The cross country course at Troy Howard Middle School was muddy and slippery by the time the Maine Festival of Champions finished Saturday. And with good reason.

More than 1,000 runners competed on a course which last week absorbed nine inches of rain. Because there were so many runners -- 553 boys and 452 girls from over 60 high schools competed -- there were six separate races, all eventually scored together.

"It was crazy by the time the sixth race went off," Mt. Blue coach Kelley Cullenberg said.

Boys and girls teams from Scarborough each finished first while the Mt. Blue girls and boys placed third and sixth, respectively. Cullenberg pointed out that eight of the top 10 teams in the statewide weekly coaches poll competed which boded well for her Cougars.

"The boys were not in the poll," she said. "The girls were 10th in the poll. We were really happy with (the results)."

York's Alex Moser won the boys race while Kennebunk freshman Abbey Leonardi took the girls race, winning by 47 seconds over freshman Fiona Hendry of Cheverus. Hendry edged Maranacook's Abby Mace, yet another freshman, by two seconds.

"Abbey Leonardi wasn't challenged at all," Cullenberg said. "If course conditions were right, she would be in the very low 18s. She seemed very smooth, in control and effortless."

Leonardi ran the 3.1 mile course in 18 minutes, 43 seconds, but will have another shot at it in three weeks since Belfast is the site of this year's state meet. If conditions are fast, she could have a good shot at the course record of 17:52 set by Old Town's Cassie Hintz in 2004.

Despite the conditions, Cullenberg said many of the members of both Mt. Blue teams set lifetime bests. Junior Melody Lam turned in a strong race, placing sixth in 20:14.

"(She) ended up beating a lot of big names," Cullenberg said. "She's getting closer to a sub 20."

Sophomores Gwen Beacham and Shelby Aseltine placed 37th and 48th, respectively for the Cougars while freshman Addie Cullenberg finished in a separate freshman race and 34th overall.

"I think they really pulled together (Saturday)," Culleneberg said. "It was interesting because they did it in separate races. It was kind of neat to see the whole thing unfold."

Junior Kelton Cullenberg paced the Mt. Blue boys with a ninth-place finish while sophomore teammates Brody Hines and Jaron Jones placed 41st and 42nd.

The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference meet will be held Oct. 17 at the hilly course at the University of Maine at Augusta, a stark contrast to relatively flat Belfast.

"It doesn't even compare," Cullenberg said of Belfast. "I think it definitely favors the people who are track runners. You're going to train differently."

 

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The Waterville boys and girls didn't compete at the Festival since they had a meet at Erskine on Friday. The Purple Panthers also had some injuries and several runners taking Scholastic Aptitude Tests.

The girls won the six-team meet at Erskine, led by senior Katie Jacobs, who captured her second race of the year. Sophomore Courtney Williams has been a solid No. 2 runner for Waterville while senior Karin King has shown recent improvement.

"The last two races she's run extremely well, probably the best of her career," Waterville coach Koren Coughlin said.

Senior Morgan Frame is competing in cross country for the first time and currently running fourth on the team.

"She's just so competitive," Coughlin said of the basketball star. "She's enjoying it, too."

Sophomore Natasha Griffith is running fifth despite an ankle injury. Coughlin said the Maranacook girls are the KVAC Class B favorite this season, though.

"They have a lot more depth," she said.

On the boys side, both No. 1 runner Mike Nelson and No. 2 Jeff Hale have battled shin splints. Nelson is back on track while Coughlin expects Hale back this week. Freshmen Ryan Lopes and Will Hoffman have shown improvement during the season.

"They're adjusting to the distance and the strategy," Coughlin said.

Short takes . . . Former Mt. Blue runner Adam Deveau is doing well, according to Coach Cullenberg. Deveau, who was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after winning the Class A state race two years ago, is currently enrolled at Acadia University in Nova Scotia and doing some non-competitive running. "He's doing really well," Cullenberg said. "He looked wonderful this summer." . . . . Silver Hunt, who won the Class A girls race for Mt. Blue last season, is currently enrolled at Madison and not competing in cross country . . . Lawrence's Sebastian Peters finished 36th and teammate Michael Brooks placed 46th in Saturday's race. For Winslow, Colby Levesque led the boys in 100th place while Adriana Walsh paced the girls in 99th. Both are sophomores . . . There are 14 teams currently entered in this Friday's Mt. Blue Relays.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com