The Boothbay Region High School cross country teams began the competition season on Sept. 2 with an out-of-conference meet at Medomak Valley High School. Fifty-eight runners from six schools crossed the finish line on Friday and BRHS teams showed a glimpse of their readiness for the season ahead.

“The team did a fantastic job at Medomak on Friday evening. There were a ton of great performances,” Coach Nick Scott wrote in an email.

On Friday, the Lady Seahawks did not have enough runners to score, but the boys team finished second behind a strong Medomak team.

With top runner Hannah Morley’s graduation last spring, the reigning Mountain Valley Conference Champion Lady Seahawks will be hard-pressed to match last year’s achievements. Last year, the Boothbay girls were able to win the MVC championship with a lean, highly competitive team of five runners. On Friday, there were not enough Boothbay girls to score as a team (minimum five) but Coach Scott said he hopes to field a full team for the season.

“We had a fifth girl show up to practice today, so we should have a full roster. We should also have a couple more join us for races, so fingers crossed, we'll be all set with girl numbers,” Scott wrote.

Last year, the big news from the Medomak meet was that freshman Faith Blethen broke the 20 minute mark (19:56), setting a new record for BRHS in her first high school race. This year, Blethen matched her personal best from last year, finishing first at 19:39, 30 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. The other Lady Seahawks finishing on Friday showed a similar readiness to pick up where last season ended. Kate Friant finished seventh at 23:13, over a minute ahead of last year and Loren Genrich finished eighth at 23:27, just shy of a minute faster than last year’s 24:20 finish.

“Faith Blethen tied her PR and was only five seconds away from the course record. Kate Friant and Loren Genrich ran 1:15 and 53 seconds faster, respectively, than they did last year at this race. Not a bad way to begin the season, that is for sure,”  Scott wrote.

Last year, the BRHS boys team pulled off a stunning season, winning both the MVC and Southern Regional Championships against the odds — for the third year in a row. With four of last year’s top seven runners graduating, the Boothbay boys will need strong seasons from both their veterans and new recruits to be competitive this year. But given the team’s history, it would be unwise to discount their chances.

At Friday’s race, returning speedsters Kyle Ames and Blake Erhard demonstrated their readiness to be competitive this season. Ames finished second at 18:32 and Erhard third at 18:39. Ames virtually matched last year’s finish (18:25) while Erhard’s time was almost a full minute faster than last year’s performance (19:30).

The BRHS boys team’s exceptional success has been fueled by Scott’s training program, dedicated runners and also a regular infusion of new, strong athletes who can step in to fill the gaps created by departing seniors. On Friday, freshman Will Perkins and Rowan Kristan gave promise of more good times ahead for the boys team. In their first high school race, freshmen Will Perkins placed fifth at 19:12  and Rowan Kristan, ninth at 19:55.

Rounding out the top seven Boothbay boys finishers were Will LeBrecque (18th, 21:17), Sam Betts (20th, 21:30) and Graham Bryer (23rd, 22:15).

Scott said he was pleased with the boys team’s performance. “Blake took almost a minute off from last year’s finishing time on the same course and freshmen Will Perkins and Rowan Kristan broke the 20 minute barrier in their first high school race and finished third and fourth, respectively, for the team.”

BRHS XC teams will get their first look at their MVC competitors when they travel to Hall-Dale on Wednesday for a race against Lisbon, Winthrop, Wiscasset, Hall-Dale and Monmouth.