CUMBERLAND — Not even a fall could keep Lewiston’s Osman Doorow from winning his first cross country state championship.
The Blue Devils’ senior ran away with the Class A boys’ individual title and one of six runners, as well as six teams, to claim titles at the cross country state championships at Twin Brook Recreation Area Saturday.
Doorow’s title capped off a championship season in which he was a conference, regional and now state champion.
“It feels good,” Doorow said when asked about earning that title.
Doorow said he “kicked it in” at the first uphill stage of the 3.1-mile course, and found some breathing room by the first mile marker.
A fall coming around the last corner kept Doorow from reaching his goal of a sub-16 minute time, but he was still able to recover and win in 16:17.71. Hampden’s Paul Casavant was second, more than 13 seconds back, and Gorham’s Jesse Southard was third.
Scarborough won its second Class A boys’ team title in a row — and eighth in 12 years — thanks top 10 finishes by Colin Tardiff (fourth), Connor Doherty (sixth) and Andrew Sholl (eighth). Falmouth was runner-up, with 80 points to the Red Storm’s 60.
Bonny Eagle easily won the Class A girls’ title, beating out runner-up Scarborough, 58-86. The Scots were led by Kialeigh Marston, who was third overall behind Gorham’s Anna Slager and Mt. Ararat’s Katherine Leckbee.
The second-best local individual finish was that of Lisbon’s Nicholas Harriman, who finished third overall in the Class C boys’ race. The MVC and Class C South regional champion finished behind George Stevens Academy’s John Hassett and Maine Coast Waldorf School’s Tucker Pierce. Harriman crossed the line in 17:22.28 — more than a half-minute behind Hassett (16:46.18) and slower than the sub-17 minute pace he was hoping for.
“Of course I felt like I should have done better,” Harriman said. “I didn’t run great, but I can’t complain. My goal was to go under 17 minutes. I didn’t really come close to that, but I’m still feeling good.”
Harriman said keeping up with Hassett and Pierce proved to be difficult, as did the “rough” terrain of the Twin Brook course, according to Harriman.
“They are strong runners, and I am proud to have run with them,” said Harriman.
Lisbon head coach Jeremy Williams said “hats off to” Hassett and Pierce for their races.
Hassett’s GSA team took home the Class C boys’ crown, beating out Northern Maine rival Orono, 60-71. Lisbon was third with 120 points, and Winthrop was fourth with 153.
“Taking third, representing the Mountain Valley Conference like that, I’m pretty proud of that,” Williams said. “I couldn’t have been more proud of how they did and what they did today. They all ran hard, one through seven. They pushed hard as they could through the week, through the day. It was a good race for all of them.”
The Greyhounds were helped out by a fifth-place finish from Jordan Cole. Winthrop was led by Jacob Hickey (fourth), William Vance (20th) and Jesse Stevens (21st). Monmouth Academy’s Luke Thombs finished eighth.
Orono won the Class C girls’ team title over GSA, by a 24-51 score. The Red Riots swept the top three spots, led by individual winner Tia Tardy. Hannah Steelman was the runner-up, followed by Kassidy Dill in third. St. Dom’s Ella Brown finished sixth.
The Class B races featured a pair of 1-2 finishes by teammates. That wasn’t enough to win a team title in the Class B girls’ race, however, as Greely had to settle for second and a 1-2 placing by Katherine Leggat-Barr and freshman Carolyn Todd. Yarmouth won the team title by a 65-78 score, with York right behind with 81 points. The Clippers were led by Anneka Murrin (fourth) and Abigail Hamilton (sixth).
Freeport runners finished 1-2 for the individual title to help lift the Falcons to the Class B boys’ team title. Chandler Vincent crossed the line with a winning time of 16:34.72, beating runner-up teammate Henry Jaques by more than six seconds. Freeport beat runner-up York, 52-62. Greely was third, with 80 points, after a 3-4 finish by Ryan Morrison and Kyle Hansen. Rex Brockelman led York with a fifth-place finish.
Those three teams were among six boys’ teams to qualify for the New England Championships set for No. 14 in Thetford, Vt. Scarborough, Falmouth and GSA also made the qualifying cut — which is made up of the three state champions and the next three best determined by the total time of a team’s top five runners.
The Bonny Eagle girls’ team opted out of going to New Englands, allowing Class A school Massabesic to qualify. Yarmouth and Orono made it based on team championships, while Scarborough, Greely, York and Massabesic qualified on total times.
Doorow and Harriman both qualified for the New England Championships individual race. The top 25 boys and girls from the state, regardless of class, get a spot at New Englands. Doorow was the top overall boy, with his winning time the best of the day. Harriman was the 23rd fastest boy — still fast enough to make it to New Englands, and one of just two local runners to do so. The significance of Harriman’s qualification wasn’t lost on Williams.
“It’s great,” Williams said. “Very well done. Very happy.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com.
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