Aroostook County runners held their own against one of the largest fields they will see this fall Saturday at the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions in Belfast.

The complete results included 940 boys and 611 girls, with schools from throughout Maine and New England taking part. Caribou’s Pierce Gorneault led the County boys with a seventh-place finish in 16:01.17, while fellow Viking Emma Graves placed eighth overall in the girls race in 19:06.96.

The County also had strong team showings. Houlton/GHCA placed ninth overall in the boys standings with 425 points, while Presque Isle was the top County girls team, finishing 12th with 401 points.

Gorneault Runs To Seventh

Gorneault stayed with the leaders and crossed the line seventh overall in 16:01.17.

Scarborough’s Atticus Merriam won an incredibly tight boys race in 15:21.18, just .15 seconds ahead of Dirigo’s William Morris at 15:21.33.

Houlton/GHCA also packed several runners high in the standings. Malachi Witmer finished 46th in 17:00.21, Brayden Drake was 50th in 17:01.89, Wyatt Quint placed 62nd in 17:09.53 and Logan Witmer was 66th in 17:12.16.

That depth helped Houlton/GHCA finish ninth out of 79 scoring boys teams with 425 points.

Presque Isle’s Paxton Darrell also broke into the top 100, finishing 78th in 17:20.05, while Caribou’s Peyton Gorneault was 91st in 17:33.39.

Graves Finishes Eighth In Girls Race

Graves produced another top-10 performance against a deep field, finishing eighth in 19:06.96.

Falmouth’s Georgia Moon won the girls race in 17:24.31, followed by Glastonbury’s Lauren Parrett and Portland’s Nora Schmidt.

Presque Isle had two more County runners near the front. Lillian Johnson placed 19th in 19:37.19 and Aleah Rideout followed in 23rd at 19:45.74.

Taylor York finished 64th for Presque Isle in 20:43.37, with Caribou’s Jenna Strid immediately behind her in 65th at 20:47.69.

Those performances helped Presque Isle take 12th in the girls team standings with 401 points. Caribou finished 18th with 595.

Boys Overall Top 10

Atticus Merriam, Scarborough, 15:21.18
William Morris, Dirigo, 15:21.33
Mateo Diaz, Falmouth, 15:44.09
Ryan Bolduc, Thornton Academy, 15:51.34
Samuel Bergmark, Bangor, 15:58.54
Bowen Mitchell, Yarmouth, 15:59.43
Pierce Gorneault, Caribou, 16:01.17
Jackie Chalmers, Yarmouth, 16:04.99
Andrew Parisi, East Greenwich, 16:06.56
Thomas Parrett, Glastonbury, 16:06.85

Boys Team Top 10

Yarmouth, 114
East Greenwich, 139
Portland, 156
Glastonbury, 172
Thornton Academy, 264
Gorham, 354
Scarborough, 362
Winthrop, 404
Houlton/GHCA, 425
Camden Hills, 439

Other County Boys Teams

Caribou, 845
Presque Isle, 884

Girls Overall Top 10

Georgia Moon, Falmouth, 17:24.31
Lauren Parrett, Glastonbury, 17:29.42
Nora Schmidt, Portland, 17:41.62
Karen Higgins, Lincoln Academy, 18:08.80
Allie Schmitt, Cheverus, 18:09.49
Addison Elliott, Hampden Academy, 18:26.61
Reagan Mattson, Maranacook, 18:55.42
Emma Graves, Caribou, 19:06.96
Carolyn Kamp, Glastonbury, 19:07.69
Kate Morrison, Portland, 19:16.43

Girls Team Top 10

Glastonbury, 76
Hampden Academy, 196
Mercy, 236
Falmouth, 248
Portland, 275
Mount Desert Island, 284
Cape Elizabeth, 291
Yarmouth, 293
Camden Hills, 379
Freeport, 381

