maine, said these victories don’t get old, in part because a rival like Shaughnessy pushes him to stay in front.
“Obviously Will has been running really well all season and he had a huge run at the Festival of Champions,” Berry-Gaviria said, “so I think he pushed me to really challenge myself and get afraid of someone.”
For Brunswick, Tyler Patterson was sixth and Joey Valliere ninth, followed by Dragons Eli Palmer (14th) and Aiden Simmons (23rd).
The A girls win went to Bangor’s Lydia Gilmore at 19:58.3. The senior likewise had a big margin of victory, coming in well ahead of Brewer’s Olivia Mosca (20:40.5).
“Being up in front is definitely, I would argue, just as hard as being around people,” she said. “You’re never going to run your best race alone. … With the scenery moving so slow, I think it’s definitely a mental challenge. But I couldn’t be more grateful to be competing among these ladies.”
Mt. Ararat’s Camila Ciembroniewicz was top local finisher, claiming seventh in 21:11.9. Katie Lynch (18th), Addison Kennedy (27th), Mary Wheeler (30th) and Libby Boutin (34th) scored for the Eagles, who took fourth with 113 points, with Brunswick in fifth with 149.
Micaela Ashby was the top Dragon finisher, claiming 12th, with Lily Hatrick (16th), Zoe Wilson (39th), Kaeden Green (42nd) and Hannah Wilkoff (43rd) scoring.
The Morse girls were paced by Lorelei Pryor (19th), Iris Hennin (26th), Madelen Namwira (60th), Sara Martinez-Estivez (65th) and Madelyn Jones-Cressey (66th).
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