Shealyn Brochu, Morse junior: Brochu is a dual-sport athlete who placed third in Class B and also notched four goals and four assists in soccer. She won the KVAC Class B title, was runner-up in the region and placed 61st in New England, ninth among runners from Maine. Her best time (19:12) came at the Festival of Champions.
Cary Drake, York senior: Drake successfully defended her Class B state title while also leading the Wildcats to a second straight team championship. She placed third at the Festival of Champions in a season-best 17:56 and later earned all-New England honors by placing eighth at the New England championships. She plans to continue her running career at Northwestern.
Teanne Ewings, Houlton/Greater Houlton Christian Academy junior: Ewings was runner-up in Class C and at the New England meet. A home-schooled student, she is one of only two girls (along with Ruth White) to run faster than 17:30 at Belfast, and has done so three times. She ran 17:15 at the Festival of Champions, lower than the previous course record and good for second place.
Natalie Johnson, Houlton/Greater Houlton Christian Academy junior: Another home-schooled student, Johnson placed third in Northern Maine and fifth in Class C to help her co-op team take second overall, only six points behind Orono. She placed 51st at the New England meet in 19:06, eighth among runners from Maine.
Samantha Moore, Portland junior: Moore won the Class A title after finishing second as a sophomore. She also won the Class A South race at Twin Brook and placed fourth at Belfast’s Festival of Champions in a season-best time of 18:02. For a second straight year, she earned all-New England honors, placing 15th among a field of 251.
Soren Stark-Chessa, Maine Coast Waldorf sophomore: Stark-Chessa placed third in Class C after winning Class C South at Twin Brook in Cumberland. She won the Western Maine Conference meet and placed fifth at the Festival of Champions. Saving her best for last, she ran 18:06 in Belfast to earn all-New England honors in the five-state meet, placing sixth overall.
Addy Thibodeau, Bonny Eagle senior: Defending state champion Thibodeau was the Class A runner-up, leading the Scots to a fifth consecutive state championship. For the second year in a row, she earned all-New England honors, placing 12th overall. She was sixth at the Festival of Champions, and plans to continue her running career at Marist College.
Amelia Vandongen, MDI junior: For the second year in a row, Vandongen was the Class B runner-up. She bounced back from an ankle injury to win her third straight Northern Maine title. At the New England meet, she placed 33rd overall, seventh among runners from Maine.
Clara White, Orono sophomore: At the Class C state meet, White ran nearly 40 seconds faster over the same Belfast course as she did in regionals to place fourth in 19:19 and help the Red Riots defend their state title. She also took fourth in the Northern Maine regional and finished 71st at the New England championships.
Ruth White, Orono senior: Already the only Maine runner to repeat as New England champion, White made it three in a row this fall. She also won the Manchester Invitational (by 50 seconds over a field of 400), the Festival of Champions (shattering her own course record, in 16:57) and a third straight individual Class C title to help Orono extend its reign to three years. She plans to continue her career at Boise State.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Lin White, Orono: The Red Riots entered the season uncertain whether they would be able to field a full five-runner team, having lost four of their top seven from last season. Indeed, for several meets, they fell short of mustering a team score. However, White nurtured his younger runners and they responded. At the state meet, Orono finished five runners before everyone else’s fourth to claim a sixth consecutive Class C crown and ninth in 10 seasons. “The girls rose to the occasion and they did an incredible job,” he said. “The kids make me look better than I really am.”
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