Cross Country: Winthrop’s Hickey, St. Dom’s girls win South regional titles

Winthrop senior Jacob Hickey had watched someone else win the Class C Boys’ individual race the previous two years — he finished second in 2015 — but wanted the title for himself in his final attempt. His time of 16:40 was more than 40 seconds faster than his next-closest competitor. In other words, more than enough to get that coveted title.

Hickey was joined locally by the St. Dominic Academy girls’ team, which won the Class C South team title. The Class C girls’ individual race was won once again by Boothbay sophomore Faith Blethen, who beat out St. Dom’s sophomore Bugsy Hammerton.

Blethen edged Hammerton by less three seconds, but Hammerton’s margin for second was even less, as she dove across the finish line to beat out third-place Olivia Skillings of Maine Coast Waldorf by .01 seconds.

“I don’t know,” Hammerton said of her thought to dive. “I don’t really know. I was just like, ‘Whatever.'”

“She’s a good competitor,” St. Dom’s coach Joshua Brown said. “She’s a hockey player, former soccer player, and she brings that kind of aggression onto the cross country course.”

Blethen also showed what kind of competitor she is.

“It wasn’t about time for me today,” said Blethen, whose time of 21:11.80 was almost 90 seconds slower than her season best. “I’m really proud of hitting that gut check. I’ve never felt pushed like that before. It felt great to see what I could do.

“I showed myself today that I can push myself a little harder.”

Blethen led up until the 2.5-mile mark, but was then passed by Skillings and Hammerton. She said she fought the urge to give up in a spot on the course named “pain cave” and surged past her competitors.

The Saints as a team surged past the field in the girls’ race. Besides Hammerton, Caroline Gastonguay, Sydney Sirois and Ella Brown finished fifth, sixth and seventh, and Megan D’Alessandro was 16th to give St. Dom’s a 29-point cushion over second-place Waynflete.

“The girls raced exactly the way we wanted them to to race today,” Joshua Brown said. “If you can have a pack in cross country it makes a huge difference.”

“We have each other there,” Hammerton added. “It’s not like we’re out by ourselves in the middle of the course.”

Hickey was the lone Rambler at the front in the Class C boys’ race, but he had former teammate Ben Allen on his mind before and during the run. Allen won the regional title two years ago, and Hickey said he always looked up to him and wanted to emulate his feat.

But first Hickey had to defeat Maine Coast Waldorf’s Tucker Pierce. Hickey made his move during the second mile and ever looked back.

“I just wanted to see what he would do in the beginning of the race. He went out pretty fast, so I tried to stick with him, and then I tried to make a move in the second mile to try to distance myself,” Hickey said. “I try to, every time there’s a bend or something, I tried to use that to my advantage. Do a pick up or something, try to increase my distance.”

Hickey said he wanted to cement his legacy in Winthrop’s cross country history. He did just that.

The St. Dom’s boys also made a mark in their program’s history, finishing fifth to qualify for the state championships for the first time in 11 years. Maine Coast Waldorf edged out Waynflete 70-72 for the team title. The Saints’ team score of 140 was enough to get into states. Mark D’Alessandro and Jose Torres finished 14th and 16th, respectively, to help push the Saints.

Host Greely swept the Class B South team titles. The boys easily distanced themselves from Freeport and Wells, who tied through the top five runners, with the Falcons barely winning the tiebreaker on the sixth runner.

“We knew we could match up 1-2 fairly well, but the pack ran unbelievably well, with basically four through seven before anybody else’s five,” Rangers coach David Dowling said.

The Greely girls beat out rival Yarmouth. But in the individual race, the Clippers’ Abby Hamilton edged Greely teammates Carolyn Tod and Katherine Leggat-Barr.

“It’s a little shocking. I didn’t really expect this. I knew that there would be a lot of good runners in this race,” Hamilton said. “I just kept thinking of (my team) when it got tough out there today.”

Hamilton led from the start, which went against her game plan going in, and said she felt comfortable with the win with 400 meters to go. She won by exactly 23 seconds.

“Hamilton for Yarmouth is very strong and quick. Just hammered that first mile,” Dowling said. “Katherine, not feeling 100-percent, just didn’t really feel the zip in her legs.”

Dowling said he always expects his teams to finish second, so a pair of wins was a pleasant surprise.

Laverdiere was anything but a surprise in winning the boys’ individual race, but after not racing hard for a month, the fresh Clipper went out and beat Freeport’s Henry Jaques by 22 seconds.

“I really saved myself for end of October into November,” Laverdiere said.

Falmouth swept both team races in Class A South, as well as getting individual wins in both races. Jeremiah Sands was the boys’ champ, and Malaika Pasch took the girls’ title.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

Area State Qualifiers

Class B boys

Qualifying teams: none.

Individuals

Jason Labbe, Leavitt, 21st, 18:03.89.

Class B girls

Qualifying teams: none.

Individuals

Julia Labbe, Leavitt, 19th, 21:14.27.

Olivia Ouellette, Poland, 20th, 21:16.15.

Samantha Halmos, Poland, 26th, 21:28.27.