Foxcroft boys finish third at PVC championship

    BUCKSPORT — The Foxcroft Academy boys finished in third place at the Penobscot Valley Conference (PVC) Large School Cross County Championship Oct. 18 at Bucksport High School. The Ponies’ finish was the highest since the team won the Small School title in 2008 and best showing as a Large School since the league split into two divisions a decade prior.

    The top five runners combined to score 107 points, the third fewest out of nine schools taking part in the Large School competition. Caribou High School finished in first place with a score of 39 points and in second place was Mount Desert Island High School with 48 points.
    Leading the way for Foxcroft was junior Cooper Nelson. Nelson came in sixth out of 58 Large School runners, covering the 5-kilometer course in a time of 18 minutes, 45.63 seconds.
    Next to cross the finish line was junior Gabe Piquette, who placed 15th at 19:29.79. A few spots behind was senior Noah Simpson in 19th place, at 19:45.42.
    Rounding out the top five scoring positions was senior Nathnael Felke, who was 33rd at 20:31.84, and sophomore Liam Casey in 34th place at 20:34.62.
    The Pony contingent included junior Kohei Kotani, 37th at 21:02.95, and sophomore Peter Xue, 53rd at 23:18.83.
    Hermon High School senior Josh Zapsky had the fastest Large School time as he won by over 30 seconds in 18:01.06.
    Sophomore Ethan Poland ran in the junior varsity race for Foxcroft. Poland placed 49th in a field of 64, running a time of 26:08.93.
    Dexter Regional High School freshman William Stauch ran as an individual in the Small School division. Stauch came in 15th place out of 42 Small School entrants, covering the course in 19:59.72.
    Four Foxcroft girls ran on Saturday. Junior Jen Clawson was the first of these Ponies to cross the finish line. Clawson came in 32nd out of 57 Large School runners in a time of 24:57.74.
    Senior Anna Sedlackova placed 43rd at 28:09.54; freshman Virginia Macomber was 44th at 28:27.68; and in 56th place was sophomore Mariaisabel Cedeno at 33:46.70.
    The girls’ individual winner was MDI senior Caroline Driscoll with a time of 19:54.51, about 32 seconds ahead of second place.