Boothbay Region High School’s cross country teams have never been so well placed for the championship season. On October 9 in Lisbon, the boys ran away with the race and the girls edged past Lisbon, who won the Mountain Valley Conference preview race on September 25.

This October 19, dual MVC championship titles, a first for BRHS, are a real possibility.

Cross country fever is running high on the girls team this year and it shows. In 2010, when then freshman Sophia Thayer won the MVC championship race, there was only one other Lady Seahawk competing (Rosaline Campbell).

Over the next two years, the Lady Seahawks pulled together a small, strong team, that snagged second place at MVC's last year. In September, the Lady Seahawks were struggling to field a full team, but as the season has progressed, they have continued to field new runners.

Now, with a roster of 10 solid harriers, the girls are aiming for BRHS’s first-ever girls MVC championship title.

In her final year of high school cross country, team leader Thayer is putting the icing on the cake that has been her running career. On October 14, Maine Milesplit ranked Thayer among the top 15 senior female cross country runners in the state. To date, she has taken just shy of a full five minutes off her freshman debut race time.

On October 9 at Lisbon, Thayer ran another record setting race, finishing first at 20:43. Also, scoring for Boothbay were Hannah Morley (2nd, 21:39), Morgan Crocker (9th, 22:30), Kate Friant (16th, 22:35), and Shaw Pinkham (19th, 23:57).

Boothbay topped the pack with 46 points, followed by Lisbon, 48, St. Dom's, 65, Madison, 72, and Edward Little, 126. Lisbon will be the team to beat on Saturday at the MVC Championship race and it looks to be a nail biter.

The Boothbay boys are delivering the team's most impressive season since the Seahawk's 2009 state championship title. The MVC championship is easily in reach and they are contenders for both western regional and state championship titles.

With five scoring runners in the top ten and finish times only slightly slower than PR's set at Belfast, the October 9, Lisbon's boys race was all team Boothbay. The Seahawks dominated the field with 21 points, followed by Edward Little, 65, Lisbon, 66, Madison, 116, St. Dom's, 120, Carrabec, 162 and Wiscasset, 175.

Senior Benn Scully won the race with a 17:46 finish, followed by Joey Paolillo (2nd, 17:49), Robert Campbell (4th, 18:01), Jack Hasch (5th, 18:21) and Matt Burnham (9th, 18:42).
On Saturday, it's off to UMaine Augusta for the MVC Championship race. Start time is 10 a.m.