The weather was just about perfect for running at the Mountain Valley Conference Championship race on Saturday, Oct. 15 at the University of Maine at Augusta. Racers (and their fans) sprinted across open fields and through orange, red and gold leaf-littered woodland trails. As the leaves turn gold, the Boothbay Region High School cross country teams teams can usually be counted on to bring home some gold of their own. On Saturday, Boothbay fans were not disappointed.

The Seahawks won their fourth straight conference title handily and the Lady Seahawks placed second behind a strong Monmouth Academy team. Faith Blethen won the girls title and was named MVC Runner of the Year. Several BRHS runners earned their place on the all-conference teams. And Coach Nick Scott, the man behind all this success, was again named MVC Boys Coach of the Year.

The Boothbay boys placed second at the MVC pre-season meet, but that was without Will Perkins. On Saturday, with the full squad dominating the front of the pack, there was little question that Boothbay would come out on top. Junior Kyle Ames, who earlier in the season was troubled by a foot injury, looked as strong as ever on Saturday.

Ames ran virtually side by side with sophomore Blake Erhard for the first half of the race and then pulled ahead in the second half. Ames finished first for BRHS and second overall, storming across the finish line at full speed at 18:21 (5:55 minute pace).  

“It felt amazing, it was very fun. It was great weather for running. The whole team did great and a lot of us met out goals,” a smiling Ames said after the race.

Fortunately, for BRHS, Ames wasn’t the only runner who turned in a terrific race. Erhard, who has run consistently and fast all season, was 10 seconds behind Ames at the finish line (third, 18:31). Freshman Will Perkins was third in for BRHS (fifth, 18:59), followed by Rowan Kristan (10th, 19:19) and Bayly Gaughan-Carrasco (13th, 19:36). Other than the times posted at the speedy Festival of Champions race, all top five-scoring runners posted their fastest times of the season on Saturday.

Sam Betts was sixth in for BRHS, setting a new PR (15th, 19:59) and Will LaBrecque rounded out the top seven, turning in his fastest time of the season (20th, 20:30).

“It’s nice when things really come together and today it really came together,” Coach Scott said after the race. Scott said in the previous night’s team meeting, he outlined the ”different paths to victory.”

“They actually exceeded what we talked about. In championship season, we don’t focus on times — those usually take care of themselves, we focus on placement. Today, we really sought out Carrabec, who beat us at the midseason. The team went in knowing what they needed to execute to come away with the win and they really did it,” Scott said.

“It’s wonderful when you’ve got one through seven runners dialed in and focused on the unified goal of winning the championship.”

For the Seahawks, this was the fourth MVC title in a row and their seventh MVC victory out of the last nine races. BRHS took the event with 28 points, followed by Carrabec, 61 Lisbon, 71; Madison, 112; Winthrop, 120; Hall-Dale, 141; and Oak Hill, 179.

The Lady Seahawks were able to secure the team second place, despite some hindering injuries. Faith Blethen cruised ahead of the pack from the outset and held a strong lead throughout, finishing first at 20:57. Blethen has been beleaguered by shin splints. After the race, her shins wrapped in ice, Blethen said her goal for the race was to finish first but not to set a record time.

“The goal was just to get that one point. I got out in front and then just coasted,” Blethen said.

“Once again Faith Blethen won the individual MVC title and in doing so capped off yet another year of running undefeated in the MVC. For her efforts she was awarded the MVC runner of the year, an honor that coaches decided upon by a vote,” Scott said.

Loren Genrich (12th, 24:20) and Kate Friant (14th, 24:33) ran as they have all season, consistently and fast. Evy Case, in her third race of the season, had a tremendous day, bettering her previous best by over three minutes and finishing 17th at 24:52.

Lincoln Hamblett, still struggling with knee problems, was in visible distress during the race but persevered to the finish line (34th, 30:43). Delly Clarkson, who has shown consistent improvement throughout the season, took almost three minutes off her previous best time (36th, 31:39).

Monmouth won the MVC title with 39 points, followed by BRHS, 64, Madison, 68, Winthrop, 89 and Oak Hill, 91.

BRHS had a strong showing on the all-conference teams as well. Ames, Blethen, Erhard, and Perkins were all named to the first all-conference team (top seven finishers). Kristan, Gaughan-Carrasco, Friant and Genrich all placed on the second all-conference team (eighth-14th place) and Betts, LaBrecque and Case earned an honorable mention (15th-21st).

The competition heats up as the Seahawks head to the next level of the championship season: the Southern Regional Championship Race at Twin Brooks in Cumberland on Saturday Oct. 22.

Scott said the Boothbay boys are currently ranked third behind an extremely strong MaineCoast team and Waynflete but he hopes the boys can unseat Waynflete for second place. For the girls, Monmouth will be looking to extend its MVC title to Southern Regional but will have strong competition from MaineCoast, BRHS and Madison.

The boys Class C race begins at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and the girls will run at 1:05 p.m.