Dexter’s Reinhardt, Cooley, and King qualify for state XC meets

BELFAST — Runners from three area high schools took part in Northern Maine cross country championships on Oct. 23 at Troy Howard Middle School.

In the boys Class C North meet, Dexter Regional High School junior Payson Reinhardt covered the 5K course in a time of 18 minutes, 32.93 seconds. Reinhardt placed 12th among a field of 85 runners. By being among the 30 individual finishers he qualified for next Saturday’s Class C championship scheduled to be run on the same course.

Reinhardt helped Dexter finish seventh among nine teams with a score of 153 points (ahead of the 167 for eighth-place Washington Academy of East Machias and behind the 149 for Lee Academy).

Freshman Willis Reinhardt was the next Dexter runner to cross the finish line. He placed 33rd at 20:14.49. Rounding out the Tiger top top five was junior Trevor Speed, 34th at 20:20.19; sophomore Hunter Cram, 58th at 23:12.67; and senior Miles Gadwah, 70th at 25:35.78.

Dexter also had juniors David Race and Allen Getchell compete. They were 76th and 85th with respective times of 26:32.45 and 35:42.14.

Piscataquis Community High School sophomore Jorgen Halvorsen finished 43rd in the Class C North race, in a time of 21:38.81.

The Orono High School boys won the team championship with a score of 34 points. George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill came in second with 69 points and Bucksport High School was third with 74. Also earning berths in the state meet were Sumner Memorial High School of Sullivan with 135 points and the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone with 147 points.

Orono senior Kyle McClellan earned top individual honors in 16:51.52, winning by 34 seconds.

In the girls Class C North championship, Dexter freshman Lillian Cooley finished 25th among a field of 72 runners with her time of 23:57.60. Junior Annika King came in 27th with her time of 24:01.86. By being in the top 30, both Cooley and King earned a spot in the Class C championship on Oct. 30 in Belfast.

Tiger junior Emma Alexander placed 41st in 26:49.16.

The Houlton High School/Greater Houlton Christian Academy cooperative program won the regional championship with 37 points, just ahead of the 40 for Orono. George Stevens earned the third state meet berth by scoring 85 points.

Orono sophomore Ruth White finished in first place in 17:41.10, winning the race by 46 seconds, and having the top girls time among the Class A, B, and C races.

In Class B, the Foxcroft Academy girls scored 181 points to place eighth among a field of nine schools. The Ponies were ahead of the 197 for Medomak Valley High School of Waldoboro and behind the 173 for seventh-place Hermon High School.

Pony junior Annie Raynes led her team by finishing 34th in a field of 74 entrants with her time of 23:51.20. Senior Olivia McCorrison crossed the finish line in 24:19.51 to place 38th.

The rest of the Foxcroft top five was junior Nora Koskela-Koivisto, 49th at 25:50.31; senior Makayla Landry, 53rd at 26:30.50; and senior Emily Fuller, 56th at 26:40.72. Junior Carolina Heilborn placed 73rd in 31:49.28.

Mount Desert Island High School won the team championship with a score of 30 points, followed by 59 for Cony High School of Augusta, and 75 points for Waterville High School. Earning the last two state championship berths were Caribou High School with 125 points and John Bapst Memorial High School of Bangor with 143 points.

MDI freshman Amelia Van Dongen won the individual championship with her time of 19:39.69, winning by about 20 seconds.

Four Foxcroft boys ran in their Class B North race.

Senior Aiden Currie finished 69th among 94 runners with his time of 21:06.47. Junior Gunnar Berling-Haugh was 80th in 22:02.27. Sophomore Zachary Peirce placed 81st at 22:16.25, and coming in 83rd was sophomore Jack Kingsbury in 22:31.77.

MDI won the boys title with a score of 81 points, just ahead of the 91 for John Bapst. Caribou came in third with 91 points, followed by 106 for Cony, and 122 for Hermon to round out the state qualifiers.

Medomak Valley senior Connor Daigle won the regional title as his time of 15:53.52 bested second place by 51 seconds.