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11/08/2009
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Maine Sunday Telegram photo by Derek Davisfrom the Kennebec Journal
911 FLAP ON TAP
Tax overhaul fight now moves to courtrooms
MONMOUTH Misuse of authority alleged against police chief
Richmond library moves into rented space
AUGUSTA Hello, 'Birdie'
County dropped from deeds lawsuit
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All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
Underage liquor sting targets stores
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WILTON Old school could become biodiesel site Selectmen considering proposal to buy or lease School St. building
SAD 13 At last, district passes budget
WATERVILLE Schools change dates for flu vaccinations
TAX FIGHT MOVES TO COURT
Memo to LeBron: MJ's just fine already
Busque shifts roles, again
All of today's:
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from the Morning Sentinel
CUMBERLAND -- The runners at Saturday's Class B girls cross country state championship race were spent. Some had just enough energy to cross the finish line before falling to the ground. Others bent over with hands on both knees or leaned on others for support.
There was one notable exception.
Maranacook sophomore Abby Mace had sweat on her forehead, but mostly looked like someone who had just gone out to shovel the driveway. Mace was smiling, standing upright and comfortably in possession of her second state title in as many years.
It wasn't even close, either. Mace finished the 5-kilometer course at Twin Brook Recreation Area in 18 minutes, 48.3 seconds -- just under one minute and nine seconds faster than second-place finisher Emily Attwood of Cape Elizabeth. Mace's state-winning time as a freshman was 18:48.59.
"This is my favorite course," Mace said. "I like it because it doesn't have a lot of major hills, but it is hilly. So it's challenging and it's interesting, but it's not too challenging."
The state champions were the Cheverus boys and girls in Class A, the Cape Elizabeth girls and Greely boys in Class B, and the Waynflete girls and Boothbay boys in Class C.
Mace, Cony's Luke Fontaine (sixth in Class A boys) and Erskine's Sam Seekins (seventh in Class B boys) qualified for the New England championships, which will be held Saturday in Manchester, Conn.
It was clear Mace's main competition at states would be herself. She ran an 18:54.16 at last weekend's regional championships, when no other Class B girls runner broke 20 minutes.
"I wanted to mainly improve my time from last week, run in the 18:30s or 40s," Mace said. "I got 18:48, so I'm pretty happy with how I did."
Fontaine was part of a competitive pack of runners in the Class A boys race. Fontaine's finishing time was 16:32.66, while Brunswick's Will Geoghegan took first in 15:43.37.
"I was right there at the two-mile," Fontaine said. "The last half of the season's been disappointing. I don't know what it is. I'm not upset with the finish. My time was decent on this kind of course."
With Fontaine and junior Will Lundquist (18th place) leading the way, the Cony boys finished in sixth place as a team but missed out on New Englands as a team. It was the second-best finish by an area school, as the Monmouth boys were fifth in Class C with the pack running of Matt McInnis, Patrick McInnis and Patrick Riley, who finished 28th, 29th and 30th, respectively.
Hall-Dale freshman Laura MacDonald, who placed second at the Western C regionals, was again among the top runners. MacDonald finished the course in 21:51.33, for sixth place. The winner was Waynflete's Martha Veroneau, in 21:04.97.
"I was just hoping for top 10," MacDonald said. "There were a lot of girls I hadn't seen. I tried to keep up with the lead girls, so I wouldn't get too far behind in the beginning."
Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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