ON THE RUN. It has been a strong season for York cross-country, which recently wrapped up its last regular season meet and the Western Maine Conference with just the state and New England meets left in the weeks ahead. Pictured, from York, are Nick Lumenello, Nat Freeman, Josh Herbein, Silas Freeman, Dan Herbein, Tristan Palhof and Alex Moser.
Photo by Sandra Freeman
YORK - With the regular season coming to a close, both the boys' and girls' cross-country teams captured second place at Cape Elizabeth.
Cape Elizabeth won both meets on Oct. 5, scoring 19 points in the boys' meet, ahead of York (48), Wells (73) and Traip (no score). On the girls' side Cape also won with 19 points, while York placed second with 42 points. Traip and Wells did not score.
At the start of the girls' race, the main goal for York was to break up Cape's top runners.
Freshman Michaela Swiatek was able to do just that, coming in third place with two Cape girls in front of and behind her. Junior Molly Carl came in not too far behind in sixth, and Reaha Goyetche, senior Capt. Glenn Swanson and Monique Boutin captured 10th, 11th and 12th place, respectively. Rounding out the rest of the top 15 were Kirsten Dean (19), senior Capt. Kylie Vallee (20), Maggie Foster (26), Alli Swietek (27), Hanna Mitchell (28), Kelly Silin (31), Cara Cavalieri (32), Lindsay Putnam (34), Christina Ferrande (35) and Katie McGuigan (37).
In the boys' race, three Cape runners held the lead for most of the race. York sophomore Alex Moser followed closely behind, biding his time to take a lead. His opportunity came in the final stretch, and Moser blasted by two Cape runners right at the finish line to capture second place. Senior Capt. Nat Freeman had an amazing race and finished second for York and ninth overall. Dan Herbein (13), Tristan Palhof (15), Ryan Means (16), Nick Lumenello (18) and Brian Farrell (19) rounded out the York scorers.
With the Falmouth cross-country course under water after rain showers on Oct. 12, the Western Maine Conference Championship was postponed until early Saturday morning, Oct. 13. York runners participated in four races: girls' and boys' varsity and girls' and boys' junior varsity. Runners had to wear several layers of clothing to keep themselves warm prior to their race, and some even broke into their winter clothes collections to gather much-needed earmuffs and mittens.
The girls' varsity race was first, and with York's top runner abstaining from the race it was up to the rest of the team to step it up. Carl finished first for York in 15th place out of a field of 89 runners. Goyetche was right behind her in 16th, with fellow sophomore teammate Boutin following in 22nd place and Swanson in 24th. First-year runner Dean stepped it up for York, finishing fifth for the team and 35th overall, and Vallee finished in 45th. The team finished fifth overall with 112 points, trailing behind Cape Elizabeth (32), Falmouth (82), Fryeburg Academy (104) and Freeport (109).
In the boys' varsity race Moser had a great race and finished fifth out of 99 runners. Herbein (28), Palhof (33), Freeman (35), Lumenello (38), Farrell (55) and Ryan Means (80) rounded out the varsity runners. The team placed fifth with 139 points behind Greely (68), Falmouth (88), Cape Elizabeth (103) and Fryeburg Academy (105), respectively.
The girls' JV race featured a strong showing from the Cape Elizabeth girls, but the York team battled the whole way. Foster kept up with the top runners to finish eighth. A strong showing from the senior girls placed Mitchell 15th, Natalie Kaknes 16th and Capt. Cara Cavalieri, 18th. Putnam ran in the number 5 spot for York for most of the race, but a late sprint by sophomore Danielle Martin narrowly edged her past Putnam at the finish. Martin and Putnam placed 23rd and 24th, respectively, and Erica Wagner finished 26th to round out the top seven. The JV girls placed fourth with 80 points behind Cape Elizabeth (16), Falmouth (55) and Freeport (75).
The last race of the day was the boys' JV race. Junior Jim Kennedy was the first finisher for York and ninth overall. Jack Carley (13), Josh Herbein (17), Mike LaPointe (20), Silas Freeman (22), Dom Ferrande (23) and Tim Gelinas (24) all scored for York. They placed third overall with 81 points behind Yarmouth (48) and Falmouth (53).
This meet marked the final meet of the season for all but the top seven runners from both teams. For all but two of the seniors, it was the last meet of their high school careers and was an emotional time for all.
Whether they ran for all four years of high school or joined only for the last year or two, all have felt the impact of being on such an amazing team. As freshmen, the girls were part of the first WMC victory the girls' cross-country team has ever captured in the history of York High School and they were part of a team that qualified three years straight for the New England meet. After hundreds of miles run, more than enough speed workouts, too many hills to count, unwanted injuries, three Pinelands, three trips to Ellsworth and not nearly enough team dinners, it is definitely a bittersweet ending.
Here's one last "congratulations" to the 13 seniors on the 2007 YHS girls' cross-country team: Allison Bailey, Cara Cavalieri (captain), Jenna Hosmer, Natalie Kaknes, Hope Ladd, Katie McGuigan, Hanna Mitchell, Lindsay Putnam, Bridget Rhinehart, Kelly Silin, Glenn Swanson (captain), Kylie Vallee (captain) and Justine Willey.
