Karen Higgins, of Lincoln Academy, leads a pack of runners on the way to second place in the Class B South girls championship race with a time of 19:15.19 on Saturday, Oct. 25 in Cumberland. (Mic LeBel photo)
Karen Higgins, of Lincoln Academy, placed second in the Class B South championship on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Twin Brook Recreation Area in Cumberland. According to Lincoln Academy coach Garrett Martin, Higgins’s second-place finish at the regional meet was the best by an LA girl in nearly 30 years. Higgins finished 13 seconds behind Greely High School’s Rowan Barry, who won the race in a time of 19:02.22.
The Lincoln girls placed sixth out of nine teams with a score of 141 points to earn the final qualification spot for the Class B state championship meet on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Cony High School in Augusta. The top six boys and girls teams advanced to the state championship meet. This is the fifth straight year the LA girls team has qualified for states. Freeport won the girls meet with a score of 38, followed by York (84), Cape Elizabeth (92), Greely (95), and Yarmouth (111).
“Our girls were up to the challenge and ran with tremendous heart,” Martin said. “I couldn’t be happier for this group and can’t wait to see what they do at Cony this Saturday. With no seniors on the postseason roster, the future looks incredibly bright.”
While the LA girls team is young, the boys team featured an experienced squad led by four seniors. Owen Card was the top Eagle on the boys team, placing fourth in 16:58.19 to help the LA boys place third out of the 12 schools that registered scores. With a score of 110 that trailed first place Yarmouth (45) and runner-up Freeport (87), this was the fourth time in the last 40 years that the Lincoln Academy boys have placed in the top three at the regional meet (third in 2022 and 2019; first in 2017). The Eagle boys failed to qualify for the state meet last season.
“This (LA boys) group carried the sting of falling short last year, and they used that as fuel all season long,” said Martin. “If the end crowns the work, their performances at KVACs and regionals showed just how far they’ve come.”
Six Lincoln Academy runners qualified individually for states by placing among the top 30 individuals, including Higgins, Annabel Garvan-Soto (13th) for the girls team, and Card, Thomas Mickael (16th), Harrison White (24th), and Holden Nehrboss (26th) for the boys.
The individual placement and time results for the Lincoln Academy girls are as follows: Higgins (second, 19:15.19), Garvan Soto (13th, 21:24.97); Chloe Anderson (40th, 24:12.78); Zoe Hufnagel (48th, 25:11.67); Hadley Spekke (53rd, 25:48.47); Ruby Glenn (56th, 26:28.09); and Stella Koller (59th, 27:37.66). The individual placement and time results for the Lincoln Academy boys are as follows: Card (fourth, 16:58.19); Mickael (16th, 18:01.80); White (24th, 18:21.95); Nehrboss (26th, 18:23.64); Alva Gandler (41st, 19:09.16); Alden Fitzgerald-Ward (54th, 19:30.08); and Isaiah Felton (57th, 19:38.30).
