La Salle's Eliza Rego put on a surge the final half mile to cruise to the win.
Considering her nationally-ranked team's last big meet was back in early September, La Salle Academy girls' coach Kelly Martin wasn't about to give her team a break from competitive racing this weekend.
After the cancellation of Saturday's Great American X-C Festival in North Carolina due to Hurricane Joaquin, a meet the Rams were scheduled to compete against some of the country's best, Martin scrambled to find a replacement by sending out emails to various race directors.
She got her answer late Thursday night when the race committee of the Maine Festival of Champions accepted Martin's request as a last-minute entry less than two days before throngs of competitors were set to answer the gun at Belfast Area High.
"When Great American was cancelled, we had to get something in there," the Ram coach said. "We managed to get this race and were just so thankful."
How did La Salle respond to its new opportunity? The Rams, ranked No. 10 nationally according to MileSplit's Saucony Flo50 XC Rankings, simply dominated in their first appearance at the popular event. With four of its varsity runners among the top five placements, La Salle scored a record-low 30 points to run away with the combined team title. The host state's Orono was second with 120 points and Cumberland was third with 151. In their seeded race, the Rams defeated second-place Cumberland, 24-89.
Karina Tavares secured second for the Rams.
Senior Eliza Rego led a 1-2-3-5 finish for the Rams by
snaring individual honors with a winning time of 18 minutes, 5.58 seconds. She
was followed by senior Karina Tavares (second, 18:29.27), sophomore Grace
Connolly (third, 18:36.30) and sophomore Emily Kane (fifth, 18:50.33). Senior
Audrey O'Neil completed the scoring for La Salle by taking 19th
overall with a time of 19:32.38
"For a majority of the race Eliza, Karina, Grace and Emily ran together," Martin said. "Eliza pulled away at about 1 ½ miles. Karina, Grace and Emily ran together up until about a half mile. Emily just needs to work on finishing the race."
As a team, the Rams set another record in the meet by averaging a time of 18:42.88 by their seven varsity runners.
"Overall, the team performance was very good," Martin said. "We still have to close the gap between our fourth and fifth runners, but I'm happy with our effort today."
La Salle will on the road again next week when it travels to New York City for the always-competitive Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park. The Rams are certainly capable of making some noise against the nation's heavies at the meet.
In fact, Martin believes this year's squad has potential to be the best in the school's history, even better than the 2014 team that finished ninth at the Nike Cross Nationals.
"I think we have a top five team," she said. "I think that if we can stay healthy, this could be one of our greatest teams."
Last year's winner Amy Laverty of Cumberland was ninth overall.
Cumberland, another quality program from the Ocean State and
one that has the ability to match or exceed last year's fourth-place finish at
the states, bunched its five scoring harriers in the top 50 for its
placement. Amy Laverty, the 2014 individual titlist, was the first Clipper
across the line, placing ninth among the combined 614 finishers with a time 19:04.04.
Teammate Julia Dempsey was 17th at 19:27.71.
Cumberland's promising junior Ben Drezek continued his rapid progression on the dirt trails by placing an outstanding third overall in the boys' race with a personal-best clocking of 16:12.25. Joe Murphy of Classical was seventh overall with a time of 16:24.99. Burrillville's Zachary Durand was 16th at 16:52.59 and Cumberland's Harry Travers finished 25th in 17:08.54.
The Clippers, who captured their fourth team crown in the race's history at last year's meet, had to settle for second this time. With three of its runners among the first seven, Scarborough, Me., was the recipient of the team plaque with 120 points to the Clippers' 162.
Ben Drezek led the second-place Cumberland boys by taking third overall.
Top 10 RI Boys (Merged Results)
| Rank | Time | Athlete/Team | Grade | Meet DatePlace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16:12.25 | 2017 | ||
| 2 | 16:24.99 | 2016 | ||
| 3 | 16:52.59 | 2016 | ||
| 4 | 17:08.54 | 2017 | ||
| 5 | 17:16.81 | 2016 | ||
| 6 | 17:19.56 | 2017 | ||
| 7 | 17:43.86 | 2019 | ||
| 8 | 17:44.10 | 2016 | ||
| 9 | 18:13.58 | 2016 | ||
| 10 | 18:22.76 | 2017 |
Top 10 RI Girls (Merged Results)
| Rank | Time | Athlete/Team | Grade | Meet DatePlace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18:05.58 | ELIZA REGO | 2016 | |
| 2 | 18:29.27 | 2016 | ||
| 3 | 18:36.60 | 2018 | ||
| 4 | 18:50.33 | 2018 | ||
| 5 | 19:04.04 | 2016 | ||
| 6 | 19:27.71 | 2017 | ||
| 7 | 19:32.58 | 2016 | ||
| 8 | 19:35.43 | 2016 | ||
| 9 | 19:40.66 | 2017 | ||
| 10 | 19:42.75 | 2018 | ||