The Boothbay Region and Wiscasset high schools’ “Seawolves” cross country athletes posted big personal records Oct. 1 at the annual Festival of Champions (FOC) in Belfast. The boys team, short two of their top five runners, placed 31st out of 59 scoring teams, earning third best Class C team in Maine. The girls placed 47th out of 55 scoring teams with just five athletes in the race.

“Wow, what a day at the Festival of Champions!” said Coach Nick Scott. “So many of our athletes were able to run their fastest race not only of the season but also their entire career.”

Bryan Gagnon edged Gryffin Kristan for first Seawolf past the finish line. They came in 103rd and 107th in 18:06.45 and 18:07.35. Gagnon carved off 48 seconds and Kristan 26 seconds from their personal bests and posted 2:30 and 1:30 better than last year’s FOC outing. Payton Blagdon and Austin Trask took 239th and 249th in 19:19.83 and 19:24.35. Blagdon ran a record 25 seconds better and Trask 26 seconds.

Rodi Mayne broke the 20-minute barrier for the first time, taking 306th in 19:54.35. Cleyton Splaine took 448th in 21:26.05 besting his personal record by nearly 1:50. Ross and Finnegan Gaffney took 647th and 650th in 26:30.24 and 26:58.85. Ross took 4:50 off his personal best and Finnegan turned in a good performance for a first race, said Scott. Sawyer Blake took 651st in 27:01.94 taking nearly four minutes off his record.

For the girls, Julia Truesdell took 200th and Emily Gilliam 213th in 23:15.74 and 23:31.94. Both ran two minutes faster than last year’s FOC with Truesdell shaving 12 seconds off her personal best and Gilliam several seconds. Maddie Orchard ran close behind Gilliam taking 230th in 23:39.91 and taking 2:10 off her personal best. Ruth Burchstead placed well in her first race and Maddie Andreasen had a solid performance. They came in 493rd and 503rd respectively in 31:19.39 and 32:33.79.

“It is hard to believe, but this week marks the end of the regular season and we've got a fair amount going on,” said Scott.

The last regular meet is Oct. 7 at Beaver Park in Lisbon.