County Girls Teams

Presque Isle, 401
Caribou, 595
Houlton/GHCA, 1,686

County Boys Finishers

Pierce Gorneault, Caribou, 16:01.17 (7th overall)
Malachi Witmer, Houlton/GHCA, 17:00.21 (46th overall)
Brayden Drake, Houlton/GHCA, 17:01.89 (50th overall)
Wyatt Quint, Houlton/GHCA, 17:09.53 (62nd overall)
Logan Witmer, Houlton/GHCA, 17:12.16 (66th overall)
Paxton Darrell, Presque Isle, 17:20.05 (78th overall)
Peyton Gorneault, Caribou, 17:33.39 (91st overall)
Jeremy Charette, Presque Isle, 17:48.96 (116th overall)
Connor Meile, Presque Isle, 18:42.12 (212th overall)
Stephen Cormier, Houlton/GHCA, 18:48.30 (224th overall)
Xander Jamieson, Caribou, 18:53.27 (232nd overall)
Geonni Guevara, Presque Isle, 19:09.12 (268th overall)
Isaac Brissette, Caribou, 19:10.74 (273rd overall)
Henry Clayton, Presque Isle, 19:16.82 (290th overall)
Alex Searles, Caribou, 19:35.66 (328th overall)
Micah Menifield, Caribou, 19:59.62 (377th overall)
Isaac Goodwin, Caribou, 20:08.37 (396th overall)
Jaxson Saucier, Fort Kent, 21:21.34 (555th overall)
Lucas McPhee, Houlton/GHCA, 21:26.30 (564th overall)
Michael Dooley, MSSM, 21:27.21 (565th overall)
Carlson Rolon, Central Aroostook, 21:46.03 (609th overall)
Raphael Halpern, MSSM, 21:46.51 (610th overall)
Wesley Thomas, Caribou, 21:53.25 (621st overall)
Garrett Sanders, MSSM, 22:03.09 (644th overall)
Victor Burlock, Houlton/GHCA, 22:57.38 (723rd overall)
Emerson Langworthy, Caribou, 23:01.50 (724th overall)
Jimmy Norelli, Caribou, 23:57.33 (785th overall)
Matthew Demarest, Presque Isle, 25:42.25 (854th overall)
Andrew Hewitt, Caribou, 26:15.09 (867th overall)
Jeffery Johnson, MSSM, 31:15.87 (919th overall)
Leo Stacey, Presque Isle, 31:26.14 (920th overall)

County Girls Finishers

Emma Graves, Caribou, 19:06.96 (8th overall)
Lillian Johnson, Presque Isle, 19:37.19 (19th overall)
Aleah Rideout, Presque Isle, 19:45.74 (23rd overall)
Taylor York, Presque Isle, 20:43.37 (64th overall)
Jenna Strid, Caribou, 20:47.69 (65th overall)
Isabella Albert, Caribou, 21:22.91 (86th overall)
Marie Johnston, Presque Isle, 22:02.65 (137th overall)
Jade Clayton, Presque Isle, 23:20.19 (217th overall)
Gloria Dionne, Caribou, 23:40.69 (246th overall)
Anna Haley, Caribou, 24:33.26 (311th overall)
Kailynn Huntington, Presque Isle, 24:34.71 (314th overall)
Meredith House, Presque Isle, 24:39.14 (321st overall)
Lydia Bragdon, Presque Isle, 25:21.66 (374th overall)
Charlotte Estabrook, Houlton/GHCA, 25:29.23 (380th overall)
Elizabeth Robbins, Caribou, 25:33.50 (385th overall)
Ashton Hughes, Presque Isle, 25:39.21 (391st overall)
Macyn Morton, Presque Isle, 25:42.01 (397th overall)
Isabella McCarthy, Houlton/GHCA, 25:52.34 (407th overall)
Sadie Wigmore, MSSM, 26:00.45 (415th overall)
Brianna Kendall, Caribou, 26:21.08 (431st overall)
April Mazur, Houlton/GHCA, 27:36.64 (487th overall)
Dalylah Mincey, Houlton/GHCA, 28:25.56 (509th overall)
Ellie Blackstone, Presque Isle, 29:38.23 (542nd overall)
Grace Hilton, Presque Isle, 31:03.81 (562nd overall)
Theodora Panagoiliopoulou, MSSM, 32:16.89 (574th overall)
Alaina Locker, Houlton/GHCA, 33:19.75 (583rd overall)
Sandra Quinlan, Houlton/GHCA, 39:31.43 (610th overall)

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