For the third straight year, both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams at Medomak Valley High School have qualified for the State Class B championship race. Medomak girls placed fifth and the boys sixth at the East B Regionals held in Belfast Oct. 31.
Gwen Moiles and Pat O’Donnell placed in the top 20 to qualify for the State meet as individuals.
The State Class B meets will be held at Twin Brook in Cumberland on Sat., Nov. 7 at 12:15 p.m. and 1 p.m.
“Ten out of 14 ran better than seeded,” Gould said of his team’s performance at the East Regional meet. Josh Parmenter ran with an injury, and Jordan Hopkins ran sick. Nicole Weaver “had a really good day” placing 28th and was the second Lady Panther finisher.
John Bapst won the girls’ race with 53 points, MDI 84, Ellsworth 125, Presque Isle 138 and Medomak 138. Dacie Manion of Old Town won the East B championship in a time of 20:10.
Gwen Moiles led the Panthers with a 5th place finish in 20:42. “Gwen had a great day,” coach George Gould said.
Nicole Weaver placed 28th, out kicking teammate Megan Wyllie on the final hill. Weaver finished in 21:55 and Wyllie took 29th in 22:02. Kiana Ocean placed 33rd in 22:19. “Kiana’s legs just didn’t feel right from the start. Her legs had no springs,” Gould said of Ocean’s off day.
Alyssa Griggs took 47th in 22:52 to complete the scoring five. Heidi Harris was 49th in 22:57 and Jordan Hopkins 67th in 24:13.
Pat O’Donnell medalled with a 7th place finish in 17:20. Joe Murphy placed 31st in 18:45, Josh Parmenter 39th in 19:06, Andrew Allen 43rd in 19:16, and Stefan Nichols 58th in 19:45 to complete the scoring five. Brendan O’Donnell was 62nd in 19:49 and Nick Anderson 66th in 20 minutes flat.
He has coached cross country at Medomak Valley for the past 27 years. He believes he is close to reaching the 1000 win milestone, if he hasn’t reached it already. “I just don’t know. I’ll have to do some research,” he said.
