Varsity cross country does well at Southern Maine Classic Invitational

Jordan Piechowski

By Matt Pascarella

On a day that threatened rain, and for moments followed through with that threat, the boys’ and girls’ varsity cross country teams performed very well at the Southern Maine Classic invitational sponsored by Hoka shoes, Gorham Athletics Gorham Cross Country and Fleet Feet Maine Running. Eleven boys and 12 girls from Windham Cross Country, along with runners from all over the state participated in the early season invitational at the Narragansett School in Gorham.

A common theme among the Windham athletes was focus and determination. The Eagles were giving it everything they had; runners always had their ‘eyes on the prize’ and were striving to do their very best. All runners showed their strength as they ran the course and you could really see it when they dug deep and made that final push towards the finish line. A fantastic effort was made by all.

The girls placed ninth overall. Top runners were:

Sophomore Estella Inman, in her third race ever, placed 15^th with a time of 20:09.30. To date, Inman is the Lady Eagles cross country top team finisher this season.

Senior Hannah Langstaff placed 27^th with a time of 20:38.82. Langstaff knocked a full minute off her time compared to a year ago.

Senior Hailey Applebee placed 47^th with a time of 21:32.29.

Sophomore Eve Schultz also dropped significant time from her race compared to a year ago with her current time of 22:22.55.

The boys placed 26^th overall. Juniors Tristan Candelmo (18:51.99) and Tavi Anghel, led the boys’

Estella Inman

team as the top two finishers at the invitational. In 2018, Anghel ran the course in 21:47.83, but this year he ran 19:24.95; an impressive drop due to his summer and fall training. Sophomore Mark Mills (19.42.18), freshman Garan Laszok (20:42.22), senior Jordan Piechowski (20:46.46), who was off injured status for the first race of his senior year; sophomore Josh Guite, who dropped 30 seconds off his time (21.51.18), and freshman Derrick Stephens (22:12.59) were the top seven finishers of the day. 

“It was very exciting. We’ve been prepping all July,” explained Coach Jeff Riddle. “For those that can, come to our camps and it’s all about getting together and getting started. We had a great, great preseason together and now, here we go; we’re already in the performance stage of the season. Overall, it was great.”