After the first meet of the season at Camden was canceled due to weather (it is not being made up), the BRES Middle School cross country team was anxious for the second meet in Appleton on September 19. Their hard work for weeks paid off as the girls flew to a first place finish and the boys narrowly missed first place, but came up strong for a second place finish.

The Boothbay boys were led by 8th grader Kyle Ames, who led throughout the race (13:53) followed by Kyle Wood of Lincolnville (14:37), Boothbay 7th grader Blake Erhard (14:41), Lincolnville's Michael Kremin (14:47), Great Salt Bay's Sam Russ (14:56), Lincolnville's Hayden Thibeault (15:41) and Boothbay 7th grader Alex Eason (15:43).

Other Boothbay runners helping to secure the strong finish were: 6th grader Rowan Kristan (4th place at 15:53), 8th grader Jay Hasch (14th place at 16:47), 7th grader Will LaBrecque (17th place at 17:38), 8th grader Will Berry (18th place at 17:50), 8th grader Graham Bryer (19th place at 18:13), 6th grader Colin Campbell (20th place at 18:15), 7th grader Brett Hollowell (21st place at 18:22), 6th grader Ethan Barter (22nd place at 18:28), 7th grader Bayly Carrasco Gaughn (24th place at 18:44), 7th grader Tim Chappelle (25th place at 18:48), 6th grader Will Perkins (26th place at 19:14), 8th grader Eli Gudroe (27th place at 19:24), 6th grader Ellison Boord (30th place at 19:49), 8th grader Sam Burnham (32nd place at 19:56), 8th grader Jaidan Schlosser (33rd place at 19:58), and 6th grader Mitchell Partner (38th place at 21:10).

A total of 49 boys competed.

Boothbay's seventh grader Faith Blethen also led throughout the race placing first in front of Boothbay's 7th grader Helen Hamblett (17:23) in second. The next four finishers were Boothbay's 7th grader Olivia Paolillo in 3rd place (17:28), followed by Appleton's Claire Wyman (18:22), Great Salt Bay's Isabell Manahan in 5th (18:29), and Boothbay 6th grader Ellie Hilscher in 6th overall (18:53). Rounding off the top 7 was Boothbay's lone 8th grader Lincoln Hamblett at 19:20. The rest of the Boothbay girls were not far behind. Sixth grader Ella Yentsch was 10th overall (20:57), Loren Genrich 13th overall (21:25), 7th grader Ashley Ames 14th (22:07), and 6th grader Addie Stone at 23rd (28:05).

A total of 24 girls competed.

Coach Hildy Johnson expects another strong season this year as these runners have shown a great work ethic and are eager to bring home wins.

Our home meet will be October 3 at the elementary school so come out to watch and cheer these kids on to victory. This week the team goes to Great Salt Bay on Thursday.

Boys Scores: Lincolnville 32, Boothbay 33, Great Salt Bay 84, Oceanside 126. Appleton: Not enough boys to score.

Girls Scores: Boothbay 19, Appleton 78. None of the rest of the teams had enough girls to score.