What an exciting first meet the Boothbay Region Elementary School cross country team had at the Damariscotta River Association hosted by Great Salt Bay on Thursday, Sept. 8. The course is 2.2 miles and the team feels it is the toughest trail they’ll run all year.

The girls team showed perseverance and speed led by eighth grader Glory Blethen (16:19), coming in first in a field of 49 runners, followed by seventh grader Jazmine Balducci (16:34) placing second overall. Eighth grader Marissa Peters followed (22.23) placing 20th for Boothbay followed by seventh grader Grace Campbell (22:47) placing 24th, and sixth grader Kathryn Emma Hibbard (26:37) placing 35th. The girls placed third, not far behind Great Salt Bay and Lincolnville. Watch out competition when eighth grader Haley Abbott returns.

The boys team ran close to a perfect race coming in first led by eighth grader Chris Hamblett (15:12) in second place out of a field of 46 runners. First place finisher was Great Salt Bay’s Gabriel Seaman with a time of 15:02. Boothbay runners finishing behind Hamblett were sixth grader Griffin Kristan (15:41 third place overall), eighth grader, Jonathan Genrich (15:55 fifth place overall), eighth grader Mason Erhard (16:11 seventh place overall), eighth grader Jamie LaBrecque (16:14 eighth place overall), eighth grader Ryan Russell (16:25 ninth place overall), eighth grader Kaleb Ames (16:30 tenth place overall), seventh grader Chase Carty (16:33), seventh grader Ashton McLellan(16:45), seventh grader Lucas Hardwick (17:38), eighth grader Graham Harris (17:39), seventh grader Matthew Sullivan (19:21), seventh grader Sam Page (20:02), eighth grader Fox Elder (20:35), sixth grader Ryan Amaral ((20:49), sixth grader Kayden Ames (21:01), and seventh grader Gavin Carlson (23:39).

The BRES teams had their second meet on Thursday, Sept. 15 at Camden/Rockport’s 2.1 mile course running against Camden/Rockport, Medomak, Appleton, Searsport and St. George.

The boys ran first and Boothbay placed first in a very close race. Boothbay edged in with a score of 27 with Camden/Rockport’s score being 29. Camden/Rockport and Boothbay were the only two boys teams having enough runners to score. There was a total of 47 boys running in the competition.

Top ten boys for Boothbay with their times and overall places were: Chris Hamblett (14:02 first), Griffin Kristan (14:18 third), Mason Erhard (14:48 seventh), Ryan Russell (14:55 ninth), Jonathan Genrich (15:19 13th), Fox Elder (15:19 14th), Kaleb Ames (15:27 15th), Jamie LaBrecque (15:27 16th), Ashton McLellan (15:29 17th), Graham Harris (15:57 18th).

There were 52 girls running in the second race. Boothbay placed second overall with a score of 40. Camden/Rockport placed first with a score of 33, Medomak 87, and Appleton 70. Placing first out of a field of 52 runners was Boothbay’s Glory Blethen with a time of 14:45 in front of Camden’s Elsie Hildreth (14:46), Claire Wyman of Appleton (14:51), Boothbay runner Jazmine Balducci (15:22 for 4th place), Haley Abbott (16:01 for 5th place). Marissa Peters (19:41), Grace Campbell, 7th grader (19:46), Kathryn Emma Hubbard (23:12), and 6th grader, Grace Campbell (24:20).

The teams hold their home meet on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at BRES with the girls running first at 4 p.m. followed by the boys at 4:45. Come cheer both teams onto victory.