Windham cross country teams a major success at regional competition

Windham senior Estella Inman makes her way into the last stretch
of the Southern Maine Class A Regional Championship race
on Oct. 23 at Twin Brook Recreation Area in Cumberland.
PHOTO BY MATT PASC ARELLA

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham cross country team returned to Twin Brook Recreation Area in Cumberland for the Southern Regional Cross-Country Championships for the first time since 2019 on Saturday, Oct. 23 and both Windham boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams had high enthusiasm as they ran the course for the first time in two years.

Windham senior Isabel Dionne finished first in the girls’ race and 34^th overall with a time of 22:57.62 minutes.

The girls pushed and gave an incredible effort coming within one spot of qualifying for States. They finished ninth with a total of 225 points and a team total of 1:59:13.62.

Windham junior Caleb Young finished first in the boys’ race and 49^th overall with a time of 19:04.43.

Nobody held back on the boys’ team, and they finished with an average team time of 20:05.52.

“There was literally nothing but success today on every level of sport; athletic, team effort and individual effort,” said Windham’s cross-country coach Jeff Riddle. “No one left anything out there and it was just so great to have the opportunity to be back.”

Riddle said the last three weeks of preparation manifested itself today. He added the system is working and both teams are finding their confidence and that way to race together and race forward. He said there was a lot of maturing with regards to the sport.

Girls

“It was a lot more sentimental because it was my last time running here,” said Dionne. “I had a lot more drive and every single hill I took more as a gift than as for granted. We all have learned how to run this course … everyone had fun and that was our main goal.”

She added holding back for the first mile helped a lot because once she hit her second and third mile she began passing people and that upped her adrenaline.

Behind Dionne was senior Estella Inman who finished second for Windham and 45^th overall with a final time of 23.39.53.

Windham junior Elise Schultz finished third for Windham with a time of 23.43.53 and placed 47^th overall. Windham senior Eve Schultz followed and placed 54^th overall with a time of 24:09.29.

Boys

“It’s a really tough course; a lot of hills, especially towards the end,” said Young. “It’s a fun course … a lot more energy. We did really well as a team; everyone ran … pretty strong.”

Young added his strategy was to keep pace with a couple different groups and get into a comfortable place and not worry about where other runners were until the end.

Windham freshman Andrew Young finished second and 51^st overall with a time of 19:10.21. Windham Junior Roman Thomas finished third for the team with a time of 19:32.45. Sophomore Graden Joly finished fourth for Windham with a time of 19:38.58.

“If you understand what [the team] did and how the system is working and how they are responding to it together, today was a major success,” said Riddle. “It was high success on every level. And we’re here doing it – so that already puts us over the top.” <