Houlton/GHCA Girls tie for 5th at the State Championships

AUGUSTA, ME (Cony HS) – As was the case with many of the State Championship meets from around Maine this past weekend, the Houlton/GHCA boys and girls faced some incredibly difficult weather with rain, wind, and cold temps weighing heavy on them.

The beginning of the meet saw a lot of rain passing through the area and even forced the meet to postpone temporarily for 90 minutes after some of the preliminary rounds had concluded.  After the break the skies had held off any additional rain for the majority of the remaining events and several of the Houlton/GHCA athletes competing would take advantage of the improved conditions to run some incredible times and place high among the Class C ranks.

Teanne Ewings would run to two individual state championships, a feat she would repeat from a year ago. Her first victory came in the girls 1600m with a time of 5:04.09, about 2.5 seconds ahead of second place Ruth White of Orono. The now two-time defending state champion is the top Maine Girls seed headed into the New Englands 1600m and she will also compete in the girls 800m.  

Natalie Johnson continued her breakout season with another pair of Personal Best times in both the girls 1600m and 3200m, each effort finding a place on the podium and scoring for the team.  

Leanne Ross was the next highest scorer for the girls with her fifth place finish in the 800m, besting her previous record by nearly 10 seconds. She had an equally impressive PR in the girls 1600m as well, shedding 15 seconds in that event, but narrowly missing out on a podium spot.  Sister Andrea also rose to the occasion with another fantastic showing in the 3200m dropping 32 seconds off of her previous best and she was also able to run her first sub six minute 1600m run.  

Ariana Ardell was able to add to the team score with her run in the 200m for eigth place, the time of which was just two-tenths of a second shy of her career best.

Out of nearly 47 schools competing on the day, 31 teams ended up on the scoreboard in the girl’s championship. 

The Houlton/GHCA ladies were able to place in a tie for fifth with George Stevens Academy.  The top 10 schools were Orono 121; North Yarmouth Academy 79; Bucksport 77; Maine Central Institute 59; Houlton/GHCA and George Stevens 37; Kents Hill School 35; Piscataquis 30; Bangor Christian and Winslow 24.

The Houlton/GHCA boys had a great day, as well. 

James Brady poured in a tremendous effort for us, according to coach Chris Rines, as he was able to lower his career best time in the 1600m by three seconds, ending his season with a 5:03.  

Landon Laferriere continued his streak of setting a new personal best in the boys 800m and he finished the race in 2:14, good enough for eighth place and scoring the boys a point to make it onto the scoreboard.  

Brady returned later in the meet to make a run in the boys 3200m, but was unable to lower his pr as conditions began to worsen again. Thirty-three boys teams scored and Houlton/GHCA was on the board with a single point. 

The top 10 schools were Orono 105; Lisbon 69; Washington Academy 65; Maine Central Institute 50.5; Mt. Abram 49; Boothbay/Wiscasset 47; Winslow 39; George Stevens and Sumner 38; and Winthrop 31.

Full Meet Results – https://me.milesplit.com/meets/556914-maine-class-c-state-championship-2023/results/943739?type=formatted

New Personal Records from states:

James Brady – 1600m

Natalie Johnson – 1600m, 3200m

Landon Laferriere – 800m

Andrea Ross – 1600m, 3200m

Leanne Ross – 800m, 1600m

Podium finishes (top 8): 

Teanne Ewings – State Champion Girls 1600m, State Champion Girls 800m

Natalie Johnson – Girls 3200m 3rd, Girls 1600m 4th

Leanne Ross – Girls 800m 5th

Ariana Ardell – Girls 200m 8th

Andrea Ross – Girls 3200m 8th

Landon Laferriere – Boys 800m 8th

Top 10:

Leanne Ross Girls 1600 9th

Full Results, including names, times, and places from the meet can be found here: https://me.milesplit.com/meets/556914-maine-class-c-state-championship-2023/results/943739

Ewings will be moving on to the New England Championships this Saturday, June 10 hosted in Bangor at Cameron Stadium.  

“We would like to invite you all to come down and watch the meet if possible,” Rines said. “This championship is an amazing showcase of talent and often garners some of the best performances in the country. We are grateful for Bangor being the host and excited to compete here again as we have had two regular season meets there this year.”

Final entries for New Englands will be posted on Sub5 either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Our Middle School team is gearing up for their fourth and final meet of the season, the Aroostook League Middle School Championships this Wednesday in Presque Isle.

Check out the latest results and photos from our Middle School team with their first three meets of the season:

Results Caribou 1 (5/11), Presque Isle 1 (5/18), Caribou 2 (5/31)

Albums Caribou 1 (5/11), Presque Isle 1 (5/18), Caribou 2 (5/31)